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2007 International Studebaker Driver's Club Meet

South Bend, Indiana

6/20/2007 to 6/22/2007

For the first time we made the trek to a SDC club meet.  I left the car at home (I freely admit my cowardice) but we did get to see a lot of Studebakers.  The icing on the cake was the meet being held in South Bend.  This is where Studebaker was headquartered and where my car was built.

The meet lasted a week but I was mainly interested in the concours and swap meet so we came for the last couple of days.  A full week of this stuff would have sent my wife and kids over the edge of madness.  We also scored admission to the new Studebaker Museum for the week of the meet.  Since the signup was at the museum we hit that first. 

Here is the oldest known Studebaker gasoline-powered car in the world.  1904!  Of course the wagons went back into the 1800's but I only have room for REAL cars.
I guess if you show the oldest you have to show the newest.  This is the absolute last Studebaker ever to roll of the production line.  This Cruiser was built March 17, 1966 in Canada.

There were hundreds of cars at the show.   Since I have 41 I am going to favor those.   Here is a very nice 41 Skyway President.  This car is very, very long (18' or so) and has a huge in-line 8 cylinder engine.
Check out this 1941 Commander.   I wish I had his chrome.

There were no 41 Champions at the show.  But there was a very nice 39.  This was the first year for the Champion.  Note the lack of sealed-beam headlights and the running boards.
Studebaker would have been a worthwhile car company if the Coupe Express pickup was the only vehicle they ever built.  This near-perfect example shows why.

During the war Studebaker mostly made Wright aircraft engines under license.  But they also built the M29 Weasel.  This light amphibious vehicle used the engine and other parts from my car.  It is about the same size as a Jeep but the tracks up the cool factor. 

I really hoped to see one run at the meet.  But the two I saw were both parked. 

Here is something you don't see every day.  These very short-wheelbase trucks were built to deliver mobile homes without exceeding load-length limits.  There were two of these at the show.

Oh yeah, it was a Packard show as well.  Packard and Studebaker merged with disastrous results in 1954.  This Packard taxi has the meter and everything.
  I also took some pictures of the remaining Studebaker factory buildings in South Bend.  There is a map at this site.  This is Body Assembly Building (84 on the map).  It is intact but I heard it is due to be demolished soon. 
  Here is the Administration Building (62 on the map).  This shot shows the CEO's office in the corner facing the plant complex.  This building is about to be renovated into office space.
  This terra-cotta logo is on the top of the Engineering building (92 on the ).  A parts vendor (SASCO) is in this building now.
  The Foundry building (85 on the map)is about to fall down and will probably be demolished soon.