So I looked around for anything from 1963. Saab, Citroen, Renault, Volvo. Nothing. Well nothing that fit the budgetary requirements. After a while, a few 1963 American cars started to appear. Fords, Chevys, Caddys. All huge dreadnoughts of a car that would struggle to fit in our garage. So they were out. Then a few vehicles I wasn't really aware of. An AMC Rambler caught my eye for a while until I took a closer look. It wasn't as good as the pictures made out. Then I saw this...
A 1963 Studebaker Cruiser. I knew the name Studebaker of course. Some of the most exciting and striking automotive designs of the 50's and 60's came out of South Bend, Indiana. The 1950 Champion Starlight Coupe being the most obvious example. I didn't know what a Cruiser was though. It was the top of the range of the Lark models. So much so that it didn't even carry the Lark name. It was just the "Cruiser". It was marketed as a more compact rival to the bigger limousines of the "big three" makers. Studebaker even coined the term "Limousette" to describe it.
I was captivated by the design, that Mercedes-esque grille and all those curves around the grille, headlights and chrome bumpers. So, my wife Lorrie and I decided to go and take a look at it. It didn't disappoint. The car is a stalled restoration project that hadn't run in some 20 years. But that body is sound, very sound. The paintwork is a joy to behold.
One word. Patina. The colour is known in Studebaker circles as Rosemist. It's officially a Purple. A Brownish Purple. But research seems to suggest that back in the day finishing a cars paint job with a clear lacquer was not done, so the shiny grayish purple has faded to a satin lavender grey. It's a brilliant looking finish that I love. It has to be kept like this.
I was captivated by the design, that Mercedes-esque grille and all those curves around the grille, headlights and chrome bumpers. So, my wife Lorrie and I decided to go and take a look at it. It didn't disappoint. The car is a stalled restoration project that hadn't run in some 20 years. But that body is sound, very sound. The paintwork is a joy to behold.
One word. Patina. The colour is known in Studebaker circles as Rosemist. It's officially a Purple. A Brownish Purple. But research seems to suggest that back in the day finishing a cars paint job with a clear lacquer was not done, so the shiny grayish purple has faded to a satin lavender grey. It's a brilliant looking finish that I love. It has to be kept like this.
Needless to say we both fell in love with the car. So the price was agreed on and a few days later a friend and I made the trip from Princeton to Le Sueur, MN with a trailer to collect it.
The car hadn't been run in some 20 years and the fuel tank smelled like paint thinners so it was a good idea not to drive it. Right now, the car resides in a workshop, being cleaned up to get the motor running after 20 years of neglect.
Now research has begun to reveal the rallye history of Studebaker. The makers achieved great success in the Mobil Economy Run of the 50's and 60's. The successes of Studebaker and AMC cars in this event caused their vehicles to be put in a new, separate class because the big three automakers couldn't even come close to the figures (up to 25 mpg) recorded by these cars.
Greater success was accorded to the Studebaker Lark winning the Shell 4000 rally outright in 1961 and 1962.
So there you go, quite by accident I've ended up buying a car with a Rallye heritage. Quite the bonus. So perhaps once it's running we'll end up turning up to a road rallye in the car. Perhaps having been inspired by the whole experience of the Goodwood revival we will turn up to road rallies in a 1963 car wearing 1960's clothing, using 1960's navigation equipment. Who knows?
