Studebaker Wagonaire
The Studebaker Wagonaire was a station wagon, which was approved by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend (Indiana) made from 1963 to 1966.
Model history
The Wagonaire possessed as a special feature a rear roof section, the sunroof like disappeared when needed in the front roof part; this allowed the transport of bulky, high goods that would otherwise not fit in an ordinary suit.
The unique roof of the Studebaker Wagonaire was an invention of the industrial designer Brooks Stevens, who had been commissioned by the Studebaker President Sherwood Egbert, to extend the limited range of models without spending large sums of money for it too. Ironically, Stevens was also the designer of the Jeep Wagoneer, an SUV, which remained in production until the 1990s.
The Wagonaire, which was based on the given by Stevens in 1959 with the body Reutter in Stuttgart study commissioned Olin Scimitar, based on the body of the regular wagon version of the Studebaker Lark, which was adapted above the waistline of the new interpretation. A roof over the loading area, which could be moved by hand to the front of the rear seats and locked there, the carriage made unique. This interpretation is allowed, for example, the transport of an upright refrigerator.
The Wagonaire offered six people ( five with the deliverable as an optional front bucket seats ), but could also carry eight people when he was equipped with a third row seat that was available until 1965 as an option. Vehicles with this third row of seats had run-flat tires - " Captive - Air " system called that allowed the drive to a flat tire without a tire change. This was necessary because there was no room for a spare available by the third row of seats.
Buyer earlier Wagonaire found that the sliding roof was to penetrate at its front end water. This problem took - with moderate success - the work on. Because of these difficulties, a combination quickly became parallel to Wagonaire launched with a fixed roof in January 1963. It cost U.S. $ 100 less than the Wagonaire with sunroof, but was a special model and had to be specially ordered from the dealer.
When Studebaker continued the work in South Bend (Indiana ) completed and production in Hamilton ( Ontario) in Canada, the Prestige Models Avanti and Hawk were adjusted based on the Lark building sedans and wagon Aires but continued to be built.
The models 1964, manufactured after December 1963 only in Canada, were the last Studebaker with engines of its own production. In 1965, GM delivered to Studebaker Chevrolet inline six- cylinder and V8 engines. In 1965 there were only combined models with the sunroof.
The models with a fixed roof were in 1966 back in stock, the third row of seats, however, was no longer to be had. It was also in 1966 from the Wagonaire own model with the body trim parts of the Commander and the interior of the sporty Daytona. Only 940 Wagonaire were built in model year 1966, models with a fixed roof are correspondingly rare.
Matchbox introduced a miniature Wagonaire, complete with sunroof, when the unit was to have long after Studebaker stopped production. Husky also presented a Wagonaire similar in size to Matchbox ago.
A high performance cluster?
The Daytona version of Wagonaire of 1963/64, can be considered a forerunner of today's powerful combi versions. Powered by a V8 engine of 4,737 cc, Carter four -barrel carburetor and transmission with steering wheel gearshift and Overdrive, the Wagonaire could keep up with many muscle cars of its time. In addition, the Wagonaire from the beginning could be ordered with all the high-performance Avanti V8 engines of the Studebaker "R- series" and with knüppelgeschaltetem four-speed transmission. Very few copies - if at all - however, were actually ordered in this design.
Short-lived renaissance of the concept
The concept of the sliding roof was taken by GM for the new GMC Envoy in model years 2003 and 2004. Promotional clips for the Envoy XUV described the idea incorrectly as new. However, GM offered this roof to electrically operated, which was never available at Studebaker. Also Envoy XUV this was not successful as his time of Wagonaire, therefore GMC introduced the 2005 model again.