Coggins Motor Co., Studebaker, Charlottesville, VA.
Kallin Motors, Studebaker, Saint Paul, MN.
Hatch Motor Co., Studebaker, Show Low, AZ.
Center Line Motor Sales, Center Line, MI.
Morehead Motors Inc., Studebaker-Packard, Service area, Aberdeen, WA.
Reliable Motors, Studebaker, Waynesboro, MS.
Robinson Motors, Packard-Studebaker, Gadsden, AL.
Packhurst Motors, Studebaker-Volkswagen, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.
Forrest Hughes, Studebaker, Ukiah, CA.
Viniela Sport Cars Ltd., Vineland, NJ.
My family owned quite a few of the cars in these pictures because my Dad worked for Raymond Loewy and was involved in the design of many of those cars. He was also was the design lead on the Avanti. Seeiing all the Studebaker dealerships makes me feel nostalgic for a simpler and quieter time.
Your post piqued my curiosity, and a couple of clicks away I found lots of mentions about your father. Do you remember some design process to share with us? I find the whole life of people who fled from one continent to another and then did something that decades on is still famous truly amazing.
Even got the “Stude”, truck there in “NJ”.
I was able to locate Reliable Motors in Mississippi. The dealership was located in Waynesboro (not Waynesville). The building is still standing – then-and-now image below (with a nice Cutlass Supreme T-top out front!).
After Studebaker, Reliable’s owner (Hilton Walker) switched to Buick and Pontiac – and seems to have stayed in business for another two decades or so, as Walker Motors.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fFxKejsijzBHociu6
Thanks Eric! I updated the dealer’s address.
A quick search didn’t say, but I think Coggins Motor Co site was later Pollard GMC
It’s strange that a few Studebaker dealers went to GMC truck after Studebaker called it quits. Atherton Motors in Burbank CA. was one.
When you show the photos of old dealerships, usually I can remember similar ones in my neighborhood. I can’t remember any Studebaker dealerships. They were doing construction to a boutique on the Newport peninsula at PCH and underneath the facade was a painted sign for a Studebaker- Mercedes dealership. In So Cal, Studebaker was the importer for MB. Then again, even in the late 60s, a Mercedes was a rare sight.
I enjoy these dealer photos. Strange that the signage for Gasoline is more prominent than the vehicles they are selling in a lot of these pictures. Maybe some of these mom and pop stores made more money on gas? Selling 3 or 4 cars in a month was probably decent for some of them.
What a weird layout for that first dealership. Not sure why you’d have such a mean stair up to a single showroom door?
Interesting pictures to be sure .
-Nate
I found this sign on the South Bend Chippewa truck factory location – nice, even if the font is off.
I know two local Stude dealers around my way – American Service Center in Arlington, VA (still in same building, now selling Mercedes Benz and recently renamed Mercedes-Benz of Arlington), and Nelson Motors in College Park, MD, building still there but now a Zips dry cleaner. Between those two uses it was an Edsel dealership.
pic:
That shot of Kallin Motors in St. Paul has sort of a Hitchcockian vibe. Psycho?
The combination of Studebaker-Volkswagen was also very interesting.