I thought this was cool; in 63 the Westinghouse Appliance Division contracted with Studebaker to build them a user specific fleet of service vehicles. They wanted something resonably priced that would be a Westinghouse only vehicle. Studebaker came up with a simple cab over pickup and a van design. One of each was built as a prototype but Studebaker went belly up before they could start building them. This is the last Studebaker truck they ever designed. This truck was a supposed barn find that ended up in a museum and they dont know what happened to the van. I thought building a replica of this on a Dakota chassis would be cool. <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
Yeah, very weird! I guess they figured that since it would be hauling refrigerators, it should look like one.
....WOW, You're exactly right, perhaps they would have eventually painted them in period colors like avocado, turquoise and that funky brown with a darker brown "fade" around the edges.
In the 1950s over in Spain (which is hardly a third-world country), the locomotive builder CAF started a subsidiary called VIASA (Vehiculos Industriales y Agricolas, S.A.) to license the design of the Jeep CJ-3B from Kaiser-Willys and build it in VIASA’s factory in Zaragoza. A decade later, VIASA introduced a small cab-forward van called the SV, available as a pickup (Cid), crew-cab pickup (Duplex), cargo van (Van, later Furgon) or nine-seat minibus (Caravan, later Toledo). A very basic design, powered by either a Perkins four-cylinder diesel or a Jeep Hurricane straight-six gasoline engine, it resembled nothing in Kaiser’s stateside or South American Jeep lineups. Early advertising for the SV claimed that it was designed in the United States – certainly plausible given the small size of VIASA. Given that fact, plus the timetable, the IVI’s goal of designing a vehicle for international production, and certain similarities in the design of the Wide-Trac and the SV (would you just look at the C-pillar design? It screams Brooks Stevens), it’s almost certain that the SV grew out of the IVI program. Production of the SV continued under VIASA until about 1974, when Motor Iberica swallowed VIASA and placed the SV under its EBRO brand, continuing production until 1980. If indeed our assumptions are correct, then it makes one wonder why the SV ended up becoming the only production vehicle to come out of the IVI program.
FYI- May have got lost in the translation. I posted the Viasa Jeep van because it was designed by Brooks Stevens designing for both Studebaker and Willys at the same time. I just think that the designs are very similar with opposite windshield rakes. Brooks Stevens (1911-1995). Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he studied architecture at Cornell from 1929 to 1933 and immediately entered the profession by designing trademark materials for his father's firm, Cutler-Hammer. He worked on outboard motors for Evinrude starting in 1934, and established his own office that year. He designed the first Wienermobile for Oscar Meyer in 1936 (the last one was in 1988). He re-designed the Waverly Steam-o-matic steam iron in 1938 and the Waverly Petipoint iron in 1940. He redesigned the Hiawatha Skytop Lounge for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in 1941. He was one of the founders of SID in 1944. In 1946 he designed the first home freezer, the Ben Hur. He became a consultant to Willys-Overland for post-war Jeep vehicles including the Jeepster in 1948, the Wagoneer in 1963, and the Cherokee in 1974. In 1950, he designed the ubiquitous Formica pattern known as "Skylark" with thin line 'boomerang shapes. He designed for Studebaker from 1962 to 1967, including the 1962-1964 Studebaker Packard GT Hawk and the 1962-1964 Studebaker Packard Lark. In 1963 he designed the Aero Willys 2600, the first car to be produced in Brazil. With AMC head Richard Teague, he designed the 1970 Gremlin, the first truly 'compact' car on the market. Brooks Stevens Design Associates continued under his son Kipp after 1979. From 1983 until his death, Brooks taught at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
Great design - flat panels, so the tools are cheap to build and the vehicle is easy to assemble. Note the front window slants forward from the bottom - no glare on the inside of the windshield. Motor in the cab - similar to some GM stuff from the same era. Would have been a winner if they'd decided to keep going with the truck biz.
Looks a lot like their Postal Zip Van, just lengthened, w/the rear 3/4 top removed. Too bad they didn't make more. Haven't seen this one before, any more info/pics? TIA. Marcus...
Studebaker built these neat little vans for the U.S. Postal service. Zip Vans were right hand drive and featured a sliding door for the driver. The body was manufactured by Met-Pro of Landsdale, Pennsylvania. Zip Vans used the 112 horsepower overhead valve "Skybolt" six that was an adaptation of the old Champion flathead engine. The Zip Van remained in production after other Studebaker civilian truck production ended in order to complete the government contract. via: Bill Jackameit's Studebaker Page ...
Nice "postals"....The "U.S. Mail" logo says those are pre 1971, which is when it became "U.S.Postal Service". Today's postals are built on 2wd Ford explorer chassis, using the export rt side drive, and Utilimaster bodies. I'd like to find one of those frames,...build a right drive roadster on it. 4TTRUK
They achieve style the way WWII jeeps and Meyers Manx did. Some kind of mysteriously subtle refinement makes some designs that seem crude stick in your head. Maybe that distinction is the difference between crudity and purposeful minimalism... achieved in all these cases by brilliant lone designers, working for financially insignificant (or dying!) entities...Bantam, Studebaker in its last throes, and some surfer drizzling fiberglass goo around a garage.
I think you nailed it, Bruce. You surely cant call it stylish or exotic but the picture sticks in your head in a positive way. Part of the allure is the thought that this is something could be hand fabricated with entry level body & sheet metal skills. I"ve always wanted to do a build with a completely hand fabricated body but it's a huge task to undertake.
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