I spent several hours wandering around the Studebaker Drivers Club meet in Tallmadge, just east of Akron, on Saturday, August 25 and came away with a pocket full of dead NiCad batteries and an SD card full of photos. Here's some of what I saw:
This year's show wasn't quite as big as
last year's--112 Studes versus about 120 a year ago, though there were a record number of Packards (29). Even so, there was a lot to see.
There were more Loewy coupes this time around. These two red ones were particularly nice:
The owner of a maroon Commander Starlight which arrived after the last of my batteries had died brought her preschool-aged son along in his car seat. I have to commend her for her wise parenting, making sure her child encounters great works of art at an early age.
The Avanti community was also well-represented.
This is a rare one, a Studebaker-built Avanti in "Avanti Grey." The color was only in the catalog for a short time, when production issues forced the temporary discontinuance of Avanti Black.
There was a delegation of Hawks in attendance as well.
The Hawks are a little over-ornamented for my tastes, but with the right two-tone combination they can look really sharp. This '56 was breathtaking.
This Power Hawk is a particularly rare bird (pun intended). The prime mover is the optional 352 cubic inch Packard V-8, which was only available in 1956.
The straight-line acceleration must be almost terrifying.
There was the usual exaltation of Larks.
The Lark contingent included this '63 with a "Skytop" canvas sunroof...
...factory-weaponized with an Avanti R2 drivetrain.
There were also several Lark convertibles.
The yellow one still had its original window sticker. Only $3,404 plus tax, title, and dealer prep....
This red one is for sale.
My 25th wedding anniversary is a couple of years away. If any of you talk to my wife between now and then, you might mention that Lark convertibles make great anniversary gifts.
Speaking of red convertibles, this 1964 Daytona kept calling to me.
According to the factory production order, it was assembled on January 25, 1964, in Hamilton, Ontario. This was shortly after the Studebaker plant in South Bend closed. There's a Stude smallblock V-8 in the engine bay--Hamilton used the leftover inventory of drivetrain components from South Bend until the supply ran out, then switched to Chevy engines for the last year and a half before Studebaker's automotive business shut down completely in late 1965. This makes this particular Daytona one of the last "true" Studebakers.
The Daytona looked like it had rolled off the end of the assembly line and right through a time portal.
So did this 1924 six-cylinder touring car. It was utterly gorgeous.
The 1950-51 "Bullet Noses" were out in force...
...including this little fella, which was popular with the kids.
Down in the Packard section, they were laying on the swank.
It's no Packard, but it's swank enough to stand with them: a Forward Look Chrysler 300.
For those of a more blue-collar persuasion, the truck department had a large selection, everything from the cuddly Champ...
...to more traditional pickups... 
...to the big fellas.
It's no luxury car, but this truck was as swank in its own way as any of the Packards.
Here's something you don't see very often: a Stude truck with a camper body.
A few more odds and ends: an unrestored 1955 President Speedster in "lemon-lime" two-tone,...
...and a '55 Conestoga wagon...
...and this barn-find '37 Dictator.
We'll have some more photos from Tallmadge tomorrow, but for now, we'll close with this year's winner of the Car Lust Trophy: an utterly immaculate AMC Ambassador.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Al S. on September 05, 2012 at 04:47 AM
I don't think an Avanti pulls off white walls.
Say Cookie, what are those little propeller things that you see on the front of some bullet noses?
John B on September 05, 2012 at 08:36 AM
Al S.
I just finished restoring my Avanti, so I know something about white walls.
Early prototypes were photographed with wide whites.
By the time the car entered production, the industry standard had gone down to white walls about 1-2" wide. Today you don't see many restored Avantis with wide whites. In fact, you're far more likely to see them with blackwalls and aftermarket wheels. I found some white walls with 1" white walls and it look great with the stock wheelcovers(as seen on the gold and grey cars).
BTW: the red Avanti in photo 7 is a later Avanti II..note the headrests, side marker lights, chrome wheels and bullet mirrors.
The propellers on some bullet noses are aftermarket items...meant to have a bit of fun. Too bad no one ever hooked them to the generator...
toronado455 on September 05, 2012 at 09:14 AM
@ Al S.
I don't like the wide whites on the Avanti, but the narrow white walls seem OK to me.
Also, just as an aside, I believe the author of this post is not named Cookie. I think the author's dog is named Cookie and the author is anonymous the owner of that dog. I think that if a comma was inserted after 'Cookie' as in "Cookie, the dog's owner" it would read that in fact the owner's name is Cookie and the dog is anonymous. But to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. :-)
toronado455 on September 05, 2012 at 09:20 AM
On those 50-51 "bullet nose" cars, were they taking the cue from the '49 Ford and taking it a step further, or was this an original idea?
Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 05, 2012 at 09:43 AM
I plan to do a post on "bullet nose" Studes at some point; a part of me has always thought that that front end is just crying out for a three-bladed Hamilton Standard constant speed propeller.
@toronado, Al: I do occasionally get referred to in these parts as "Cookie," but that's my dog's name, not mine. It's OK, no offense taken and no harm done.
Bruce Rheinstein on September 05, 2012 at 10:09 PM
I have a weakness for Loewy coupes...