JRoberts  (SDC FORUM)
Location
    Fayetteville, NC, .
Posts
    3,525

    Jeff those Laurinburg pictures do bring back memories. I have seen "Spaghetti." When in college I worked as a camp 
counselor in nearby Laurel Hill. One weekend some of us went into Laurinburg to see him. He had been killed during an 
accident with a traveling carnival or circus. Nobody could contact his family so the local funeral home just kept him. He 
became quite the local
    spectacle. If I remember correctly he remained there, unburried, for over 50 years. His nick name came because he
 was Italian, but his real name was Cancetto Farmica. Here is a link to some more of the story:
    http://activerain.com/blogsview/4429...-laurinburg-nc


    The pictures of the Pine Acres Motel also bring back some memories as this facility still operates. It was the unofficial 
headquarters for the ECTA when they raced at the Laurinburg Maxton Airport.


    As for Owen Studebaker Company, I never saw the dealership when it still sold Studebakers, but I did meet Mr. Owen 
once. He was a very eccentric kind of guy. He was a source of parts long after the demise of Studebaker cars and trucks.
 He was hard to deal with at times and had parts sorted only by part number and would not deal with you if you did not have 
a part number. I was told once that Mr. Owen seemed to know that Studebaker would not last forever and stashed away 
new models that could one day be used as parts cars. Don't know how true that last bit is, but I do know about the parts 
number thing from personal experience. I, too, cannot fathom that two Studebaker Dealers could exist at the same time in
 Laurinburg. I would appreciate any information anybody can find concerning Studebaker dealers in that part of North Carolina,
 as I am beginning a but of research of my own into that topic. 



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Mr. Bill (SDC FORUM)
Location
    Hamlet, NC, USA.
Posts
    96

    Joe: My father was a steady customer of Mr. Owen during the time he sold new Studebakers and for many years after the make was discontinued, up through the early 70's. With the purchase of a new Chrysler Newport Royal and a Ford Pinto in '71, my father quit driving Studebakers. You are correct that Mr. Owen was very difficult to deal with, but my father always seemed to know how to handle him.

    It is true that he would stash away a new Studebaker, about one a year I believe, as a source of parts. I remember a line up that included a '58 Commander or Champion, as well as several Larks sitting side by side in the side yard. Daddy told me the cars had been sitting there since they were new and were being used for parts as needed. And, I remember the service department always seemed busy. A lot of the farming community liked and drove Studebakers. I'm sure some of that had to do with how cheaply one could purchase a used Studebaker in those days. A man named Paul was his main mechanic, a fine a Studebaker mechanic you could find, in my father's eyes. Paul drove a '59 or 60 Lark two door, I want to think it was a hardtop, but might be wrong on that.

    I remember Mr. Owen had poor fitting dentures as he would constantly click them. His wife worked in the business, and I remember her as a very crude woman who didn't mind spouting a mouthful of obscenities. In fact, daddy would sometimes tell her he would appreciate it if she didn't talk like that in front of me. I remember some years later Mrs. Owen died as the result of burning in a fire. I don't remember all the details. Mr. Owen died after her I believe. I remember she drove a '65 Chevrolet Impala as her personal car, I don't remember what Mr. Owen drove.

    Someone told me that Mr. Owen opened this dealership after a franchise for the Tucker automobile fell through. There may have been another Studebaker dealer (Cauthen?) in Laurinburg before this time, but I will always remember Mr. Owen. I understand he did a pretty good business, but with owners and employees who acted like these two did, I can see where some of the buying public would be turned off on Studebaker.

    You mentioned working in Laurel Hill. I still live in Hamlet, which is right up the road on Hwy 74.

    Friends of my parents and neighbors from our old days on Spring Street and Hamlet Avenue drove Studebakers exclusively for years. They bought one of the last new Studebakers Mr. Owen had. It was a silver '66 Cruiser with blue interior and factory air. They traded a '56 President Classic (power windows, no air) for the Cruiser.

    C.R. Freeman was a dealer for Buicks, Ramblers, and Studebaker in Rockingham, NC

    Bill Sapp
    Hamlet, NC