My Daddy had a 52 Studebaker truck . BEAUTIFUL !!!!! God what art it was.

I think they were a bit harsh on Packard especially compared to Studebaker. A healthier Packard essentially purchased the struggling Studebaker which once finalised had realised that their management hadn't been forthcoming about the dire situation in the company. Studebaker had to produce and sell 278,000 to break even and their cars and factories were in need of expensive update to merely bring them up to standard. Unfortunately what little dowry Packard had was quickly squandered and the whole company ceased to exist within a few years

Really good documentary. My father told me there was a Studebaker dealer in my hometown which was a GM-town. He said the man who ran the dealer was surly and the cars had a number of quality issues (they appeared to jump back and forth across the road). It clearly wasn't just one thing that caused the end of Studebaker but a number of issues.

My dad bought a 1961 Studebaker rumble seat hawk. (. Only two were made. ). We still have it been to a lot of car shows in Michigan. Nov / 2020 🇺🇸

@russellhartwell5404

3 жыл бұрын

,, ,, I, "NEVER," SAW, # 1, !!,

30:17 I started collecting beer cans in 1971 in St Louis MO. I still have about 400 of them and now I have a beautiful '57 Silver Hawk.

Sad that such an industry has ended ,,, distinctive, beautiful and practical design!!!

@charleskaucic5047

3 жыл бұрын

Thank Chevrolet and ford and mass production.

@autocamping5057

3 жыл бұрын

@@charleskaucic5047 And Dodge, GMC

The picture in the Wikipedia article on Kemmerer, Wyoming shows the old Studebaker dealership building. It is on the right with an Arctic Cat sign in front. There is also a sign from it in the Lincoln Co. Wyoming Museum, and 20 years ago it was not uncommon to see a few large Stude trucks parked around here. The 49 to 62 pickups are nice looking machines.

I hate how they say that they made a few "token" cars in Canada. The plant in Hamilton Ontario was there since the 40's, and built cars until March of 66'. They played a big part for Studebaker, and It was just as devastating when it too closed up.

@arnepianocanada

3 жыл бұрын

Well stated. That throwaway comment disregarded and derided a similarly devoted workforce.

@HarborLockRoad

2 жыл бұрын

I had a hamilton built 65 cruiser...and it was a fine car! Thanks canada!

We took a family road trip in 1962 from California to Michigan. Since my dad was a Studebaker fan, we drove by the Studebaker plant in South Bend, We were still driving by, when my dad said, "I can tell you that Studebaker is in trouble. That's the employee parking lot. Notice how hardly any of the cars are Studebakers. Those people don't have confidence in the product they are building." The union troubles had started a year or two earlier. He called it, two years before they closed. We were driving a new 1962 Lark sedan, which we loved. In all, my dad owned a series of a dozen Studebakers (but never owned a Hawk, to his regret), and did most of the maintenance himself. But my point is that he (and others) saw the end coming.

@jakekaywell5972

3 жыл бұрын

That hesitance is also a key part of why Studebaker (wisely, in my opinion) pulled out of the automotive industry entirely in 1966. It creates a self-fulfilling prophecy that's almost impossible to counteract. At least I do have myself a '62 GT Hawk with an unusual array of options. No power steering or brakes but Twin Traction and factory air conditioning!

My old school buddy's dad drove Larks-we thought they were ancient even when they were new-compared to the GTO's, and Impalas-an interesting documentary-I liked the music choices as well-thank you Damian, for posting this!

@jakekaywell5972

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting. '60s Studebakers always struck me as a combination of the (then) modern and archaic, probably due to the financial realities that the automotive division had to work around. For instance, my '62 GT Hawk has crisp European styling and yet the old fender vents that had been on Studebaker coupes since 1953 are still on display.

@whatyoumakeofit6635

2 жыл бұрын

Seems like nobody ever wants to admit it but thats why the company failed. Their automotive styling was way out dated

@kirstenspencer3630

2 жыл бұрын

When I was a very young mechanic ( 1974 ) I had an older woman that had a limited edition LARK. In the early 1960's compact car racing developed a small following. A limited number of special competion modified Larks were built. They were the real deal. The owner knew it was dated style wise but fast as hell. White with yellow trim and an interior that had different color door panels. No sound deadining. My god, the cluch was soo heavy I could push it in, four speed and 327 Corvette motor. Huge front sway bar and springs that looked from a railcar, posi rear end. A tiger dressed up for a tea party. 1963 Lark. I'll still buy it.

My uncle Bill was a truck driver in Milwaukee. As a kid, I remember him saying most of the cars that had ‘broken down’ while he was driving trucks were Studebackers.

This film was made in 1983. The said the Bokon family wasn't driving Studebaker's anymore. What they didn't tell you is that you coul drive down any street South Bend and see a Studebaker parked in driveways or in the street in front of at least one or more houses along the street. This lasted well into thr 90's.

My dad almost worked for Studebaker for 10 years after World War II I believe they branched out way too many different areas but the one thing that made them prosperous and how they started by making vehicles for transportation the one thing that made them prosperous and the workers were happy but then they branched out in so many different areas and then they cut the one thing that made them practice in the beginning and I believe that was their downfall my dad went on to work for General Motors in 1955 for 30 years fight like hell in the Union and retired with dignity and honor I miss him so

@Inkslinger03

3 жыл бұрын

Lloyd - by "almost worked," did you mean that he was one of those union workers? They were semi-productive and helped bring the company down. There were other management problems too, but the unions were a drag on the company and did themselves no favors either.

I wish they would do a documentary on Oil City Pa , when Quaker state , Pennzoil , Wolfs head left, killed this town!

@capriracer351

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely. The final nail in the coffin around here.

I remember watching this when it aired in1983 because one item of mention was that the Toyota dealer on S Western Avenue used to be Studebaker on Western in Chicago because I have a 1966 Chicago auto show program & it was printed in that

My grandfather worked at Bendix for years and years and eventually retired from there......

What a stunning car - the CONVERTIBLE Lark!

The 1955 Packard was NOT ugly, at least in my opinion. The problem was that Packard tried too much, too quickly. All new OHV V8, new transmission, and an all-new torsion bar suspension with a complicated electric load-leveling system. You DON'T do all that in one year; you're just asking for trouble, and they got it.

@harrybriscoe7948

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like the Edsel with all new engineering and all new kinks

@billolsen4360

3 жыл бұрын

I always thought Packards were great looking too. The 1950's just spelled the end of US independent passenger car makers. Kaiser/Fraser, Packard, Studebaker, Hudson, Willys all went down because GM, Ford, Chrysler had all the money to put in advertising and yearly restyling & that appealed, unless you where a Jeep fan.

@harrybriscoe7948

3 жыл бұрын

@@billolsen4360 Didn't Willy and Hudson end up in AMC then Chrysler ?

@martyzielinski2469

3 жыл бұрын

@@harrybriscoe7948 Hudson and Nash......

@Inkslinger03

3 жыл бұрын

The 55 Packard was a classy ride, with a lot of new features. Some of those features (like the Hill Holder and the Load Leveler) didn't appear on other cars for ten years after.

Yes ..soo true ..especially in the designs up to 1955……surprisingly I was twelve when my older brother purchased his first car in 1956 ….and I was totally disappointed ..in his choice until I saw his model the 1946 commander v8 …and was relived of the incredible turn around in design ..I use to call them ..STUPIDBAKER……up to the new design in 1956……that is my experience of this lethargic…make ……now history…

In the end, it was management's fault for letting the engineers and designers go, not spending enough on advertising, not supporting the dealers, not modernizing the plants, and not taking a firmer stance with the unions. But no one ever has the courage to lay blame where it lies: WITH MANAGEMENT!

@CH-pv2rz

3 жыл бұрын

Bullshit... It was the Unions destroying the profits and driving costs up to unsustainable levels. Serves them right for losing their pensions.

@martyzielinski2469

3 жыл бұрын

@@CH-pv2rz AGREED! (for the most part. Management screwed up too)

@johnbecker5213

2 жыл бұрын

amen!!!!!

@johnbecker5213

2 жыл бұрын

@@martyzielinski2469 rat

Studebaker always tried to move forward even though the odds were always against them that's why Studebaker is remembered and I do think that makes Studebaker a CHAMPION 😊

Interesting; similar issues 50 years later in the American auto industry. Management issues, labor, market competition. They had a good car, but competition that was willing to change designs and features every year to capture a small bit of the market. Packard was and still is known as a prestige automobile, and Studebaker as an innovator. Both had strengths and weaknesses, but they weren't able to work on the strengths and overcome the weaknesses.

Elvis drove a studebaker.

@martyzielinski2469

3 жыл бұрын

Elvis drove LOTS of cars.....

@edwardkennedy9919

3 жыл бұрын

@@martyzielinski2469 yes I know I'm just saying that he drove studebakers,

Only the Hawk was selling at the end. And the Avanti had all kinds of orders but they couldn't produce them. Long live the Hawks, Avantis, and 53 & 54"s by Studebaker! Best designs!

Este fanático debería ver videos de la Carrera Panamericana.

As a black man. I don't want to relive the 50's and 60's. 😂

@here_we_go_again2571

2 ай бұрын

If you lived in the South it was bad. But in the industrialized North there were jobs for just about everyone. Blacks who arrived in the North post WW1 and during WW2, had the advantage of good inner-city school systems that they lacked in the South. Also Black parents at the time did not embrace a culture that was counterproductive; or that glorified crime. The parents were active in their churches and a great deal of respect was given to Blacks who had become educated in the sciences, medicine, law and also religious leaders. At the time, overall out-of- wedlock births were lower for Blacks than in many immigrant neighborhoods Out of wedlock births of a group is a good ("shorthand" /"quick") indicator of the social stability within a group. At least within groups that comprise the USA. .

21:54 "Happy Days!" Tom Bosley(Mr. Cunningham"

There may be a lot of justified finger-pointing for the failure, it appears they had too few models. The only family car they had was the Lark. They were successful when Rambler was their only competition in economy cars, the Big 3 jumped into that market. Rambler managed to survive with 3 family car models for different market segments, and the 1960 Rambler American looked very similar to the Lark. There just wasn’t enough market share in small economy cars to compete with the Rambler, Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, Chevy Corvair and VW Beetle. It was inevitable and sad that Studebaker went under.

@Inkslinger03

3 жыл бұрын

The Studebaker Museum in South Bend sells a book that tells the whole sad story of mismanagement. When the founder "Studebaker Johnny" died, the management team lost focus. That's always a terminal condition for a company.

@jakekaywell5972

3 жыл бұрын

@@Inkslinger03 Essentially, the Chevrolet-Ford Price War of 1953 as well as Studebaker's own bungling of the demand for their Loewy-Bourke coupes (80% vs. 20% for the similarly-styled sedans) doomed them. After that point, everything else delayed the inevitable.

That's Perry White of the Daily Planet at 6:00.

@mikedrown2721

3 жыл бұрын

Yes....played by John Hamilton

@billolsen4360

3 жыл бұрын

Great Caesar's Ghost!

@jeffgreen7499

4 ай бұрын

A lot of Hollywood guys were in the 1953 movie, "The Studebaker Story". John Hamilton(Perry White) and fellows that were in many westerns, Myron Healey, Walter Coy, Trevor Bardette, Harry Carey Jr.

What is it about the 80s that makes people wish they could go back there?

"Studebaker didn't have the dealer network and the reputation of Studebaker dealers was that their dealers wouldn't deal, they would rather sell 5 cars at a profit of $500 each than 25 cars at $100 each". They also ordered cars in 1s and 2s not in large inventories. Sure sounds to me like Studebaker may have progressed from selling horse drawn carriages to gasoline automobiles but their business model and practices didn't follow along with it. They relied on the same outdated model from back in their horse drawn carriage days. No wonder they couldn't compete when things began to shift in the competitive automotive industry landscape and also the expectations of buyers who at the end of the day decided that Studebaker wasn't a company that could deliver products that met their ever increasing expectations.

@shobud7561

3 жыл бұрын

You just said the very same words as the guy in the documentary !

@Inkslinger03

3 жыл бұрын

Here's a question of Studebaker lore that someone must be able to answer: In California, anyway, the Studebaker dealerships we visited were owned by retired FBI and OSS agents. There has to be a reason. Who knows the story?

That 2 door Grand Marquis at 35:38 is a rare collectible car!

1939 commanderstudebaker

Let's cut to the chase. The cars looked old fashioned right out of the factory. The quality was not what you thought. The big three did all things better and cheaper and more appealing. A Studebaker, to me, is manned with a very old man with very long ears and does not signal a turn, crawling to the local malt shop.

@jakekaywell5972

2 жыл бұрын

Stuff and nonsense. Studebaker was known for its avant-garde styling, with the Avanti and Loewy Coupes being the best known post-war examples. The quality was also bulletproof, even during the Studebaker-Packard era. In the five years that I've owned my '62 GT Hawk, it has NEVER left me stranded.

@djtherock7062

Ай бұрын

STUDEBAKER had the fastest production car in the 50's the Hawk wiith a supercharger and overdrive transmission and a 160mph speedometer the car would do every bit of it and the BEST body lines of its Era ahead of their time the big 3 where in the rear view mirror

Studebaker's huge mistake was keeping James R. Nance of Packard as a manager. He was a terrible excuse for a human being. His mistakes destroyed Packard. I do not think the last 2 years of Packards were ugly with their new V8. Their last straight 8 were also beautiful. A Israeli performer later to become one of the world's most beloved performer, my second cousin, came back after studying with her husband for 2 years in NYC, with 2 of them, Patrician 1954 with the 149 wheelbase. I was dark blue & 1 was light blue. I first saw them when I was nearly 4 & remember them now that I'm nearly 71.

@jeffgreen7499

4 ай бұрын

Too much blame on Nance, not all his fault, he was doing his best to modernize Packard. I met him back in the 1980s along with Packard designers John Reinhardt and Dick Teague. They did not think he was a terrible person. For many years Cleveland State's business class was named The James J. Nance School of Business. He went into banking a few years after Packard and said his biggest regret was that wished he'd gone into banking before he went to Packard because banks were the key to get funds to capitalize.

Hawk GT - Class on 4 wheels

Thats funny south bend tribune is printed in grand rapids Michigan now

Studebaker began to decline in the 30s. Before the crash of 29 Studebakers were premium cars, Look up 1929 Studebaker President. The post WWII Studebakers were very mediocre cars, although the HAWK was beautiful car.

It was Studebaker in name only. The original family had either died or moved on.

@jakekaywell5972

2 жыл бұрын

Does that discredit everything the Corporation did after it was reorganized in 1934 then?

*The late 1940's through the early1960's was a great time for most in the USA, to grow up,* *and to be alive!* *WW2 was over.* USA and its allies were victorious in both in Europe and in the Pacific. (The GI's who returned wanted to have a better society -- "All boats rise" was the underlying theory) *The Cold War* had begun (and there had been a victory in the Berlin Blockade/Airlift 1948--1949) *Korean War* (1950--1953) did not last long and ended in a draw (armistice, no peace deal) *Cuban Missile Crisis* (13 days ... 16-28 October 1962) had ended peacefully *The Vietnam War* (1955 - 1975) had not, yet, heated up (with American troops until 1961--1963). *Employment was high, unemployment and inflation were low* during most of these years. (The offshoring and "stagflation" that plagued the 1970's onward had not begun). *By the end of the 1960's the Civil Rights movement was bearing good fruit.* [It had begun post-American Civil War (1860--1865) and was revitalized during WW2 and in the 1950's with integration in the military and school integration -- promoted by President Eisenhower.]

Este Sr. es un fanático que no sabe mucho de autos.

Conway Twitty Owned A Studebaker

STUDEBAKER...Americas "YUGO! If you drove one for any distance, it tried to "unbuild" itself.

@jakekaywell5972

2 жыл бұрын

Stuff and nonsense. While a few valid criticisms can be leveled against Studebakers, reliability simply isn't one of them. Not even during the Studebaker-Packard era would you have gotten a lemon. My '62 GT Hawk will attest to that.

1952 was the start of the Korean War.

@dekelanson5280

3 жыл бұрын

The Korean war started in 1950, then ended in 53' (Though technically, it never really ended)

35:29 that guy just kiss three women...?? wonder how they are related...??

Seeing a documentary about your family's history is completely bizarre.

Our government is gar less than they promised.

Failure = George Romney.

Stude a baker ?

It really goes to show how tremendously you fukt up when 5 japanese/korean car companys can turn a profits/build factorys where you can't and you closed your only factory

@mikeskidmore6754

3 жыл бұрын

They had a Factory in Canada and Chicago too ..

I was 20 in 1961 and car hungry. In my opinion Studebaker failed for one main reason, the style of their cars sucked. Nobody wanted one.

@jakekaywell5972

2 жыл бұрын

Not particularly. The 1953 Chevrolet-Ford price war crippled Chrysler and crushed the Independents, with Studebaker being hit the hardest by far. They tried making the '53 platform work as long as possible, with mostly good results. The Lark in particular is a masterclass in good taste and restraint. A far cry from the visually confused parade floats that Cadillac and Imperial were putting out in the same era.

@CharlesCoderre-yv1cu

2 жыл бұрын

totally agreed-every one was a rolling abortion

Studebaker always tried to move forward even though the odds were always against them that's why Studebaker is remembered and I do think that makes Studebaker a CHAMPION 😊

Studebaker always tried to move forward even though the odds were always against them that's why Studebaker is remembered and I do think that makes Studebaker a CHAMPION 😊

Studebaker always tried to move forward even though the odds were always against them that's why Studebaker is remembered and I do think that makes Studebaker a CHAMPION 😊