Studebaker Station Wagon Retractable Roof

The wagonaire was the supreme wagon and the innovative wagon had the retractable roof.

Studebaker station wagon retractable roof.

I haven t come across one of these in years and it is definitely worth a closer look. Especially when you consider this 1964 studebaker lark waonaire station wagon s rear retractable roof. Located in scotts valley california it is available here on craigslist for 6 850. It featured a retractable sliding rear roof section that allowed the vehicle to carry items that would otherwise be too tall for a conventional station wagon of the era.

It was more for function than fun making it possible to hual around tall items such as refrigerators. Unknowingly studebaker had set the tone for every tricked out sunroof moonroof and multi panel retractable roof to follow suv or not. This sliding roof was operated by hand and the thought was that having the cargo opened for larger and taller. It s a go anywhere take everybody go have fun kind of vehicle.

Sadly the driver doesn t get to enjoy all that sun and fresh air. The retractable roof on this lark adds a lot of character and makes it really standout in a crowd of boring grocery haulers. It s really easy to picture a wagonaire backed up to a stream or boat ramp with some angler standing right up in the back and casting trout flies through the open roof. Studebaker advertising showed the practicality of an open roof wagon with demonstrations of the extra cargo carrying capacity the open roof added.

While the guys were shooting this cool studebaker wagon for unique cars we snuck in and talked with the owner richard salter. The studebaker wagonaire was a station wagon produced by the studebaker corporation of south bend indiana from 1963 1966. It has the retractible rear roof designed by brook stevens that was only available for 3 years am fm cd player air conditioning. Subscribe to street machine fo.