Someone is going to have to tell the National Automobile Museum in Reno they
do not have the last Studebaker built. The last one, built on 17 March,
1966, S/N C534654, was a Cruiser V8 sedan. The car was sold to Studebaker's
Parts and Service Department in South Bend. The second to last car was a
6-cylinder, S/N C134293, but I do not know series or body style. This
information is on file at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
They have the build records for U.S.-built Studebakers from about 1936
through 1964 and Canadian Studebakers from 1960 to 1966.
April, 1983, was the last month of production for the 1983 Imperial and 254
were built. A total of 256 were built in March, 153 in February and 269 in
January. Strangely, the last months of production were higher than the
beginning of the model year, which is usually the busiest to get cars into
dealers' showrooms for intro day. August, 1982, the first month of 1983
production, was 171 cars and November was the lowest at 40.
But I still would like to know how the seller or owner came to the
conclusion it was the last Imperial built. The DaimlerChrysler archives in
Detroit has no Canadian build records, etc. and the Canadian archives were
disbanded sometime around 1983. No one knows what happened to all the
information in the Canadian archives. As stated, the SPN fits into February
production, although the door jamb sticker shows the car as being built in
April, 1983. Would love to have a look at the data tag.
Bill Vancouver, BC
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kenyon Wills" <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 2:10 PM
Subject: IML: 1980's Imps - LAST ONE -
When Cadillac made their last convertible in the 1970's, When Imperial "ceased" in 1975, and other landmark "last one"s were made, collectors often bought them with dreams of getting the gem that would appreciate and be bought by a wealthy patron/collector later after significant appreciation, or they just wanted one. Betcha there's someone out there storing the last Plymouth ever made, too.
I'd say that the current owner is doing pretty darned well if you consider what cars that don't have provenance from this period are getting. Good for him!
The National Automobile Museum in Reno (a portion of Harrah's collection, and worth visiting!) has the last Studebaker ever made (a wagon, has a slide-forward rear roof like the new GM sort-utes). and this sort of thing has to have been going on longer than that (mid 1960's).
It seems that there were folks around and ordering cars last minute or whatever. How you get to be last in line intentionally I don't know, but would suppose that Detroit would allow dibs on such things if it meant something to someone and felt like it was helping sales or advertising or aura or whatever. They could probably pre-sell it and maybe charge a premium for it or something?
The car has a plaque. It's like new, and despite its brothers fetching less, if you really want a NEW Imperial and rebadging a 300C isn't your thing, well, there you go!
-Kenyon
Kenyon Wills
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