well i had my car parked as i was helping a friend work on his car and this old lady walked by saying 'thats a cute car, is it a studabaker?' now i guess i wouldn't care but what studabaker ever looked like a first gen is what im wondering? while we're at it anyone else have their first gen mistaken for some other car thats not even close?

 

3 times today!

A camaro, a 'vette, and some little kid saying 'we're getting one of those!'

 

I suppose a little old lady who is not into cars could make this mistake - I just wish my 1st gen was worth as much as the Studebaker. - I know a guy in Seattle who has one of these with a Cadillac 500 in it, about 700 horsepower with nitrous. He says it gets about 14 miles per gallon - 6 in town plus 8 on the highway!

 

Studebaker's were just too far ahead of their time. Which is easily understandable why an elderly person would think of that name when they encounter a car with the clean lines of a 1st gen.

I was once asked "who made your RX-7, Nissan?" Mind you, the guy was standing 2 feet away from the "Mazda" emblem on the front of the car at the time.

 

I just get the older people saying, "I used to own one of those little cars ten years ago. That was the most fun car I've ever owned."

Then I had a person or two ask me, "Is that some sort of Porsche?" I think we've all had that one at one point in time, though.

 

My neighboor behind me use to own a rx-7. I dont have to worry about him complaining about my exhaust.

 

The widebody has been called many things, but not a Studie. I wonder if she used to own a Henry J? There are some vague similarities, from about a mile away. lol

 

The Avanti, this was built in the early '60's by Studebaker.

 

^^^thats exactly what i was thinking. a lot of times people call my car XR-7's. my car was not made by mercury/ford. thats just ridiculous. the fiero thing comes up once in awhile, not too much anymore. i'm pretty much one of three people in my town that own an RX-7, so people know me and what i drive. one is an old lady that owns a 2nd gen GXL and the other is a guy who i went to school with that owns a third gen that never seems to have the best of luck.

 

little off topic but today i was reminded there is this car that i've been seeing around town, i believe its a buick but it does have very similiar lines to the 1st gen, it just looks more like mid 90's maybe anyone know what this thing is? i havn't been able to get close to it really.

 

i would assume it would be the buick reatta.

 

Reattas are ugly. Weren't they some sort of limited-production cars?

 

they were limited production. they were decent for their time. they had the same drivetrain as the bonneville, a 165hp 3.8L(231 cid)V6 and a 4speed auto with o/d trans. supposed to have an uprated suspension as well.

 

It's probably a late 80's model, the Riata, a shorter, lighter version of the Riviera when they got small from 86-89. They grew in size again in 90. they are pretty rare, light quick and a fun little car. Even came in a vert model.

Afaik, the Avanti is still being made in limited production. When Studebaker closed up, a group bought all of the rights, dies, etc, to the Avanti.

The Henry J is from the 50's and looks more like a 1st gen than the Avanti does. My Aunt had one, neat little car. Never could figure out what she was doing with one, living on a farm in central Kansas where the best crop at the time was growing sand.

 

the worst is the "oh thats a nice porshe" omgwtfbbq

 

I got the Firebird once. Had to kill the person.
Let's see. . . Porsche. ALFA ROMEO (from some kid who THOUGHT he knew cars). . . Fairlady (often enough for me to scream) Silvia hatch (again, way too often)

 

A couple years ago an old lady down the road had her dead husbands old studebaker dug out from under the oak leaves and towed down to the local gas station to get the brakes fixed (it ran with no problem!). I offered $1000 even tho the green paint looked ugly and chrome was shabby but she refused. Turned out that later she sold it for more than $10,000. I think it was a '48.

 

I get this all the time, especially when I have it parked at my parents and they have people over.

Other than that I have gotten people thinking its a Z-car, thats happened a few times. And once I got some one who thought it was a corvette.

 

I've had a couple people who know absolutely nothing about these cars say that they owned one in the past. One guy claimed he had one that was an early 70s model with a turbo rotax motor in it and looked just like mine. I just walked away laughing. Some people just try too hard.

 

ah yes the reatta was it its been bugging me lately seeing it around

 

Hey, isn't that car in gigglesnirt's post a Studebaker? Sure looks like one to me.

Ray

 

ive had my car called a porche sevral times especially when the lights are up once by a girl who drove a stick shift jetta that was like my car isnt a race car like that. ive had people in shock and awe when i said i have a 1.1 liter that produces 100 hp. after it beat there foxbody mustang 5.0
its funny that some people cant grasp that rotary engines have no pistins rods or valves or camsafts

 

I was driving my dad's 1984 Porsche 911, and some lady said that she liked my Trans Am. That's pretty far off!

 

Used to own one of those. Family sold it to some collector for who knows how much.

I'll never forgive them, for that and a lot of other things.

 

I put my car in a car show once, and these kids when walking by and were like wow check out that ferrari!! lmao!