Dreaming of a Studebaker Dealer
I have always wanted to have a picture taken of all my cars together but could never come up with a way of displaying all my cars at one time and within an appropriate setting . To have a painting done was the only way of accomplishing this .
I researched 1950s vintage car dealerships , since most of my cars come from this era and I provided a couple of these dealership pictures to the artist , Richard Ripple . My only other request was to have the Studebaker Avanti featured in the main showroom . He did the rest in positioning the cars and adding all the other details . I am so pleased how the artist was able to capture the ' 50s vintage look . Especially , the fictitious Porter Motors sign gives the picture such a great ' 50s vintage look and the detail of the painting is phenomenal . Starting out my car collecting craziness , I never tried to end up with this combination of car manufacturers . It all started with purchasing a 1959 Mercedes Benz 220S , due to my father owning a used 1959 220S , when I was in high school . I have had this Mercedes for over 30 years . Of course , the Studebaker-Packard Corporation was the distributor of Mercedes Benz cars in the late 1950s and early 1960s before they established their own dealer network . The painting includes : a 1941 Packard 110 Business Coupe , 1959 Mercedes Benz 220S , 1955 Packard 400 two door hard top , 1963 Avanti , and a 1954 Studebaker 3R half ton pick up truck . I still have all these cars except the 1941 Packard .
— Joe Porter , AOAI member
2 AVANTI Magazine Summer / Fall 2021 Issue 195