1954 Studebaker 3R 6-12 Tires

There's a lot of discussion about which tires fit and ride best on classic cars. Some people swear by bias ply tires for an authentic look and feel, while others prefer modern radials. Coker Tire and others make radials that look like white wall bias ply tires, but they come at a moderate premium.

Our Studebaker 3R is and will be a daily driver, so we went with a practical light duty truck tire that has a decent profile - just agressive enough to be a truck tire, but with good highway performance.

We settled on 225 70 R16 tires from Falken Tire. They were $116 per tire plus balancing, etc.

Meet Our New Addition - 1954 Studebaker 3R 6-12

We've +1 our Studebaker collection. "The 3R-series trucks remained in full production for only eight months: January to August 1954. 1954 production was much lower than in previous years: South Bend B/U: 6148 (plus the six built in 1953); South Bend CKD: 2796; and Hamilton: 263, for a total of 9213 units (9219 with the six built in 1953). The company reported that only 4160 3R-series trucks were built for domestic sale in the U.S."

1947 Studebaker Pickup - Old Cars Weekly

"Frye has certainly earned the right to enjoy his truck. After buying the battered machine in 2003, he realized he had so many things to fix that he wound up buying a second Studebaker pickup as a donor truck. From that point, he combed the country tracking down parts and networking with Studebaker enthusiasts to figure out how to put an authentic M-5 back together."

Read the full article here.

1955 Studebaker Commander - Black on Pink Coral

A true to form, beautiful "driver" resto. I love the Studebakers West reference, too.

"Eventually I had the 259-cubic inch V8 rebuilt by the Thom brothers, who own Studebakers West in Redwood City. Visiting their shop is a hoot. It's a warehouse full of Studebaker parts and a computer system that looks like it came out a time warp."

Studebaker Next - South Bend, IN, Looks Ahead

50 years later, South Bend aims to respect the past while building anew.

"When Studebaker closed in 1963, it left a gaping hole in the town, where unemployment is at 10.4 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now, the city is working hard to create a second act for the commercial life of South Bend."

Hear the full article on NPR.org.

Studebaker Avanti's Influence

"While the Avanti didn't save Studebaker in the 1960s, its design and life-saving technology lives on in current automobiles."

Studebaker Avanti - An Affordable Icon

The NY Times profiles some of the many faces of Avanti.

"1963 STUDEBAKER AVANTI R-1 $11,000 to $33,000. The original article with road-sniffing rake and round headlight trim. Less expensive than a supercharged R-2. Forget about finding an authentic R-3; only a few were made, though many clones exist."

Click here to read the full article.

New Spectacles - "Doc" Studebaker

In the "just for fun" file. I made some new specs for "Doc" this week. Check them out.

Studebakers at Fair Oaks Fiesta Days, California

We visited the Fair Oaks Fiesta Days "Show & Shine" last Sunday. Here are a few pics of the Studebaker vehicle line-up, many of which are from the Karel Staple Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club.

The Rolling Stonebaker Pizza - Tomato Season

The Rolling Stonebaker team grows their own tomatoes and cooks their artisan pizzas in two retrofit vintage Studebaker trucks.

Awesome.

Visit the Rolling Stonebaker Facebook page.

Studebaker Body Drop - Auto Assembly

An interesting article about the Studebaker automobile assembly "body drop" process.

See the full article here.

Slideshow of Studebakers

A fun slideshow of Studebakers at a Crusin' Grand event. It's great to see new Studebaker pics from around the country during 'car show season.'

Bill Porter, Designer of Pontiac GTO, on Nature-Inspired Automobile Designs

This NYT article notes Roger Ebert's talk about Studebakers. In thinking about Porter's observation, one could say that Studebaker-Packard were ahead of their time (as usual) with the Packard Hawk nose, the Loewy Coupe grille, etc.

"At the 2009 Detroit auto show, I had a sort of epiphany," Mr. Porter said at the introduction of his presentation. "I saw a whole new kind of forms inspiring today’s designers rather than the speed forms that inspired my generation." He argued that designs today were dominated by forms adopted from nature, like marine animals, leaves, flowers, flames and faces."

The Society of Automotive Historians, whose membership numbers about 900, gather every other year to hear the presentation of papers on topics that have included the history of Cadillac advertising and the importance of two-tone paint schemes.

Robert Ebert, a Studebaker buff and professor emeritus of economics at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, delivered a talk on Harold Churchill, president of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Mira Wilkins, professor of economics at Florida International University, spoke about the history of foreign investment in the American automobile industry.

Read the full article here.

Loewy-owned Avanti Up for Auction in May

" 1972 Avanti II Coupe originally owned by Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design who streamlined everything from Greyhound buses to toothbrushes, will cross the auction block in May.

Loewy designed the Avanti, a two-door four-seater which has a European feel with minimalist trim, for Studebaker in the early 1960s. It is one of the highlights of the Les Grandes Marques a Monaco sale by Bonhams in Monte Carlo on May 11.

Bonhams said in a statement that the car is expected to fetch a minimum of $46,120."

Read the full article here.

Studebaker - Genealogy of Automobile Companies

This is an amazing poster tracking the genealogy of automakers.

"A flowing history of more than 100 automobile companies across the complete time span of the automobile industry. From 1900 to 1925 over 3,300 organizations were formed to produce automobiles in the United States. In 1910 alone 400 new startups entered the industry. Most attempts lasted less than two years. While car sales exploded (from 1910 to 2010 US sales rose from 200,000 to 11.5 million cars) the strongest entrepreneurs bought out rivals and combined forces. Today, ten companies account for about 90% of all US automobile sales."

See the full poster here.

Replica Of Charles And Ray Eames’s Living Room

"Last fall, LACMA carted a whopping 1,864 objects from the house in Pacific Palisades to the exhibition floor in L.A.’s Mid-Wilshire district. The result is a rare window onto the personal tastes of two of the 20th century’s most influential American taste makers."

View the full article here.

Studebaker - Bash with The Stache - California Automobile Museum

Last October (2011), the California Automobile Museum held its annual fundraising dinner. The speaker/guest was Dennis Gage from My Classic Car (shown nationally on the Speed channel).

Here's a photo of Dennis in Johna Pierce's Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk. Dennis made his "grand entrance" in the GT Hawk.

Interested in Sacramento region Studebakering? Check out our club website, www.hawktalks.com. You can read our free club newsletter.

Image by Jon Stalnaker for Turning Wheels and the Karel Staple Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club.

Studebaker - Karel Staple Chapter February Meet-Up

We had a good turnout at the February Karel Staple Studebaker Drivers Club meet-up. Here are a few photos from our get together.

Studebaker Instagram Photos

There's a handy application for the iPhone named Instagram that lets you colorize/filter/crop and publish photos. Here are a few of my Studebaker photos run through the Instagram app. Let me know what you think.

Visit Instagr.am and download the app - it's free.

Studebaker Record Player Slip Mats

A friend from afar custom printed these one-of-a-kind record player (LP) slip mats. This type of print-on-demand work is tricky - getting the photo to transfer correctly onto the material - whether that be a t-shirt, metal, wood, paper, etc.

To see more of his work, click here to visit RedBubble.com.

Medals and Memories - Studebaker

Studebaker, all-american. A touching story about WWII ...

"Then, a few days later, they heard Russians were marching up the road. He and Lt. Goman went out to meet them, figuring they were allies. But they did not get a warm welcome.

"Their guns were drawn, and we tried to explain we were Americans. I saw a Studebaker truck, and started yelling, Studebaker! American! Roosevelt!" LeSage remembered.

Finally, comprehension dawns, and everyone calmed down."

As always, thanks to our veterans.

Read the full article and see the video here.

Engine Bay - Studebaker Champion - 1950

A lot of folks like to see what's under the hood of our stock 1950 Studebaker Champion Deluxe. Here's a quick picture of the 85 hp, L-6, single carb, 6 volt, oil bath engine.

Steering Column - Flashlight Mount

A fun extra. We picked up a column mount and morse code-capable flashlight at Vintage Ford in Rancho Cordova, CA yesterday. Here's a picture of the accessory in place.

62 Degrees and Sunny

It's 62 degrees and sunny in California today - perfect driving weather. Here's pic of Doc all safe in his cave after an hour drive.

Just Plain Cool: Texaco-Branded 1935 Diamond T Doodlebug

The Just a Car Guy blog has a great entry highlighting the Texaco-Branded 1935 Diamond T Doodlebug.

I bought an ERTL Doodlebug toy bank yesterday at the Sacramento Antique Fair. The banks can also be had on eBay for around $25 or less. Each toy box is individually numbered and the toy is well made.

See the Just a Car Guy blog here.