Explain to me why so many rust prone Studebakers are still around then? Could it be their forged engine internals? Their overbuilt suspensions? Hmmmm? Nahhh........
-ANT PS The last new Stude to roll off the assembly line was in 1966 (not counting today's Avantis)
Honestly, though - I remember when my relatives owned *new* VW Bugs. They were not very reliable either. The one saving grace was that they were dirt cheap to work on and it was straightforward.(fuel injected models aside)
On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 17:05:53 -0500, "Ben Boyle" scribbled this interesting note:
Why?
They aren't rare at all where we live. If you've ever been to Southern California you can't swing a dead (or live, for that matter) cat by the tail without hitting one.
In my drive way alone I can count six cars that are older than twenty years. Only two are younger than that. Of course I recognize that I am something of an anomaly....
BTW of the eight cars in the driveway, three can be driven on a moment's notice and four more could be driven with less than a day's work on each. Only one has a problem that may take longer.
Face it, cars today are made out of plastic that will become more brittle with age and exposure to UV light. They are made out of cheaper components. They cost more. And they are less reliable once they get some serious age on them (and by that I mean more than twenty years!)
Quite honestly, I feel more comfortable driving the 1972 GMC truck or the 1959 Beetle than the 1993 Honda. Why? Because I know how to fix them. Not that I'm afraid of working on the Honda, but there are no computers on the GMC or the Beetle, and very little in the way of a vacuum system. Electronics are scarce in those cars and I like it that way!:~)
-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)
I own nearly a dozen of the beasts (including an Avanti) and know of others who have literally scores of them.
They are the single largest orphaned car club in the planet with over 13,000 members many of which who own an average of about 2-3 cars each. Their survival rate is all out of proportion to the sheer number of cars produced.
Ssssooooo, you collect brains too? Fascinating. Will you accept donations? I have a low mileage specimen I don't seem to find use for. I'd appreciate instructions on how to disconnect and remove it from it's present location though, using only your average home mechanic's tools. There a Muir manual for that?
It all falls down to a matter of perspective. Here in California, we live in the anomaly. I have a 1986 chevy, original paint, 70 bug original paint, 70 bus original paint, and my dad has a 66 Ford original paint. These vehicles have some surface rust, but no major scrap-yard directing rust. We almost never see career ending rust on cars, except those that fell in the ocean, or came from the east. I have seen those, newer cars falling apart. I spent a summer in Maryland (won't make that mistake again). So we drive old crusty looking beasts, and think they will last forever. And they will, but for the rest of the world, the sad fact is that cars have a very short life.
New cars start to rattle when the nylon clips holding the panels start to fail. Especially after a collision.
Well, maybe YOU don't see alot of Studes, but reread what I said previously about them having the single largest orphan brand club membership of some
13,000 members and an average of about 2 plus cars a member. Waaaaay out of porportion to the amount of cars built. This is an outrageously high survival rate, especially for such a rust prone and undervalued (price wise) vehicle.
-ANT P.S. If you had attended the 150th anniversay of a couple years ago in South Bend you'd have seen literally hundreds of Studes, RUNNING ones at that, all in one place.
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