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The Studebaker
Hawks and
Avantis
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For those of us who can remember it, can we ever forget it
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pickup trucks from the first one to the present day. I thought , what a nice idea. I thought that I might try something similar with some of the car pictures I have collected. I have been collecting pictures of Studebakers, Packards Nash, Hudson and Jeeps for some time now and I first wrote a web page on this page on the Studebaker. Then one on Jeeps and Packard followed. Then came one Nash and Hudson. I have since added a page on old Pickup Trucks , Hudson. Essex and Terrplanes of Australia , Volkswagen Kaiser and Henry J and now I with the help of one of my visitors have written on on the Crosley. My experience with Studebakers is
limited but it is memorable.
These pictures came for a number
of sources including
I would like to invite any one that
has a favorite Studebaker picture or a Web Page
John MacDonald |
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| When Studebaker and Packard merged in 1954, all of
the American "independent" car companies were in trouble because Ford and
General Motors were having a price war. Those independent car companies
were Studebaker, Nash, Hudson, Kaiser, Packard and Willys. Of those companies,
only Studebaker and Nash would survive into the 1960s. In 1954, Studebaker
and Packard were selling less than half the number of cars that they were
able to sell in 1950.
Many of those who love Packard blame Studebaker for Packard's demise; there is a factual basis for that belief. Packard bought Studebaker believing that Studebaker would make a profit if Studebaker could sell approximately 160,000 cars year. Studebaker's actual "break even" point was actually selling more than 260,000 cars per year because of Studebaker's high labour cost. Studebaker was only able to sell that many for two or three years after World War II when all the American car companies could sell all the cars they could produce. During the first two model years of the Studebaker-Packard merger (1955-1956), neither company did well, and when Curtiss-Wright came to the rescue with money and management in 1956, a hard choice had to be made. On one hand, Packard could sell a limited number of big luxury cars (in the range of 50,000-75,000 per year) to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln, which did not have big volume sales. On the other hand, Studebaker was able to sell 268,099 autos and 52,146 trucks for a total of 320,245 vehicles its best calendar year (1950). Studebaker also built different sizes of trucks (tractors, mid-size & pick up), plus military trucks (2 and 1/2 ton, known in the Army as the "deuce and a half"), economy cars (Champions and Larks), sporty cars (Hawks) and station wagons, available with 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder motors. The South Bend Studebaker factory was a model of efficiency compared to the Packard operation in Detroit where they lost their lease on a rented body plant in 1954 (Chrysler kicked them out) and moved their body and final assembly plant to an older building at a different location in Detroit. By 1956, Packards were known for poor quality and reliability at a very expensive price. If Packard had been doing well, then Curtiss-Wright would have kept it and dumped Studebaker. The decision to keep the Studebaker factory operations in South Bend was a correct one. By 1959 Studebaker reduced its production costs, introduced the Lark and was able to make a profit after they sold 100,000 cars per year. That year they were able to produce Larks at a rate of 80 per hour and sold approximately 130,000 of them while making a good profit in the process. The Studebaker factory in South Bend could always build enough cars. The problem was that after 1960, they could build three times more cars than they could SELL. Studebaker was saved twice by building smaller cars; in 1939 by the Champion and twenty years later by the Lark. During the 1950s Nash survived (and grew) because it built the small economical Rambler and Studebaker survived because it built the Lark. If Packard had been chosen as the survivor, it probably would have died with the Edsel, if not sooner. The fate of Packard after it joined Studebaker was remarkably similar to the fate of Hudson after it joined Nash. The big car from Detroit got dumped as Nash found that the road to success was to build smaller cars and the men who ran Studebaker took note of that success as Nash passed them by in sales during the 1950s. The idea of building BIG Studebaker-Packards was dropped by 1957 and those that were proposed in drawings DID look like Lincolns because Ford was going to sell them the Lincoln tooling around 1956. Life at Studebaker was good until the early 1960s when the Big Three arrived with compact cars like the Ford Falcon, Mercury Meteor, Chevy II Nova & Corvair, Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart. As a result of that onslaught, Studebaker was gone by the mid-1960s and Rambler (aka, American Motors) was gone about fifteen years later, due in large part to a decision to put too much of their money into a large car known as the Matador. The fate of Packard after it joined Studebaker was remarkably similar to the fate of Hudson after it joined Nash. The big car from Detroit got dumped as Nash found that the road to success was to build smaller cars and the men who ran Studebaker took note of that success as Nash passed them by in sales during the 1950s. The idea of building BIG Studebaker-Packards was dropped by 1957 and those that were proposed in drawings DID look like Lincolns because Ford was going to sell them the Lincoln tooling around 1956. J.L. Jacobson |
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he Studebaker Brothers started
building automobiles in 1902. Their first automobiles
An interesting footnote sent
to me by Robert Dowling ,one of my visitors.
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Before you begin I want to mention that I have
been told that some
of the pictures on my pages aren't loading
properly.
If this should happen to you just right click
on the area where
the picture is supposed to be and select "Show
Picture".
I have been told by the support team of my
hosting service that this problem
is a fault of MSIE and that we will have to
live with it.
Also note that some of the pictures are set
up with larger images available.
In this case click on the image for the larger
view.
This page was last updated on Aug 8 2009
This Studebaker page is in four
sections.
This page is the fourth in the
series.
The following links will take you to remainder
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The Hawks
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Click on this image for a larger view in a new window |
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| This car is owned by Ward Morrill
of McAllen, TX
Ward has just won the Mayor's Choice in McAllen's Palmfest car show |
This car is owned by Ward Morrill of McAllen, TX |
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These pictures were taken in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
on Aug 8, 2009. The car was was in a local car show. it is owned by Arden and Daaren Clarke from the Moncton, New Brunswick area. |
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Nova Scotia Canada |
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| This car is owned by Dirck Pont from South Africa.
He just recently purchased this car and is planning on restoring it and making it a daily driver |
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| Dirck Pont has completed his redstoration and has submitted
the following pictures. |
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It's no different here then in North America |
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Click on this image for a larger view in a new window |
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| This car is owned by Erin Hays,,Seymour, Indiana
This car was was ordered in november 1960 by his grandfather Kelly Hays. It is equiped with: 289 4BBL with 3spd overdrive, 3.54 rearend gear with Twin Traction, Dual exhaust, Firestone Whitewall tires, full disc hubcaps, climitizer, reclining bucket seats, tach, sport clock, tinted glass, undercoating, dual side mirrors, back up lights. If you would like to go for a ride in a 61 hawk click here Go for a Ride in a 61 Hawk |
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| This car is owned by Parnell Stockstill
of Houston Texas.
He found the car at an Collector's who had acquired it about 6 months ago from another collector. It looks like the car has been recently restored. |
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Please click on this image for a larger view in a new window |
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The Avanti
It looks just as good today
as it did in 1962
Click on the image for a larger view in a new window |
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| This picture was submitted by
Richard Morris Renton, WA |
To continue your tour of the Studebakers use the links below
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From the beginning to 1939 |
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From 1940 to 1949 |
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From 1950 to the End |
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