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Studebaker Stories:

Studebaker Enthusiast At A Very Early Age

 

By Raymond E. Scott II 
 
How old were you when you first became actively involved with Studebakers? Does anyone's interest go back to when they were only 5 years old?

I am a lifelong Studebaker and Packard enthusiast and I can trace my interest in Studebakers and Packards back at least to when I was 5 years old.

My parents didn't drive Studebakers or Packards, they were big General Motors people and usually drove Chevrolets. I was born the beginning of July 1955, so I turned 5 years old the beginning of July 1960. That Fall when the new cars came out I just begged and pleaded, and begged and pleaded with my parents until they took me down to the local Studebaker dealer to see the brand new 1961 Studebakers.

We lived at the time in Hagerstown, Maryland, that's where I grew up. So that meant the dealership of longtime Studebaker Dealer Bob Fleigh.

I wanted so bad for my parents to buy a brand new 1961 Studebaker Lark. I remember telling them that a Studebaker was the very best new car they could possibly buy! It amused my parents that at only 5 years old and coming from a home where they drove Chevrolets, I was so fascinated with Studebakers.

I have no idea where my interest in Studebakers and Packards came from, but it is a lifelong love affair. All I own and drive are Studebakers and Packards. My current primary daily driver is a 1962 Studebaker Lark six cylinder conventional straight stick that I have owned for almost 33 years. So long as I can get parts and keep regular tags on them, all I will drive are Studebakers and Packards.

I live in my own little automotive world where the major U.S. independents, the so called "Little Three", never went out of production. What if Studebaker-Packard had survived building Studebaker, Clipper, and Packard? American Motors had survived building Rambler, Nash, and Hudson? Kaiser-Willys had survived building Jeep, Willys, Fraser, and Kaiser? How different would our world today be had that happened? That's the world I try to imagine and live in.

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