Studebaker Carrera Tribute

[Nolan Kienitz]

This should perk up Mike O.

GWA Studebaker Carrera Tribute

[Chad Fabry]

That is quite beautiful.

[kurt]

Yeah. i like that back right quarter panel shot.

[hausdok]

Yeah, I like it.

The folks over at the Studebaker Drivers' Club forum mostly don't though.

They are carping about how GWA took the most beautiful car ever conceived (To most stude folks the '53/'54 hardtop is the holy grail.) and butchered it's appearance. Some of them are really pissed. They obviously don't understand what a "tribute" car is.

My take; the appearance of the 53 - 54 has been modernized and by doing so some young folks who might otherwise never have even looked at a Stude might buy one and then get interested in learning more about Studes and join the club. Once in the club he/she might fall victim to the Stude sickness and start buying up every Stude within earshot. That could only be good for the club.

The trouble with being a member of an orphan car club - well, this particular club anyway - is that most of the club is made up of folks who were already Stude acolytes in their 20's and 30's and 40's when the company went out of business in 1966 and they are now in their 80's and 90's and they just don't "get" half of the stuff they are faced with these days.

As one other member recently lamented to me via a private email, "I didn't realize when I joined this club I was allying myself with a bunch of bitter, mean old men. It's really soured me on Studes. I'm outta here. I'm going to sell my Studes and join a Tri-Five or Ford or Mopar club where most of the club is under 60 instead of hanging with this bunch anymore."

I think these 20 cars are probably going to be basic racers with fiberglass bodies and bare bones interiors. Wish I had the money to buy one, take it down to South America and compete in that race. I think that would be a hoot.

On another note. One of my friends in the club, an Aussie, just finished his Packard Hawk restoration last month and two days after he completed the car he took it to a concours in OZ and took both the best in class and top car honors.

Here's the car when it came off the boat in OZ five years ago:

Here's the car at the show a few weeks ago after sinking nearly $30K into it:

Here's what five years of blood, sweat and tears, and a whole lot of scratch, got him:

[kurt]

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