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
can anyone read the state for this pic?
I believe it’s Indiana.
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.
The plate on the white coupe appears to say ‘US Forces in Germany’.
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.
Supposedly the designer of the “bullet nose” declared, “Eet has zee look of zee aeroplane!”
I have a deep-seated preference for the European automobile in terms of style, engineering and efficiency, but I find the bullet nose fascinating.
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
I think the first shot’s the winner – perfect angle, perfect setting, perfect road grime. Tomorrow’s world, c.1950.
+1 on the JK look-alike.
My thoughts exactly!
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”.
Second photo: that Land Cruiser is bigger than the tiny house.
Next to last: the tall guy and the Lark with the dirty whitetails looks like the biggest mismatch of car and owner of the batch.
Inspiration for today’s, “tiny dwellings”.
The first photo of the driver (I assume) striking an artistic pose I find amusing. I wonder if he was part of the “beat” generation, as he doesn’t look to me as somebody who would be driving a Studebaker
I can vouch that Studebakers draw a different crowd. Adding a NOVI trunk mounted AC system this spring. Giddy up – cross country drive is easily doable.
It would be great to fudge up a Studebaker Bullet Nose Convertible!
A quick glance at what looks like a 62 Lark in the last picture, you would think the headlamps and parking lamps came from a 1960 Corvair
Picture #4 (man in white shirt with four kids in the car) was taken in Clifton, New Jersey. Below is the comparison with the modern-day image. The houses are all modified, but comparing the details on StreetView, it’s the same location.
Here’s the Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/no56GBxzyNUmUezk6
The Studebaker may belong to a visitor, though, because it has Essex County license plates, while Clifton is located in Passaic County.
Looks like a 1950 bullet nose convertible on a suburban street in the 6th or 7th photo
#6 has a ’57 British Columbia plate. Looks like somewhere in the southern interior.
That shot is my favorite, sort of like an old technicolor postcard.
The terrain does look like the Okanagan Highlands.
Studebakers werent common where I grew up and the ones I saw always wore a beard of dirt and a few dents, rural folk didnt waste time washing cars that rarely saw paved roads and large American and British cars appealed to farming people, Chevrolets Mopars and Fords easily out numbered Studes.
My Dad liked Studebakers. He had a ’51 Starlight Coupe when he courted and married my mother. It was gone before I came along but later they bought a demonstrator ’62 Lark wagon and I have many memories of that one. I have always liked them but have never owned one as they were getting pretty thin by the time I became a driver in the early seventies.
#1 A thinking man leaning on a dirty ’51 Champion De Luxe Starlight Coupe with a sun visor and a Minnesota license plate from either ’50 or ’53. The plates were issued sequentially and this one is a high number. The car looks in very good condition other than dirty, so perhaps this is a new car that was purchased in late ’50. You would think the gentleman would be concerned about getting his nice pants dirty but apparently not.
#2 A couple posing with presumably their new ’49 Regal De Luxe Land Cruiser. It was likely not uncommon to see someone buy the top of the line model but not splurge for the whitewalls. Perhaps they were too much trouble to keep clean. The crop in the background looks on the thirsty side.
#3 A young man and his puppy in front of another ’49 model, this one a Commander Regal De Luxe Starlight Coupe with a California plate used from ’56-’62, a damaged bumper, and a bald looking front tire. The boat looks like it is waiting for someone to tow it to a lake. In the background may be a black ’47-’53 Chevrolet or GMC Advanced Design stake bed with a grey car in the back. The rest of the vehicles are too fuzzy to ID.
#4 A happy bunch with a ’51 Commander State Starlight Coupe with a New Jersey plate first issued in ’52. The homeowner has planted some new trees along the curb and across the street on the left is a black ’48 Packard Touring Sedan.
#5 A jovial looking fellow leaning on a ’50 Commander De Luxe 2 door sedan with some friends in front of a PX. The car is dirty and looks like it has been around a while and also has a spotlight.
#6 A couple and their possibly their grandchild posing with a ’50 Champion Regal De Luxe or Commander Regal De Luxe 4 door sedan with a ’57 British Columbia plate. It is a nice rural summertime setting.
#7 A stylish lady posing with a ’50 Champion Regal De Luxe convertible. I can’t read the state on the license plate but it does appear to be a winter photo.
#8 A lady holding down the hood of a V8 powered ’53 Commander Regal Starliner Hardtop with wire wheels and a U.S. Forces/Germany license plate. Parked next to it is a ’49-’53 VW Type 1. Apparently the photo was shot in Germany.
#9 A dude showing off a custom paint job on a ’53 Commander Regal or Champion Regal Starliner Hardtop. Down the street is a white ’57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor or Fordor sedan. The one behind it I’m not sure about. Across the street is a ’46-’48 Plymouth Club Coupe, and further down in a driveway is a ’55 Plymouth Belvedere 4 door sedan.
#10 A man stopped on a back road with a ’59 Lark DeLuxe 2 door sedan that could use a wash job.
#11 A man with spring fever taking advantage of a relatively warm day to clean up a ’62 Lark Cruiser. I can imagine those Cruiser’s were cruisers. The snow may be about gone but he still needs his snow tires for the mud. My parent’s Lark had the same full wheel covers and I recall washing that car many times.
Thanks for the photos.
We had a v8 powered 4 dr Commander (?)
growing up in the 60’s.
Pale green w/ itchy mohair interior.
Suicide rear doors.
When leaving the house in the morning, Dad would remark ” the nylon thump” of the tires that took a flat spot overnight.
We towed a homemade bumper pull camper brush painted aluminum silver on occasion..
Probably the first car my father had that I can remember, a `48 Studebaker coupe with the wrap around rear window and the bullet grill. I was about 5 years old at the time. He had to sell to because my mother could not drive the manual transmission, so he bough a used `52 Cadillac 4 door with the automatic.My father always said that Stude ( he called it a Studebacker) was on of the best cars he ever owned, but after it was destroyed by a driver with no insurance he said it was just not worth fixing. When we talked about cars he always asked me if I remembered the yellow Studebacker with the ‘bomb’ in the grille.Then he would would always say the Studebaker was the first German car to be made in America.
As a kid of about 8 or 9 years old, I recall an old bullet nose Stude that a guy rigged up a propellor on the front end going down the road. It’s funny what memories a picture can bring back!
My dad had a bullet nose with suicide doors before my time I wish they where both still around
They never caught on with me. I always thought they were a poor man’s car. Interrior was plane jane at best. I did like some of the Golden Hawks and as a kid wondered why weren’t people buying more of those?
Studebaker, you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. I’m in the second camp. That “bullet nose” always reminded me of a kitchen exhaust fan. I put them in the same class as a Rambler.
My mom owned a yellow 1949 Studebaker. It was a fun car. Down the road, my dad owned an Edsel
Before he invited contestants to…. “Come on down!”, to win brand new automobiles on the Price Is Right, host Bob Barker was once a pitchman & model in Studebakers’ magazine advertising in the 40’s. I wonder if any of those original ads still exist, and what they would be worth today.