The drive behind the Studebaker
Lester O’Regan remembers his first Studebaker fondly, and the year he bought it is unforgettable, he says.
He purchased the Studebaker Transtar truck in 1986, ‘‘just before GST was introduced’’, he said.
‘‘That’s how I remember the date.’’
The Transtar was one of more than 40 Studebakers on display in the Rutherford Hotel Nelson car park on Saturday morning; where chrome shined, paint jobs were vibrant, and club members gathered to shoot the breeze over their shared passion.
O’Regan said he drove the rusty, old Studebaker that he nabbed for $3000 from Paraparaumu and got it home to Nelson on the ferry ‘‘just before the ferry fares went up 10 per cent’’, which was the first GST rate.
It took two years of refurbishing to bring the old 1956 truck back to life, he said.
‘‘I had to completely rebuild it; there was corrosion from the front bumper to the back.’’
Once roadworthy, he said he would drive the car every day to his workplace – Honda, formerly known as New Zealand Motor Corporation.
He chuckled as he reminisced about parking his Studebaker in his own company parking space surrounded by Hondas.
‘‘But because Studebakers weren’t made any more, they didn’t mind.’’
The last Studebaker was made in 1966 before the Canadian plant closed its doors.
Since then, every two years, the Studebaker Drivers Club of New Zealand has met biennially in New Zealand towns, while every other year, a meeting is held in Australia.
Studebaker Club organiser, Ian Mortimer said members of the club were ‘‘quite social’’ because the cars weren’t a ‘‘look at me sort of car’’.
They were ‘‘different, really weird, strange things’’, he said, which was what drew him to Studebakers.
Tinkering with cars was in his blood, he said, as all his uncles were mechanics.
‘‘As a kid, I played around in the workshops in Nelson where they worked. I have a fascination for anything old and mechanical’’, and he said a lot of the club members were similar.
Looking behind the makers of
Studebaker brought up some interesting facts, Mortimer said.
He said the slogan was, Different by Design, and the shapes were created by French-born Raymond Loewy. He was ‘‘one of the very first industrial designers’’, he said, designing many iconic shapes we still know today, including the sleek Coca-Cola bottle and the Shell oil emblem.
This year’s Nelson gathering brought together more than 70 members from around the country along with more than 40 Studebakers.
Andre de Haan drove his 1965 Studebaker Cruiser down from Otorohanga where it was used as his ‘‘farm car’’.
He said he fell into the Studebaker trap ‘‘accidentally’’ when he bought one for sale at his local panel workshop in 1997.
Four years later, his daughter went to Holland, where de Haan is from, and she saw old family photographs, he said.
‘‘My grandfather had exactly the same car. That was quite magic.’’