The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The ultimate italian coachbuilder site
The 1960s Studebaker concept cars, a collection of intriguing prototypes, represented one of the few bright spots for the proud but failing Studebaker company.
In 1960 the company, with a new management and designer tried to relaunch the brand with a handfull of new concept cars. Studebaker was then so short of cash that all it could afford was $50,000 for the lot. Stevens (the new design chef) decided his only hope was Italy, but not some high-priced outfit like Pininfarina. Happily, he discovered a small coachworks in Turin called Sibona-Bassano. “I walked in,” he remembered, “and there was laundry on the line and chickens running around. I took these two little guys out and fixed them up with Camparis. We got good prices out of them — $16,500 per car, an incredibly low figure.” Better yet, the finished models were worthy of a Pininfarina. Stevens termed them “jewel-like,” and recalled Egbert (the CEO) being very excited about them.
In 1960 the entrepreneur and importer Renato Bornigia commissioned Pietro Frua and Francis Lombardi to carry out a project to mass-produce (1000 cars) a variant of the Studebaker Lark in 2-door coupe and 4-door sedan versions.
