"Tristan" (casselts)
03/28/2019 at 21:15 • Filed to: None
5
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"Tristan" (casselts)
03/28/2019 at 21:15 • Filed to: None | 5
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1957 Studebaker President 4-door hardtop design proposal. The roof line looks very left-over Packard.
AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/28/2019 at 21:20 |
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Did you see this on the Studebaker Museum’s Instagram?
WilliamsSW
> Tristan
03/28/2019 at 21:27 |
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I love it!
ranwhenparked
> Tristan
03/28/2019 at 22:56 |
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You really have to hand it to them, they were masters at reworking that 1953 body.
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Tristan
> ranwhenparked
03/28/2019 at 23:04 |
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They really milked the daylights out of it all the way to the end!
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Tristan
> AMC/Renauledge
03/28/2019 at 23:06 |
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I saw it on the Studebaker Addicts bookface page- I don’t have Instagram. Does this make me old?
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 02:46 |
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I’m just a year older than you, but I don’t use it that often. I ditched FB a year ago.
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Tristan
> AMC/Renauledge
03/29/2019 at 02:58 |
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I’ve ditched it a couple times, but being a veteran leaves me with friends all over the globe I like to keep up with, so I end up going back. It's filled with negativity and ignorance, so I try not to spend too much time there.
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 12:13 |
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Totally valid. Social media is a beast that way. I’ve heard it said that Facebook is the app where you grow to hate your family and friends, while Twitter is where you fall in love with total strangers. Neither is exactly ideal.
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AMC/Renauledge
> ranwhenparked
03/29/2019 at 12:19 |
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Yes indeed. They got quite creative. Maybe a bit too creative with the 19 58 Packards and Studebakers.
Also, it applied to b oth bodies. The Starlight/Hawk bodyshell was different enough that it essentially cost the same to build as a completely different bodyshell.
Studebaker built the Hawk body through model year 1964 and the standard body through 1966. Then the chassis lived on in the Avanti through 1986 or so. Die-hards within the company had actually contracted with an outside design firm to update the body a bit more for ‘67, on the cheap. But Studebaker pulled the plug before that happened.
And this was the era of the annual styling change!
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ranwhenparked
> AMC/Renauledge
03/29/2019 at 12:21 |
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The Starlight updates were particularly effective. The GT Hawk almost looked like a whole new car - almost. Still one of the best looking cars on sale at the time, and quite impressive for a hack job.
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AMC/Renauledge
> ranwhenparked
03/29/2019 at 12:28 |
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Yeah, I think they budgeted just $120-200k for that update. That was peanuts even then. But it drastically improved the thing. Too bad the interior in ‘62 was made out of Kleenex. It was much improved for ‘63, but I think the rejuvenated ‘62 soured some folks.
The ‘64 GT Hawk is probably my favorite Studebaker of them all.
Also, I’ve read that the Hawk almost didn’t survive into 1959. Studebaker basically put it back into production late in the model year to offset slowing Lark sales.
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 14:11 |
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They really should have done this for the 1957 Packard Clipper, at the very least. But for economies of scale, they’d have probably needed to use it for the President and, maybe, Commander as well.
Also, I’m a sucker for the ‘57 Packards.
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Tristan
> AMC/Renauledge
03/29/2019 at 14:16 |
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You’d be happy to learn that my dad is currently restoring a ‘57 Clipper then! It’s my favorite flavor of the ‘57 Studebaker lineup. I won’t get to lay eyes on it for the first time until August, but I’m excited!
I imagine SP didn’t follow through with this design because the merger was such a disaster and left them in such a terrible financial state that they just couldn’t afford the tooling.
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 14:22 |
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That’s probably true. The date on this photo, 5/9/56, was about 5 weeks before they reached their financial nadir and had to shut Packard’s Detroit operations down.
Also, yeah, it’s SO COOL that your dad is restoring a ‘57 Packard. Is it a sedan or wagon?
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Tristan
> AMC/Renauledge
03/29/2019 at 15:41 |
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Sedan. I’d kill for a ‘57 wagon!
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 15:52 |
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Me too. What color(s) is it/will it be? I’m very interested in hearing updates as they come .
A ‘58 wagon would be even more of a coup. I think only 159 were made. The quad fins make me happy. The ‘58 sedan and hardtop have such awkward proportions given their frontal styling, but the wagon balanced everything out a bit better.
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Tristan
> AMC/Renauledge
03/29/2019 at 15:59 |
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He’s got a ‘58 sedan, too. It’s so ugly you can’t help but love it.
I’m not sure what colors he settled on, but I think it was purple and white.
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AMC/Renauledge
> Tristan
03/29/2019 at 16:36 |
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Oh for sure. It’s my understanding, too, that the Packard’s second set of fins, as well as its lower quarter panels are simply welded over the top of the Studebaker sheetmetal. Do you know if that’s true?
Purple and white are so ‘50s.