There’s something about Studebakers that seems to make them excellent billboards. Take a look at these two Studebakers – one in New York, one in Brisbane – being used to advertise.
New York Curbsiders may recognize this 1950 Studebaker Champion, used to advertise for Caliente Cab Co., a Mexican restaurant in the West Village.
What fascinating looking cars! I’m not sure what substances Studebaker designers were ingesting when they cooked up this bizarre Roger Rabbit design. It is especially puzzling because just two years later, they launched the beautiful 1953 Loewy-designed coupe.
The BMW steering wheel is a jarring addition to the otherwise original cabin. Apologies for the somewhat mediocre nighttime photos: I’m no Joseph Dennis.
Decidedly less daring is this 1962 Lark used to advertise the stage show adaptation of Dirty Dancing. By ’62, the Lark’s styling had been nicely cleaned up and it was quite a handsome compact.
I love the padded dash and logo in this Lark’s interior. I always do a double take when I see a Studebaker in Australia, but it’s easy to forget they assembled Larks in Melbourne from completely knocked down kits, from 1960 until 1966. I’ve actually seen a few Gran Turismo Hawks in Brisbane, too.
The Lark was a very clever adaptation of the standard-sized Studebakers, and I have a lot of respect for the engineers that created it. Ultimately, it didn’t save Studebaker but it was a valiant effort. Of course, Chrysler had made a “Valiant” effort at the same time, as did Ford and GM. I probably wouldn’t have picked the Lark over a Corvair or Chevy II, and neither did a lot of people at the time, hence the company’s demise. Still, I can’t help but fantasize about an amalgamated Nash, Hudson, Studebaker and Packard.
Related Reading:
Design Analysis: 1951 Studebaker – Way Out, In Front
Curbside Classic: 1960 Studebaker Lark
Curbside Classic: 1953-54 Studebaker Commander Starliner Coupe
I was a frequent customer of the Caliente Cab Company in the mid ’90s, on account of their all-you-can-drink brunch with 12 flavors of frozen margaritas on tap. They have/had two locations. One was right on Washington Square Park, and the other in the West Village. Each one contained half of a Studebaker Champion as interior decor. Did they weld the car back together, or get another Studebaker?
Talkin’ my language! The rear 3/4 view really shows these Stude Starlight Coupes to full advantage, with that radically wrapped rear window. This was almost a precursor to some 70s designs like the 77 Thunderbird and the Fairmont Futura with the huge B pillar and lots of glass around the back. They made these for 6 seasons, 1947 through 1952.
The 62 is my least favorite Lark – it was like an awkward 13 year old that was not cute like the first ones and not attractive like the 63 and 64. I have seen quite a few pictures of Larks as police cars in Austraila. The V8 powered Larks were probably quite strong compared to a lot of what else was available.
Agree. I don’t think this one was “cleaned up” as much as cluttered up in comparison to the 59-60. 61 had the hash badly moved around, so I guess it was an improvement.
Every boy has an awkward time like that 🙂
A V8 Studebaker was on pole position for the 1963 standard production car race at Bathurst grid was decided by engine size, from the start it fell thru the field like a stone, fast they were not why the police had them is a mystery likely they got a good deal on them or interior space it certainly wasnt for performance Studes were slow.
I remain baffled by the frenetic pace of major facelifts on Studes of the ’50s and ’60s. How (and why) did cash-strapped Studebaker manage a new roof or fenders or doors every year or two? After receiving a squared-off roofline and (on some models) a stretched wheelbase in ’61, the ’62 got a completely revamped and lengthened rear section which gave the Lark an attractive, modern appearance from the back. But the midsection still looked stuck in the ’50s with the fishbowl windshield, thick door frames, and a fixed post between the front and rear doors. All of that would be gone by ’63, arguably the most attractive year for Larks, or at least the most European-looking for better or worse. Both the windshield and rear glass were flatter, the pillars more slender, the dash completely new. Then in ’64, yet another new roofline, new rear and rear-side glass, new trunk lid and taillights, and everything forward of the windshield new (and again longer).
I’m also curious about that one-year-only ’58 hardtop coupe that didn’t sell very well. What did that cost to tool up? They already had a hardtop coupe with the Hawk – they should have built a hardtop sedan.
I really liked my Dad’s “bizarre” 1950 two-way Studebaker coupe in medium blue. He bought it used, a few years old as a second car, to replace a green 1947 Stude four-door sedan. The 1950 was his last Stude. As other, newer chassis came out from the Big Three, he felt the Studebakers did not keep pace, especially in over-the-road handling.
A sea foam green 50 Champion identical to the cab was what my parents were driving when the brought me home. I think it warped me in the kind of cars that I like
The ’50 Studebaker Champion appears to have a great aerodynamic shape. But only useful if traveling at high speed in reverse.
That was actually a joke that made the rounds at the time of it’s introduction–“You can’t tell if it’s coming or going!”
“That’s a stupid joke, Dad…”
Loewy was responsible for both and the Hillman Minx.
I used to ride in ’62/’63 Studebaker cabs as a youngster, growing up in Newton Mass. Holden cab company had a small fleet of them (still in business today…no Studebakers). I think they were brown and white. They were the only cab company that I ever remember using Studebakers. But by the mid-’60s, I guess that was not surprising.
I don’t remember too much about them, other than that they were very plain and spartan.
A clever idea , using vehicles that stand out to advertise whatever .
-Nate
Calienté has been parking that Starlight Coupe in front of their restaurant for over 30 years now. We had the first meeting of the Manhattan Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club (of course there is one!) there way back in ’84 I think and the car was there even then. The BMW steering gear is an addition to the car since that time, though. What does that signify that they’ve done to the chassis?
They are oddly proportioned but that rear window is worth it. I read somewhere that there were early plans to put the engine in the back, hence the long trunk.
With its soft curves and somewhat melted soap bar styling, the Champion looks remarkably modern.
There was a small bar and grill chain around Washington DC about 15-20 years ago called Studebaker’s that certainly used Studes for advertising of sorts – they each had a bulletnose convertible in the lobby. No special signage on them though. It was a popular after-work destination for me and my colleagues.
When I was young a kid down the streets uncle had a green Studebaker coupe like this one. I remember thinking it looked like a big grasshopper.
“Still, I can’t help but fantasize about an amalgamated Nash, Hudson, Studebaker and Packard.”
From what I understand, George Mason’s original vision was to do something along those lines — create a fourth multibrand organization resembling the Big Three. None of the independents were willing to give up their independence and merge with Nash, though. Hudson ultimately did, but only after getting in severe financial trouble.
It’s interesting to think about how this would have played out. There would have been a lot of overlap between Nash and Studebaker, and I don’t know how they would have handled that. The two may have ended up selling lineups of mostly virtually identical cars, similar to Dodge and Plymouth in the ’80s, or what happened to Austin and Morris under BMC. I’d almost like to say that Mason wouldn’t have wanted Studebaker for that very reason, but I don’t see how this works in terms of sales volume without Studebaker involved. Assuming Studebaker was in, the Lark probably would have turned out to be a badge-engineered Rambler. I don’t know if Kaiser or Willys were ever under consideration; perhaps Jeep would have eventually become part of this organization, as it did it real life.
If those four brands had joined forces, I’ll bet they each would have lasted longer than they actually did. But I have a hard time seeing this company have the resources to stay competitive over the long term, especially after the market began to subdivide (and move away from the Sloan ladder concept) after 1960. Chrysler had a long-term trend of becoming less and less competitive, and this company probably would have been a degree or two worse off than Chrysler at any point in time. I could see Hudson being killed off by the 1958-61 recession (just like Desoto) and Packard becoming a marginal player in the luxury field by the mid ’60s (similar to Imperial). Studebaker and Nash may have lived on, both probably focused more heavily on compacts than their Big Three competitors, but perhaps with the resources to have more of presence in other segments than Studebaker and AMC had in real life. Perhaps one of the lower-price brands would expanded up, or Packard down, to fill the void left by Hudson.
By the ’70s, this company would have to deal with the Japanese invasion and the aftereffects of the energy crisis. What happens at that point is hard to say. Maybe it has enough resources to develop a competitive small FWD car and concentrates on that. Maybe it doesn’t, and it makes some of the same poor decisions AMC made in real life, and it slowly dies off the same way. I can see this company surviving into the ’80s, but it may have been greatly reduced in size, or in bad financial shape, or both. If it has Jeep, maybe it ends the same way AMC did, perhaps after surviving a bit longer as an independent first.
Cool looking Champion indeed especially with the wrap around rear window. The cockeyed, roughed up vanity license plates add to the photo’s character as does the windshield inspection and registration stickers that are in the wrong order.
The nearly semicircular rear window of these Starlight coupes fascinates me. Must have produced some nice views for the rear seat passengers!
The real problem with Sudebaker is that their design department was 10 years ahead of what the people wanted. The Avante is still a great looking car and quite modern looking. It doesn’t look like the rest of the barn tanks from the 60’s.