Never Give Another Man a Key To Your Studebaker Parts Shed

Wow! Check out that shiny new chrome hood latch on the truck. I'll bet GD wishes he had one just like it. Well, funny thing is that he DID until about a week ago. Seeing as John was feeling shorted in the birthday department, he decided to take matters into his own hands. One trip to Smitty's House of Studebaker Parts, a few new nuts and bolts, and it's "Happy Birthday to Me" John-style! Other items he "received" for his birthday will be disclosed at a later time. Thanks, Dude!

Hmm...now here's something that needs replacing, as well. You know all those hours Tracy spent painting around the gauge panel (apparently it's called the "gauge cluster")? All that pretty red that stayed on her hands and clothes for eternity? Well, that's old news now. Baby needs a new set of gauges. Now, to John's credit, the gauges aren't actually working, so they truly do need to be replaced.

Take, for example, this lovely, temporary temperature gauge that currently has the place of honor on the front seat. However useful it may be, one might argue that it lacks a certain charm.

But, what if we used (strictly an example, here) a spare glove box door as a new gauge panel? Wait a minute, what's that in John's hand? WHEREVER did he find such a perfect, authentically Studebaker piece? (You guessed it...."Happy Birthday to John!") Look at the sparks fly (seemingly from Guam?) as he carefully removes the hinges and removes any possibility of ever using it as a glovebox again (plus any identifying serial numbers, fingerprints, etc...)

Here's a template of where the new gauges will be placed on the panel (unless John changes his mind, which he reserves the right to do at all times). The hole on the top MAY house the ignition switch and the small dent in the bottom (wasn't me!) will be "removed." Hmm...

GD's last ride! A tribute of sorts...

Before everybody gets teary-eyed about John not seeing his Dad race, keep in mind that he was 3 when all this was taking place. And he really wasn't interested in cars until about six months ago. That probably still would be questionable if he didn't have Tracy working next to him (plus, he is a tad bit obsessive once he starts something, in case you hadn't noticed). Keeping that in mind, you should have seen his face after pulling into the cruise night at The Pavilions on Saturday night. Next to us was not just one, but THREE totally restored Rambler Scamblers. This is the car he had heard his father talk about most of his childhood but never got to see one in person. He instantly emailed his Dad in Guam(using a camera phone) and sent him the above pics. We enjoyed his return email so much that we decided to share. It's obvious that John gets his passion for life and the willingess to say "I can do that" (and then do it!) from his Dad.

GD's email read as follows:

Awesome, where was it? If it's an original Az. Scrambler I may have raced against it (only lost once and that was to a 428 mustang). I still have a picture of mine. Like mine this is the son model- the father model had a different paint scheme. Only 1,500 of them made. All were made by the Hurst shifter company. Sold for $2,995 1969 AMC scrambler new- worth around $20k now. 390 cubic inch engine, muncie aluminum rock crusher 4 speed, 315hp, 2650 lbs. Best time showroom stock 13.90 in 1/4 mile. Jennifer got rear ended in a parking lot when it was 3 months old and let the other person talk her into believing it was her fault. Fortunately, it was only a dent in the trunk lid. 26 straight wins in one season, nobody from my family ever watched me race. Took it apart in 1971. Put the engine in an idiot's stock car, quit being involved in Arizona racing in 1974, never saw the car or the engine again. Last race was 1977 in a super modified at Sedelia raceway in Mo. Ran Jennifer's uncle's car, first time driving in over 4 years. Only trophy I still have. Good thing was in those days you got to kiss the trophy girl, bad thing was she was my friend's 15 year old daughter so no tongue. If I had all the money I spent on racing I could have quit work 15 years ago, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Now that I've bored you to death, thanks for the picture.

Saturday Night & No Curfew!

When we lived at our old house, we'd often drive by the Kmart/Target shopping center on Saturday nights and look at the all of the cars displayed. Sometimes, we'd even take a walk through and see who had pulled in that night. I don't think we ever thought that we'd be taking our own vehicle and pulling out the lawn chairs...

Well, what do you know? It's our '55 Studebaker truck on the freeway, headed to the old Kmart parking lot. (Hmm...I'll bet if you looked a little closer you'd see some chairs in the back, too!)

We pulled in to the lot at about 6:30 PM, John driving the truck and Tracy and the kids following in the Tahoe (no, she did not park it at the show!) There were all kinds of vehicles present, from fully retored beauties all the way to the primer gray ugly ducklings (and everything else in-between). With people pulling in and out all evening, we got to see a little bit of everything and visited with all types of people imaginable.

The kids had a blast demonstrating the versatility of our truck. How many other cars at the show had two kids dancing in them? This truck gets to LIVE! It's fun to have a vehicle that can be part of the party and not just a pretty decoration.

John and Tracy showing off our Studebaker. We have even more fun with this truck than we ever imagined we would. It's such a great family project.

Thayer and Jilly love the truck, too. They think that cruise nights are fun!

It's hard to say what's the most fulfilling part of these events...the fact that people are starting to recognize us and welcome us into "the scene" or just meeting so many people who have fun Studebaker stories and memories to share. It's easy to see how this can be addictive!

Lesson #1069: Sometimes it's OK to get professional help!

It's been awhile since we did any work on the inside of the truck, so it was only a matter of time before we decided to revisit it. During John's last outing...the weekly car show at the Scottsdale Pavilions...he met and talked to a local pinstriper named Joel Nelson. Joel was very complimentary about the paint we'd put on the truck, and John went home with his business card and a new vision...

What if we did some pinstriping on the ceiling of the cab and on the inside of the truck doors? John figured that if Tracy could paint the rest of the interior, surely she could teach herself to pinstripe and have the whole thing done in say, a week or so. A trip to the paint store and a ridiculous amount in supplies later and he was ready to go. Well, he was ready for Tracy to get going, anyhow. So...John started researching some designs and Tracy started to have visions of the Sistine Chapel ceiling (what would they have done if Michaelangelo had messed up halfway through?). That's when we both had the brilliant idea that maybe we should put that business card to use and give Joel the Pinstriper a call. Within days, we had an appointment set up and the paint & brushes had been returned to the paint shop (for now, anyway...who knows what project may come next?).

Wow! It was amazing to see the speed and talent of a true professional at work. Joel showed up and within minutes we could see the design taking shape.

It's amazing how easy he makes it look! It truly takes the vision of an artist to do this type of work. Although we gave him a rough idea of what we were looking for, Joel took our concept and expanded it into a unique work of art. What started out as a just a few lines developed almost instantly into a design that fit perfectly with our truck.

The new red accent on the doors. We were impressed at how quickly these details put some finishing touches on our interior.

A view from the side. Joel finished the ceiling of the truck and the door panels in about an hour and was very reasonably priced. It was exciting to see the truck's interior take another step forward.

The new finished look! It's official, John's addicted and already looking for more "empty space" for Joel to work on. To see more of Joel's work, visit http://www.1320designs.com/. We highly recommend his work and he was great to do work with.