Delta Force
Banned
Also, here is the AMC Cavalier, the car with symmetrical parts. I haven't been able to find anything for the Studebaker Familia.
AHC: Studebaker Survives the 1960s
- Thread starter Delta Force
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Driftless
Donor
The Cavalier has a vaguely early Chevy Corvair look to it. It's a nice looking car. There is logic to the idea of symmetrical parts, but it would be tough to make it consistently visually appealling, I think.
The fiberglass Familia would have been interesting. The old (un-galvanized) steel body cars used to rust out by the time they drove off the dealer's lot's in the bad old days. For that reason alone, fiberglass should have had more traction for use as car body material. I supposed body shops had more experience with steel, plus you can weld/cut parts more easily.
The Budd was a handsome looking vehicle for the era.
The fiberglass Familia would have been interesting. The old (un-galvanized) steel body cars used to rust out by the time they drove off the dealer's lot's in the bad old days. For that reason alone, fiberglass should have had more traction for use as car body material. I supposed body shops had more experience with steel, plus you can weld/cut parts more easily.
The Budd was a handsome looking vehicle for the era.
Looking at the Budd XR-400 makes me think of a sports car rather than a four-seat pony car in the Mustang mold, but the front end of the XR-400 and the back end of the AMX and you are in business, probably quite literally. Interesting design to say the least, and Budd's point was accurate about the relative lack of involvement in the market. That might have ended up being a major score for AMC, but I don't know if that would save Studebaker. (Keeping AMC in business isn't as hard as many think. A modern engine in the Gremlin and Hornet, better improvements to the Ambassador, not making the Matador so damn ugly (and not making the Pacer at all, preferably) and having the AMC-Renault connection work better may well be enough to keep them around today.) Studebaker needed to get away from the lower-cost market (where economies of scale favored the Big Three) and into the higher-end markets. They could do that, though, and that's what I'd do in the situation.
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Donor
Following the high end line of thought: could Studebaker found a niche like the Range Rover by combining their progressive car design with their extensive WW2 experience building really rugged 6x6 trucks, to come up with an 4x4 alternative to the proto-SUV's?
Sure hope it wouldnt have rust problems: 'It's called the Tarpon 'cause ya hafta keep a Tarp On it to keep the body from rusting'......
Driftless
Donor
Sure hope it wouldnt have rust problems: 'It's called the Tarpon 'cause ya hafta keep a Tarp On it to keep the body from rusting'......
Bada Bing!
Admiral Beez
Banned
At risk of a label of necromancy, I think Studebaker could have survived in Canada, had a buyer been approached, such as Hawker Siddeley Canada, makers of railcars, subway cars, streetcars, aircraft engines and ships from the 1960s to 1980s.
- The Canadian management was good. For example, they were able to negotiate the purchase of GM engines after the US foundries closed.
- A merger with an existing US company would have meant the end of the brand.
- Partnerships with international auto firms would be interesting. Studebaker Canada was also producing (assembly) cars in Australia.
- There was no money for engine development. Perhaps buy the Buick small-block from British Leyland?
- Direction should be small, economical cars for the coming fuel crisis. The Lark (Daytona model below) is ideally positioned for this, provided it gets a facelift and tech upgrade.
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