Saturday 16 April 2022

Was there an Orange 1951 Studebaker?

My 1951 Studebaker as seen in RMC is parked at the water tank on the WRD.

If you follow RMC you may have seen my Craftsman Workshop feature on vehicles in the April issue. I sometimes get feedback from readers which is passed along to me. Here is one with a bit of a negative tone to it.

I do have a small nit to pick concerning the vehicle article by Mr. Dutka.  As a 45+ year member of the Studebaker Drivers Club (I currently own two) I feel it necessary to point out that orange was not a Studebaker offered color in 1951.  Since Mr. Dutka indicated he models the mid-to-late 1950's, the car probably wouldn't be solid orange even if it had been repainted.  Orange just wasn't that popular in that time period (although some car manufacturers used it as part of a two tone color scheme).  Now if he was modeling a decade later a solid orange car would be more probable.  However, he did redeem himself somewhat with the N-scale model of the Studebaker R-series pickup truck. While the shade may not be exact, they did come in green.   This is not meant to take anything away from Mr. Dutka's excellent modeling and admittedly is just a very minor point.  It is just a little nudge that the colors chosen for vehicles, structures, advertising, etc. help define the period modeled.

I was surprised by the comments and found it really interesting. Clare (Sylvan Scale Models) is a car guy and would not suggest or model a car (as seen on the box front) in a color that actually did not exist on a vehicle. I thought I should do a bit of a google search and see what's up. From what I could see orange was actually a Studebaker color for the 1950s and it also had a name, Minute Maid Orange. If you know something else please fill me in...George Dutka 

As one can see the suggested color on the box is orange.

The 1951 Studebaker classic car catalog views the car in orange.

I found this ad for a large size 1951 Studebaker in orange also.

For this 1955 Studebaker ad they featured the shade as Minute Maid Orange.


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