1953 STUDEBAKER STARLITE (STARLINER)

I was downtown Santa Cruz to photograph a building that interested me and as I drove up to park this 1953 Studebaker Starlite was setting at the curb across the street. I recognized it immediately because a high school friend had a Studebaker "Goldern Hawk" that looked very similar but wasn't customized like this one. Slagle was the guys name. I remember him talking about how powerful the car was and how fast it would go. He took it to the Nevada desert from Albuquerque,NM and found a long straight highway and floored it. He pegged the speedometer and then rode. Then suddenly the engine blew up and the he and the car were stranded out in the middle of nowhere for hours and hours until someone came along and gave him a ride. I'm not sure what happened to the car. I don't think I ever saw it again.

As I was photographing this car the owner and his wife came out of the adjoining restaurant and were kind enough to explain some of the features. It was definitely a head turner as was his wife.