Story by Jon Stalnaker, AKA The Studebaker Dude
Way down yonder in Waxahachie, I never knew how many Studebakers I could see…
We just got back from Texas, where we attended the 62nd Studebaker Drivers Club International Meet in Waxahachie. I didn’t get an exact count of how many Studebakers were there, but it was a bunch of them.
The cars ranged from models built in the 1920s to the newest—kind of—Studebaker: a 2007 Avanti.
If you know that Studebaker stopped building cars after the 1966 model year, you might question the 2007 Avanti. When Studebaker stopped building cars, there were a number of diehard Avanti lovers who couldn’t let them die.
The rights to the Avanti passed through several hands over the next four decades before production finally stopped in December 2006. The 2007 models were already being built, and they were sold off after the owner of the rights to Avanti Motor Cars was locked up for running a Ponzi scheme.
While those later Avantis were not actually built by Studebaker, they are welcomed into the Studebaker Drivers Club because they are legitimate family to us.
Because I am the director of the South Central Zone on the club’s Board of Directors, they expect me to be at these meetings. We have a private board meeting and another meeting that is open to the SDC membership. It’s an important group within the club, and I am proud to serve on it.
In addition to the administrative activities, these meets are great places to buy parts and paraphernalia—books, T-shirts, toys and artwork, to name a few.
From left: I was recognized for my work on the Route 66 trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, which spent some time in Sapulpa along the way, as well as my work on the Satellite Group, which should help increase club membership. The center photo shows a 1920s-era Studebaker, while the photo at right shows a 2007 Avanti and a 1950 bullet-nose Studebaker.
I am amused whenever I hear someone unfamiliar with the SDC say that you can’t get parts for Studebakers anymore. When you are connected with the club, you see how easy it is to find parts. We still have plenty of them and plenty of vendors across the globe.
There isn’t much you can’t find if you know where to look. We even have vendors who manufacture parts that are otherwise too difficult to find.
Besides the work portion of these events, I enjoy meeting up with friends from all over the world. We had a director from Australia at this meeting, a couple from South Africa and another member who gave a presentation about his Hong Kong-to-Beijing rally race. He drove a Studebaker GT Hawk to a third-place finish despite facing numerous obstacles.
We were walking down a sidewalk on our way to dinner in downtown Waxahachie when we spotted one of our friends from Nevada. I glanced over as we passed her and said, “Hey, I know you!”
We probably hadn’t seen her in about 10 years. Carlene got some hug time, and we were so glad to catch up with her and her husband.
Carlene enjoying downtown Waxahachie with our long-lost friend Rhonda. Steve is the new regional manager for Northern California and the current editor of the Hawk Talks newsletter for the Karel Staple Chapter in Northern California.
She was an active member whom I had once tried to recruit for an important membership position. Unfortunately, she was dealing with health problems at the time and had to decline. She’s still kickin’, and it was a big thrill to spend some time with them.
Speaking of getting people involved in membership positions, I invited a friend from my California chapter who took over my old job as newsletter editor. He drove all the way from Sacramento, and I introduced him to many of the club’s “make-it-happeners.”
By the end of the meet, he had accepted the position of regional manager for Northern California. He has plenty of creative ideas and will be a great addition to the management team.
We had a great time and spent most of Sunday driving back home. We stopped at Reba’s Place in Atoka to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat. I got to try her famous tater tots—the ones she used to give away on The Voice.
Them was some mighty fine taters. Oooh-wee!