Event Coverage F@#k those other crash test threads, or why I love a Studebaker..

Pops was headed home from our local cruise night in his 63 Cruiser when a punk kid in a 4x4 pickup ran out in front of him. The truck literally came from out of nowhere, a field road and did not look, or try to stop.

65 feet of skidmarks proves the excellence of the Studebakers brakes, and Pops reflexes too,,,,






Pops is fine, in fact he wasnt even shaking when we got to the scene. His hands are a bit sore from the gripping the wheel, and the SEAT BELTS did a good job too.





Most everything in front of the firewall is bent or broken, not sure yet if motor and trans are ok.

Drivers door still opens, not as far as it should but the car crumpled pretty good and did a good job of keeping Dad safe.

The car can be replaced but not the Pops!!

After sitting under a carport for 40+ years left to rot away, I hope that the last 2 years of our beloved Steady Breaker made up for it.

From the first road trip,,



Being the only period correct tow vehicle at the local drags,,



The 80 mph run to and from the Pileup,, (No pics of that but heres one of it at the Pileup)




And all the countless doughnuts in the backyard, trips to the parts store, and the just plain goin for drive, it was truly a great car.

Thanks for reading, I think I'm gonna go throw up now.

 

thats crazy! glad to hear your pops is ok. it looks like an ugly crash and sure is gona take alot to bring the car back to running again. (you are gona do it right???) the car deserves it!

 

Glad to hear that your pops is ok. Sad to see Steady Breaker busted up like that but did he give as good as he got? I hope he got in a few good licks in that fight.<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

 

R.I.P.

Glad pops is alright

 

yup, like the other cats said....glad dad is aight.....

Go puke your guts out and figger outta game plan whatever it may be.

 

I hope he messed the truck up pretty good.

 

great your pops ok and sad to see the stude f##ked up.

 

Damn that ****s,glad to hear that he`s ok though!!

 

Happy day pops is alright, sad day for a Stude! As a fellow studeholic, i feel your grief.

 

It can be saved w/a parts car.....I've fixed worse. Glad he's ok.

 

Oh man that ****s, glad to hear your dad is ok. Sorry to see a good ole car get messed up.

 

Glad pops is okay. I don't know that comparable compacts of the period (Valiant, Comet, e.g.) would have handled the wreck as well.

He's healthy, and looks like you have decent stuff to work with to redo the Stude.

Could have been worse!

 

The Stude is technically a full size car, for what it's worth, the main shell dates back to the '53 redesign - they got a lot of miles out of it changing it a little at a time, eventually shortening it at both ends to become the Lark. It says a lot that the car is that mangled and the windshield's not even broken.

And of course the important thing is no one got hurt -

 

If it had ABS it could have stopped in the 60 feet to bad on the stud though I hate to any of the old ones wrecked.

 

I just woundered if it was a V8 car. Mine came with a six and has a very light frame. I understand the V8s were stiffer.

 

HAMBer "Swifster" posted this info in answer to a question I had back in August. Maybe it's helpful:

Studebaker varied the Gauge thickness of the frame by year and model. I don't know if I would say the '53-'61 were 'light duty', but the '62-'64 Hawk frames are definitely heavier. I think you'll also find that the V8 frames were heavier than the 6 cylinder frame.

I also don't think they referred to these frames as I-beam. I think they're called top-hat style frames.

Another think to look at as far as weight is the weight of the engine. It weighs more than most big blocks. When I bought the engine for my Daytona, I broke the first engine stand I bought that was rated for 750lbs. I had to get a stand rated at over 1000lbs.

Remember, all of the technology in a Studebaker is from roughly 1953. They used king pin front suspension all the way until they stopped production in March of '66. The only real advancement Studebaker had in the ch***is was the first use of disc brakes by an American car company as an option starting in 1962 on V8 cars.
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I ***umed this '63 was one of the many iterations based on the '59 compact Lark. But, then, I can see why Stude would promo it as being full-size, from a marketing standpoint.

 

I know the stude was a part of the family,,it will be missed..But I know it will live on in some other shape and form,,really glad pops is ok,,both of you always had a smile in the car,,,

 

Wow! It's been a BAD month for accidents, looks like the squirrels are out gathering thier nuts!!!! I am Glad Pops was not hurt. It's a rotten shame about the car.

You asked for Studebaker pics? Ok I have to share this, ol Buickbelle found this at the Last Run over the weekend, I chased down this great ride on Saturday after seeing it Friday night during registration, I fell in love with the color, but wisely decided to wait till Saturday when it was light out to get pictures of it. I sure was glad I decided to do that. Check this out:






This won an award, little wonder!

Carrie

 

Sorry about the Studey Jay. Glad your Pops is OK.

WTF? Damn that thing is ****ing ugly. My eyes my eyes!!!!!!!!!

 

sue the guys *** and have the $$ to rebuild it and drive by his place as much as you can.

 

Right now we are waiting to find out how and whats gonna happen with insurance,,,

The kid driving the truck didnt own the truck, he borrowed it from a friend, who had borroewed it from his parents. The owner of the truck is a state cop.

We are thinking that theres gonna be a lot of BS attached to any pay off.

The drivers side framerail is buckled in front and behind the steering box, so not sure I'm up for the amount of work needed to reapir the car. If the body was in better shape it would be a no brainer.

The other vehicle got very little damage, Pops hit them just behind the rear wheel and caved in the bedside and tore off the bumper.

 

Whoa! Talk about making my **** pucker. I was reluctant to scroll down after the second pic. Sure glad castr8r is okay, that's most important. I agree that his driving skills and quick reactions minimized what had the potential to be a tragedy. Charlie is extremely safety conscious and this is the reason why.

 

Glad your pop is okay! He's tough stuff like that Stude!
Hope you can reconstruct your car and make it better!

 

Two words..............tube frame

 

glad to here your pop is o.k.
I owned a 62 lark,sad that a cl***ic car got wrecked..

 

Maybe next time they will get the F#@& outta pops way......


Glad ya pops is up for more road trips!!!

 

"Pops" here- all this HAMB attention is "embarr***king". Coupla things ta add to this tale of woe. The first thing I did when getting the car road ready was put on some new radial tires- they worked better than the bias plys would have. The second and most important thing is that Jay was **** about getting the brakes set up right. The skid marks (on the road, not the one in my shorts...) tell the tale. The brakes all locked up nearly simultaneously and the Stude tracked arrow straight 'til the point of impact. My kid knows his business! The third thing is that the 40+ year old seatbelt worked just fine, thank you vey much! I'm ver' happy that the original owner checked the option for the seatbelts..

The seventeen year old dip**** that pulled out in front of me was in a '99 black chebby 4X4 and made no effort to stop at all or even slow down. He got the ticket and will lose his License for a coupla years. I asked the investigating Deputy if dip**** could be made to learn to drive, and he said that was up to the judge. Damn! I don't need this kind of excitement in my life- I got enough problems with blood pressure the way it is!

What ever shakes out, we'll keep the 'Baker and who knows what form it will take next. We'll see how the settlement goes and look at what shows up (there's a Silver Hawk for sale with a six in it; hmm... 8 grand is a bit much, but...).
Glad I'm still around and in shape to be an irritation to my loved ones. Thanks to the HAMB brotherhood for the many forms of support that you've sent our way. See you on the road! Castr8r

 

All I can say right now is, YES! Thank God for modern tires, AND thank GOD you could step on NON-antilock brakes and make your car do what it needed to do to keep you alive!

Pops, THIS is the very SAME kind of "accident" that killed James Dean. James, of ocurse was going too fast in his Spyder, BUT the jerk who pulled out in front of him in the Plymouth had his head up his **** (LIKE the 17-year-old who thumbed his nose and pulled out in front of YOU!

Praise be, I am glad there is a God who makes ta least SOME things right in this world.

 

You might find this of interest... http://crashteams.com/Services/Special-Services/James-Dean/James-Dean-Accident-Reconstruction.html

Cast8r, I'm glad you're doing OK....the car needs to be rebuilt in my view. It's earned it!