The history of the 1963 Studebaker Sceptre - a futuristic concept, the existence of which you did not even suspect (17 photos)

Introduced in 1962, the Studebaker Avanti is widely known as the car that was supposed to save the company. But sporty the car that broke 29 salt flat world speed records Bonneville, was not Studebaker's only attempt to create an outstanding product in the early 1960s.





Studebaker is the brand that most car enthusiasts think about. probably never heard, but actually it is very interesting brand. It was founded in 1852 and during the first part of its history engaged in the production of wagons and agricultural machinery, and in early 20th century switched to cars. When it was closed in 1966 year, he went down in history as the oldest American brand of that time, leaving behind General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and other industry giants.



For most of its history, Studebaker has strived to to some "golden mean". It was far from being cheap like a Chevrolet or a Ford, but it couldn't be said that it was expensive, like Cadillac or Packard. His clients were mostly in their thirties and they wanted a more serious car with a bit of a sporty character.





The company reached its peak in 1950 when it was sold 320,884 units, followed by a gradual decline, caused by two major changes in the industry. The first was a sales war between Ford and Chevrolet. Both companies have reduced the prices of their models to to claim the title of the best-selling brand, for which they could not smaller and independent manufacturers to follow.



Studebaker also had some of the highest costs in the industry. and he had to ship more than 300 thousand cars annually only in order to pay off. The company did this only once, and in 1954, she had to cooperate with another struggling for survival -Packard. Brief moments of glory were seen in the late fifties thanks to the compact Lark model, but having entered the sixties, Studebaker again found himself in an unenviable position, with a vague future.



Then the somewhat naive Sherwood appears at the head of the company. Egbert with a desire to revive the company. Egbert didn't have much experience, but he owned a Mercedes 300SL and felt that such a model could change the image of Studebaker. The firm already has an excellent staff stylist Brooks Stevens, but Egbert decided to seek outside help and hired Private Raymond Levy.



This French American was known not to only among vehicle makers, but also in design aerodynamic locomotives, household appliances and much more. IN as a result of his drawings, the Avanti model debuted, which continued produced long after Studebaker went bankrupt as independent car company.



Stevens is very offended by the decision to entrust his work to someone another and decides to design his own car to attract such same attention. The result was the Scepter concept, aimed at popular category called "personal luxury".



The Scepter did not share design lines with other Studebakers, and it seemed to have hit the market at least a dozen years earlier of his time.



The media described the front end as "razor-sharp" thanks to enlarged grille and hidden headlights. Similar design detail later seen on production models such as the Dodge Charger and Mercury Cougar, but in 1963 this design is presented for the first time.



It was powered by a 4.7 liter V8 engine. 225 hp, and the power was transmitted to the rear wheels through four-speed manual transmission.



When Stevens finished the blueprints, bring the concept to life. entrusted to the studio Sibona-Bassano from Turin. 16 thousand was spent on everything US dollars (about 156 thousand today).



It was delivered to America in April 1963 and Scepter was presented to Egbert, who liked it very much and immediately had the idea batch production. However, Studebaker has exhausted its last cash reserves and issuance was simply impossible. A year later the company disappeared from the American market, and worked in Canada until 1966.



Meanwhile, Stevens created another concept called cruiser. It was supposed to replace the extremely outdated Lark model in categories of compact models. It was also made by the studio Sibona-Bassano and for the same reason it has remained a project. Both concept are today in the official museum of the company. Egbert still for many years will be criticized for spending money on concepts instead of using them to pay off debts.