We’ve had a few of these owner galleries the last few weeks, and after Paul’s Studebaker post from this past Monday, I feel it’s time to highlight South Bend’s products. And their owners, of course.
There’s much of the expected in this gallery; from the Bullet-Noses to the Lark era. So, let’s check out these distinctive-looking automobiles, with their rather interesting-looking owners.
The photo of the Studebaker Commander Starlight with a yellow and black California plate. In the background is a “Model Home” sign and a brand new home just to the left.
Can you image what that house is worth today!!!!!!!
Lots of oil spots on the pavement behind the car.
That dude is a doppelgänger for the Irish actor Sean McGinley!
Based on the style of the license plate and the black validation sticker, the photo would have been taken around 1960.
Boise City is the county seat of Oklahoma’s most western county and the last city of consequence before I reach the Mountain Time zone in my sales travels. The city has about 1,100 of Cimmaron County’s 2,200 people.
I usually don’t have much reason to stop, but seeing this well preserved Studebaker parked a bit off the courthouse square was an unusual enough sight for me to stop a few minutes.
From the lack of rust, I’d say there was a good chance this car spent most of its life in the dry conditions of the Cimmaron Strip. Lack of topside fading suggests much time in a garage or barn.
They may be rare, but I never really thought much of these sedans. That sentiment may have been shared by others as the car was there for awhile. It’s been gone for the last few years though. Hope it found a good home.
The two-tone paint does it no favors.
The 5th photo with the lady in her Sunday best and white hat.
Reminds me of Lois Lane in the Adventures of Superman of the 50’s.
The car looks appropriate for a news reporter.
I would happily adopt any of those cars. The off-white 50 bullet nose with the old folks in front appears to sport a 1951 Indiana plate.
It is funny how young the owners look in most of the earlier photos. Studebaker was probably trying to lure people like that with that really pretty silver/red interior 63 Daytona hardtop, but old guys like the ones in that photo were probably the in the most common buyer demographic by then.
Those back-up lights really ruin the clean lines of that blue 53 parked near the model home. I wonder why they didn’t bolt them to the bumper instead.
The third photo down with the little boy behind the car. That’s from back in the day when Tennessee made their license plates in the shape of the state.
Nebraska did something similar from ’66-75, except the plate itself was rectangular, with a raised and painted border resembling the shape of the state — a wavy edge going up the right side and around the top-right corner, and a notch at the lower-left corner to form the panhandle, sized just right for registration stickers to be placed in the notch:
https://dmv.nebraska.gov/dvr/history-license-plates
Seeing images of the classic 1953 Loewy coupe always depresses me. It has such beautiful, timeless styling (one of the best domestics, ever) but Studebaker botched the introduction and engineering so badly (‘flex-frame’), combined with the sad, later, myriad styling faux pas, it was one of the company’s biggest missed opportunities and ‘what-might-have-beens’.
With the exception of the 1953 Loewy coupe, all of these cars are IMO simply dumpy and ugly – like something from the old Soviet Bloc…
With offerings like this, I’m always shocked at the fact that Studebaker survived as long as they did…
I grew up in the very rural arm country of Western Illinois (I’m almost 70), and even the older folks who bought the cheapest strippers didn’t buy Studebakers – with the exception of one cranky and isolated old fundamentalist preacher couple who owned IIRC a battleship gray ’57 sedan… in the early 70’s when I was in HS, this car seemed a relic from a far – past era… older even than the likes of decrepit rusted – out late 50’s Mopars…
Plenty of cheap-o Ramblers about, but this was the only Stude around…
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I love them.
Studie owners were famously bohemian and radical. These fit the description. No neckties!
Reminds me of how ‘all’ US miliitary trucks, regardless of the manufacturer, were known by the Russian army in WW2 as ‘Studebaker’ (many of which were actually built by the company).
Here is a photo of my family’s 1960 Studebaker Lark V8 wagon. My father bought this car in 1962 after trading in the 1955 Ford wagon. He also later bought a 1960 Lark V8 convertible. The convertible was heavier than the wagon, I think because of the x-braced frame. This car (the wagon) had some serious corrosion by 1965 and I spent many hours in our garage repairing the body with Bondo before taking it to Earl Schieb for a paint-job. I remember hearing “Satisfaction” on the radio so many times that I loved the song, came to dislike the song, and then got to love it again. I drove the Lark to the paint shop with no bumpers, grille or headlights. We traded the Lark in for a new 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 wagon shortly after that.
My mother with the Studebaker Lark that was given to parents, by my grandfather. He had a white Lark. He eventually moved on to an AMC Matador.
The seventh image of the older couple with their tan ’50 could be titled:
“So, Ole and Lena come to visit in their new Studebaker, then.”