O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Dec 12

The only one of those I ever got a ride in was to hitch hike home from school in a

Stude coupe.  Too bad those cars did not get more respect.  My cousin's husband's

brother collected Studes, but I never saw any of them and his daughters were

dispersing the collection, last I heard.  When I went out to look at an older car in

north central Pa. in the 1970's, the owner drove me out to see it in a nice riding 1940 President.

Interesting stuff, Richard.  Even in the 1950s, a decade before the ony-car and muscle-car era, you could get "sport" if you shopped carefully.  The Speedster was interesting.  I looked up the history of the Speedster and the Hawk series and am still a bit confused about what followed what and which model was fastest.  I think the Golden Haqwk with the Packard V8 was the most powerful, but the Speedster, with just the Studebaker 259 cid V8, sounds pretty good for the time (did they come with four-speed transmissions?).

On a slightly different note, following up on this thread from several weeks ago, I finally got my Brooklin '38 Buick sedan.  This is a really nice model of a almost boring regular late '30s sedan.  

I AM CURIOUS IF OTHERS ARE HAVING LONG DELAYS FROM DIECAST DIRECT.  I have ordered six cars from them in the last six months - none were listed for pre-order or as "coming in early 2015," and yet I was told all six were on backorder and I have only just recieved the Buick after about five weeks, the other five still undelivered.  Is this normal, that even cars they list as having take so long?

The Stude Hawks definitiely could be had with four speed manual transmissions, something I paid close attention to in that era, as now, only now I demand six speeds.

Uh, that Buick pictured above a a 1934-35 model, and not a 1938?

Lee
The ’55 Speedster was a President hardtop with a leather interior, a unique instrument pane, a 4 barrel 259, and some unique exterior trim. Studebaker didn’t offer a 4 speed  but you could get a 3 speed with over drive or Studebaker’s excellent 3 speed automatic.

The Speedster was the for runner of the Hawk.  The 1956 Golden Hawk was the only one with a Packard 352, the ’58 and ’59 Golden Hawks  had a supercharged Studebaker 289.

'55 President Speedster

'56 Golden Hawk

Don't forget the Chrysler 300! And with the reliability issues of late '50s Mopars, don't forget a truckload of factory parts...

This week's edition.

Used T-Bird for sale.

By the early 60s the Corvette became a true sports car

Actually, the Corvette was fully realized as a sports car by 1957. The original 1953-55 Corvette was a boulevard cruiser, complete with a six-cylinder engine and a 2-speed Powerglide ("Powderglide") transmission. The '55 added an optional V-8, but few were built. The '56 had a new body, a 265 V-8, and a manual transmission. The introduction of the fuel-injected 283 and four-speed transmission in 1957 completed the transition. Drivers like Phil Hill started racing them, with considerable success. The live-axle chassis lived on until the introduction of the Stingray in 1963, but by then the car's bona fides as a sports and racing car were already well established.

Chevrolet hired the eccentric race-car builder and driver Zora Arkus-Duntov 1n 1953, after he wrote to chief engineer Ed Cole that the newly-introduced Corvette was a nice-looking car but it should have performance to go with its looks. Duntov was already well-known for the Ardun hemi head modification for flathead Ford V8's. He also worked on the mighty Allards, driving them twice at Le Mans. He also raced Porsches at Le Mans, winning his class twice in a car similar to the one James Dean was killed in. A colorful character who had escaped both Communist Russia and Nazi-occupied France, Duntov was married to a former Folies-Bergere dancer named Elfi. He led the Corvette program until his retirement in 1975.

The Rochester fuel injection worked well for road racing because it eliminated the problem of fuel starvation in corners, but it was fiendishly complex and a nightmare to work on. Giving a paper at an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) meeting, Duntov commented, "If ve have this and somebody invent carburetor, ve call him genius!" 

I knew Zora slightly; he and my father worked closely together and were good friends. I remember him dropping by the house one Saturday morning with a cheery "Hi, I'm your neighborhood bicycle pest!" 

Zora will be missed; the Corvette is his monument. His ashes are entombed at the Corvette museum. 

The late '50's Corvettes definitely moved a long way toward being true sports cars, but I still think the closest thing to a real sports car (at least in spirit) finally occurred when the 1962 Corvair Spyder convertible was introduced.

Jeff C

Lee I really like that Buick, Yesterday I ordered a 36 Buick taxi along with a couple of 46 Desoto taxi's. Coming from Spain. (I hope).  

I picked up that '53 Packard on EBay awhile back. It's a very good looking car.

I don't know why, but I have a love affair with the late 50's Chrysler products.

I've been able to get a '56 De Soto, '55, '56, '57 and '59 Chrysler 300s, '59 Dodge Lancer coupe and '57 Plymouth Fury 2 door hardtop.

I also have a '36 Buick 4 door and '37 Ford 4 door coming by IXO.

Are there any '57 to '60 De Soto's out there that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Those were the days of torsion bar suspension and the Hemi!

Hmmm. looks like I am going to have to track down some late '50's Stude brochures.

I have a Brooklin Buick exactly the color of that pictured above but it is a 1934 Sport

Coupe.  1934-36 were the years to buy a Buick instead of a LaSalle.

Actually, you were right.  Mine is a '34 Buick, not '38 - a typo.