Studes were just ok, not really great cars. They were never known for having power or (with the exception of the Avanti). sex appeal. They were relatively cheap, and that's mainly where their popularity was. Until the late 50s, they made a pretty decent pickup truck. And Mr. Ed drove one.
@moproducer Studebakers fans would take expection to your comment. The first Indepedent with a V8, their Golden Hawk thru the late 50's were fast, NOBODY used Superchargers the way they did, you could get them in practically any Studebaker model. And there are a number of people that feel the Super Larks and Super Hawks of 1963 and 1964 were really the first mucsle cars out before the GTO. They could do 140 and 135 respectively and now today command big dollars when they come up for sale.
@OsbornTramain Most Studebaker fans would take "expection", whatever that means :). Being the first independent with a V8 is the same as saying "fourth US carmaker with a V8".
Stude superchargers were notorious for burning out, even literally melting. I'd agree with you on the "mucsle" (muscle?) car only as far as the Avanti, but the other models were designed to compete - at a cheaper price - with The Big Three.
Of course, they're now collectors' items, 48 years later.
@OsbornTramain sorry typo "exception" was the word I meant to type. After WWII, there were 9 Automobile companies, Hudson never developed a V8 or Crosly or Kaiser/Frazer. I've never ever hard of a Super Charger blowing up and I've been in the Studebaker Drivers Club 25 years. You need to cite something there to show that, cause that's nothing I've ever read before. A 1963 Lark with a R3 Supercharged 4 speed is a monster car on 114 wheel base
@coolanddark They did make some nice cars...but actually..they didn't need a bail out..they just decided to stop making cars...they had many lines of profitable businesses...they even owned Mercedes-Benze of North America. It was a true Conglomerate. Studebaker-Worthington Leasing is still in business operating in Texas..that was the finance company Studebaker owned.
GM brought back the sliding roof on their SUV Trailblazer a few years ago, but only produced it for a few years, Studebaker had it 50 years ago. And the step to get into the back, Ford just indroduced it on their "F" series pickups about a year ago...hmm, not very inovative, just borrowing from the past that no one remembers, except a few of us.
Ford's "man step", featured on the tailgate of their new pickups, is lifted directly from this car.
GM's short-lived Envoy XUV had a power sliding roof just like the Wagonaire.
Studebaker was way ahead of its time - it was also the very first manufacturer to offer front disc brakes while the Big Three were still trying to stop their land yachts with 4-wheel drums.
Imagine a car as big as a '69 Vista Cruiser stopping on 4-wheel drums - mine is so equipped!
Oops - I messed up somewhat. I meant the first American manufacturer to offer front disc brakes. German manufacturers offered them in the 1950s.
The '69 Vistas had front discs as an option - out of the three I've owned, only one had the option.
A member of the GM Skywagon Club in Michigan owns another '69 Vista Cruiser (the same year as the car on "That '70s Show") - it originally came equipped with MANUAL drum brakes - SCARY!
Studebaker cars were actually pretty good. My family owned a string of them. Many industry innovations came by way of Studebaker, which made cars from 1902 to 1966. I attribute the stupidity of allowing the dog to slide around in the commercial more to the ad agency who dreamed it up than to Studebaker itself -- albeit the car firm DID approve of the spot. There was simply a different mindset at play in the land during the pre-seatbelt era when NO ONE even thought of safely buckling up.
Wow how times have changed. Today you would get a ticket for letting kids ride like that in a car. Ah how I miss my childhood. We rode in open pick ups, stood on car seats didn't wear seat belts and I lived! Imagine that.
"The advanced thinking of Studebaker" was apparently stupid enough to put a dog in the open air back of a station wagon where he could jump ro fall out. Even today on the road you sometimes see idiots with dogs sliding around in the backs of pickup trucks.
It's still a free country -- unless the next election changes things. One would like to think that we're a little more savvy today than we were in '62 -- when The Flintstones was sponsored by Winston cigarettes (!) and cars had no seat belts. My family was horribly injured in a crash after flying out of a Studebaker just like that one.
@travis7310 Studes weren't bad cars -- just prone to rust. As an independent, Stude had to innovate in both styling and mechanics, or die. They were ultimately killed by high labor costs -- their unionized workers were among the top-paid in the industry -- and by ruthless price-cutting by the Big Three beginning in 1954. Once folks got wind of Stude's difficulty in securing add'l loans to tide them over at one point in the early '60s, sales dried up b/c nobody wanted to buy an "orphan."
I agree. People on this site sometimes react to the old media represented as Tube video without thinking about the context of the times in which the the "video" was created.
I mean, when this Studebaker commercial was shot one could buy a car for a few thousand dollars and a single-family home for what a car costs today. Today a big-screen TV set costs almost as much as an automobile.
So a lot has changed in America since 1962. You're correct, it's a 40+ year old commercial.
However, a 21" round tube color TV, with monaural sound and no remote control, cost more (even adjusted to minimum wage) that a big screen HDTV plasma TV today.
In general, compared to today, necessities (other than food) were cheaper, but luxuries were more expensive back then.
You are correct. I was tired when I put it on line and really didn't listen to the song closely. Clearly, you are right. Thanks, changed made on description.
Studes were just ok, not really great cars. They were never known for having power or (with the exception of the Avanti). sex appeal. They were relatively cheap, and that's mainly where their popularity was. Until the late 50s, they made a pretty decent pickup truck. And Mr. Ed drove one.
moproducer 1 week ago in playlist Favorite videos
@moproducer Studebakers fans would take expection to your comment. The first Indepedent with a V8, their Golden Hawk thru the late 50's were fast, NOBODY used Superchargers the way they did, you could get them in practically any Studebaker model. And there are a number of people that feel the Super Larks and Super Hawks of 1963 and 1964 were really the first mucsle cars out before the GTO. They could do 140 and 135 respectively and now today command big dollars when they come up for sale.
OsbornTramain 1 week ago
@OsbornTramain Most Studebaker fans would take "expection", whatever that means :). Being the first independent with a V8 is the same as saying "fourth US carmaker with a V8".
Stude superchargers were notorious for burning out, even literally melting. I'd agree with you on the "mucsle" (muscle?) car only as far as the Avanti, but the other models were designed to compete - at a cheaper price - with The Big Three.
Of course, they're now collectors' items, 48 years later.
moproducer 1 week ago
@OsbornTramain sorry typo "exception" was the word I meant to type. After WWII, there were 9 Automobile companies, Hudson never developed a V8 or Crosly or Kaiser/Frazer. I've never ever hard of a Super Charger blowing up and I've been in the Studebaker Drivers Club 25 years. You need to cite something there to show that, cause that's nothing I've ever read before. A 1963 Lark with a R3 Supercharged 4 speed is a monster car on 114 wheel base
OsbornTramain 1 week ago
The first Mini Van! I wish Obama was around then to bail out Studebaker! They built some cool cars!
coolanddark 11 months ago
@coolanddark They did make some nice cars...but actually..they didn't need a bail out..they just decided to stop making cars...they had many lines of profitable businesses...they even owned Mercedes-Benze of North America. It was a true Conglomerate. Studebaker-Worthington Leasing is still in business operating in Texas..that was the finance company Studebaker owned.
OsbornTramain 11 months ago
GM brought back the sliding roof on their SUV Trailblazer a few years ago, but only produced it for a few years, Studebaker had it 50 years ago. And the step to get into the back, Ford just indroduced it on their "F" series pickups about a year ago...hmm, not very inovative, just borrowing from the past that no one remembers, except a few of us.
JOHNINCOLUMBUS 1 year ago
kids in the back unrestrained those were the days when the only airbag in the car was the wife.
strop001 2 years ago
I'm convinced- I'll trade my Volvo V70 for a Lark Daytona Wagonaire.
oliva77 2 years ago
"New" ideas are really old ones!
Ford's "man step", featured on the tailgate of their new pickups, is lifted directly from this car.
GM's short-lived Envoy XUV had a power sliding roof just like the Wagonaire.
Studebaker was way ahead of its time - it was also the very first manufacturer to offer front disc brakes while the Big Three were still trying to stop their land yachts with 4-wheel drums.
Imagine a car as big as a '69 Vista Cruiser stopping on 4-wheel drums - mine is so equipped!
OldsVistaCruiser 2 years ago 2
Oops - I messed up somewhat. I meant the first American manufacturer to offer front disc brakes. German manufacturers offered them in the 1950s.
The '69 Vistas had front discs as an option - out of the three I've owned, only one had the option.
A member of the GM Skywagon Club in Michigan owns another '69 Vista Cruiser (the same year as the car on "That '70s Show") - it originally came equipped with MANUAL drum brakes - SCARY!
OldsVistaCruiser 2 years ago
@OldsVistaCruiser Manual drum brakes... that was the anti-lock braking system of the day! :^D
justpassnthru 1 year ago
Studebaker cars were actually pretty good. My family owned a string of them. Many industry innovations came by way of Studebaker, which made cars from 1902 to 1966. I attribute the stupidity of allowing the dog to slide around in the commercial more to the ad agency who dreamed it up than to Studebaker itself -- albeit the car firm DID approve of the spot. There was simply a different mindset at play in the land during the pre-seatbelt era when NO ONE even thought of safely buckling up.
horarwgt 3 years ago 2
Wow how times have changed. Today you would get a ticket for letting kids ride like that in a car. Ah how I miss my childhood. We rode in open pick ups, stood on car seats didn't wear seat belts and I lived! Imagine that.
Annefry 3 years ago 5
"MISTER ED" was originally sponsored by Studebaker from 1961 through '63- first in syndication, then on alternate weeks when the show moved to CBS...
fromthesidelines 4 years ago
a free country??? remember ruby ridge and waco
pipermike65 4 years ago
WagonAir - Neat Great Post.
GenericGene 4 years ago
"The advanced thinking of Studebaker" was apparently stupid enough to put a dog in the open air back of a station wagon where he could jump ro fall out. Even today on the road you sometimes see idiots with dogs sliding around in the backs of pickup trucks.
horarwgt 4 years ago
You have to remember that this commercial was done back when the United States used to be a free country...
skiggley 4 years ago 5
It's still a free country -- unless the next election changes things. One would like to think that we're a little more savvy today than we were in '62 -- when The Flintstones was sponsored by Winston cigarettes (!) and cars had no seat belts. My family was horribly injured in a crash after flying out of a Studebaker just like that one.
horarwgt 4 years ago
I heard Studebaker's were really bad cars.
travis7310 3 years ago
@travis7310 Studes weren't bad cars -- just prone to rust. As an independent, Stude had to innovate in both styling and mechanics, or die. They were ultimately killed by high labor costs -- their unionized workers were among the top-paid in the industry -- and by ruthless price-cutting by the Big Three beginning in 1954. Once folks got wind of Stude's difficulty in securing add'l loans to tide them over at one point in the early '60s, sales dried up b/c nobody wanted to buy an "orphan."
50zcarsman 1 year ago
It's a 40 year old commercial from before the PC BS started, GET OVER IT!
HeadTater 3 years ago
I agree. People on this site sometimes react to the old media represented as Tube video without thinking about the context of the times in which the the "video" was created.
I mean, when this Studebaker commercial was shot one could buy a car for a few thousand dollars and a single-family home for what a car costs today. Today a big-screen TV set costs almost as much as an automobile.
So a lot has changed in America since 1962. You're correct, it's a 40+ year old commercial.
gymnastix 3 years ago
Those were the good old days of commericials, before sex was in every commercial!
thatgoofball 2 years ago
However, a 21" round tube color TV, with monaural sound and no remote control, cost more (even adjusted to minimum wage) that a big screen HDTV plasma TV today.
In general, compared to today, necessities (other than food) were cheaper, but luxuries were more expensive back then.
1L6E6VHF 2 years ago
You are correct. I was tired when I put it on line and really didn't listen to the song closely. Clearly, you are right. Thanks, changed made on description.
OsbornTramain 4 years ago
No problem!
I wonder, in today's merged world, when will we hear a railroad commercial that features a revised version of "On The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe"?
"We can take your freight all the way
On the Burlington Northern Santa Fe!"
OldsVistaCruiser 4 years ago
The commercial is to the tune of "The Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe", made famous by Judy Garland!
OldsVistaCruiser 4 years ago