Time to pay a few minutes of attention to the products from South Bend, as they were back in the day. The photos cover mostly the 1950s era, with a good number of bullet-noses appearing (the coming or going era); with a few Starlights and Larks also showing. As for the folks in these photos, they make for a rather eclectic bunch; which I guess goes along just fine with these products filled with character.
Nice, I well remember the bullet nosed Studies , I guess they looked good for a hot minute when new .
Pic. # 7 shows a super rare early production 1953 VW DeLuxe #113 .
-Nate
Great collection. A few thoughts:
#2 looks like a likely long-time Studebaker buyer. That’s a lwb President, a product that was not likely bought by a new-to-the-brand buyer, unlike the buyers of bullet-nose coupes like #4. Those were a hot thing in 1950-1951.
The car in front of the military barracks (#5) looks like its hood ornament and fender-top trim is non-chrome plated. I’m guessing that it was built during the Korean War when there was a pretty serious shortage of chromium.
At first I thought those were the parents of the toddler in #6 but a closer look makes me quite certain they were the grandparents.
The white Leowy coupe with the woman on the hood looks to have genuine wire wheels. These were the hot fashion statement in 1953-1954.
Love the guy dwarfing the Lark in the next to last shot. I can see it being his car; an individualist.
The guy in the last picture is the classic Studebaker owner of the late years, out there wiping off the snow and grime to make sure his baby is going last as long as possible. They might not make anymore!
Yup. #2 reminds me of our neighbor Mr Sesler, an insurance agent, who owned a ’50 Land Cruiser, then later a ’58 President and Scotsman wagon.
I’m struck by how incredibly *ugly* Studebakers were… the “bullet nose” models are truly atrocious… like something on the cover of a cheap 1930’s pulp science fiction magazine…
Studes overall resemble a 1950’s Soviet “imagining” of how American cars must have looked like – without those Soviets *ever* having laid eyes on even an illustration of an American car…
The cloddish Lark ranks right up there with the East Gernan Trabant as a misbegotten “cross” between a farm implement and an automobile…
I’m shocked that Studebaker was in business until 1966… even in very rural West Central Illinois where I grew up, no one – not even the worst old grump farmer cheapskates – would be caught dead driving a Studebaker, they’d at least drive cheap stripper Ramblers instead…
Taste is of course subjective, but it was precisely the 1950 “bullet nose” models and the ’59 Lark that were the biggest hits and only really profitable models for Studebaker in the whole post war era and which allowed them to survive as long as they did. Without those two models they would have died much earlier, possibly 1953 as they wouldn’t have the reserves to withstand the brutal battle by Ford and Chevrolet for volume that year.
Of all of the post-war independent car manufacturers, Studebaker is tied for first place as my favorite. (The other is Checker.) They were self-aware enough to know they couldn’t take on the Big 3, so they tried to “hit them where they ain’t”. And they did a pretty good job of it, for the most part.
Can anyone finish this jingle that advertised… “Well, you’re invited, for a motoring thrill. It’s The Lark by Studebaker, Lark by Studebaker, everyone (and this is where my memory fails)?
Do we remember the Lark Limousette?
I can’t remember that jingle, but I’ve always loved that factory postcard of the ’63 Cruiser, advertised as “The Limousette”. It’s my favorite four-door Stude of all. Some Mercedes styling cues, nimble size, big interior, rear-door styling reminds me of later Sevilles and Caprice Classics, and available with a broadcloth interior that looks out of a Cadillac. Really. And available with a blower, disc brakes, and a folding cloth sunroof. What other domestics had that stuff?
I always thought they were copying Tucker style.
The first guy looks like a beat poet on his way to New York City.
The last photo is definitely not a beat poet on his way to New York City
Me, having a big day on the town.
Me, at the wheel of my pedal car, with dad’s 51 in the background.
In the days before Steve…..mom and dad digging the 47 Champion out of “typical west Michigan weather”.