In 1957, Studebaker managed to offer the lowest-priced car in America by cutting the standard equipment to the bone—even the hubcaps were painted. Here’s the unlikely tale of the Champion Scotsman.
By 1957, Studebaker had run head first into the classic problem eventually faced by all the independent automakers: how to offer fresh, competitive models from an aging and obsolete product line. One common strategy among the little producers was to pile on added features and gimmicks, but in this instance, the South Bend product planners took the opposite course and stripped their base model Champion to the bone. The result was the Scotsman, and at $1,776 it was the cheapest full-size American car on the market in 1957.
Offered in basic two-door sedan, four-door sedan, and station wagon body styles, the Scotsman took its politically incorrect name from a popular stereotype, the alleged frugality of the Scottish people. Except for the bumpers, there was no exterior chrome at all—even the dog-dish hubcaps were painted body color. Inside, the door panels were cardboard and the floor covering was black rubber. A heater was optional at extra cost and there were no factory radio options listed. Dealers were cautioned not to load up the Scotsman order forms. If buyers wanted more goodies, they were to be coaxed up to the senior Champion and Commander lines.
In keeping with the austerity theme, just one powertrain was offered, the old 185 CID Champion flathead six coupled to a three-speed manual transmission, a setup good for only 101 horsepower but capable of wringing up to 30 miles from a single gallon of gasoline. In the advertising materials, it’s evident that Studebaker was pitching the car not just to the poor but to the cheap—those who took pleasure in squeezing a nickel for all it was worth. The Scotsman was a dream car for cheapskates.
While the sackcloth-and-ashes approach to marketing sounds like a recipe for failure, especially in an age of excess like the late ’50s, the Scotsman actually did fairly well. Sales comfortably exceeded the company’s modest first-year targets, and the model was continued for 1958. A Scotsman pickup was then added as well—a market segment where the low-price/minimal equipment strategy makes even more sense. It’s said that Studebaker’s success with the Scotsman helped to point Studebaker toward the lower end of the price range as the automaker developed its next product: the 1959 Lark.
Around 1964, my dad bought a worn-out Seafoam Green ’56 Champion Pelham wagon with the flat 6 and automatic transmission – he loved the idea of cheap used cars, though he sometimes he ended up not loving the cars themselves that much. It was all that poor old Champion wagon could do to pull its own weight around.
One Saturday, my sis and I were with him when we stopped at a traffic light next to a pretty good sized flat bed truck with a bunch of stuff on the back of it. A short distance past the traffic light, the four-lane road we were on narrowed down to two lanes. It was Dad’s intention to get there first so he wouldn’t be caught behind the slow-moving truck.
Of course, the truck beat us there. There is no telling how many off-color names he called that poor old Studebaker that day. I thought of that car when I saw Bill’s picture of the Scotsman wagon at the top of this post. It had the most interesting looking Cyclops-style speedometer.
I enjoy seeing cars like this that don’t get a lot of collector hype. Thank you for the post.
The Scotsman is A lesson for life. The Race to the bottom is a short term solution that results in a catastrophic result in the long term. The Avanti could have been the Mustang but Studebacker had cast his image in the Scotsman and the Lark from which there was no return. The Mustang coming from Ford had a performance Sports image that lasts until the present day. Beating the Mustang to showrooms by 8 months the Avanti could have saved the Company but it was not to be. Avanti joins the Bill Thomas Cheetah as a sad Motorsports story of What could have been?
Considering the Barracuda came to market several weeks before the Mustang, methinks your theory misses the mark: the Mustang came about due to solid market research. The Avanti was an 11-hour attempt for a halo car to help stave the death of a storied brand.
If anything, the Lark was the reason why there could have been an Avanti.
I think you are wrong about the date of entry of the Barracuda which in any event was a Plymouth Valiant with a large back window. That car couldn’t save anybody. The 1964 Avanti with the Factory Supercharger was a Hell of a muscle car in its day.
I believe the Barracuda debuted April 1, and the Mustang April 17.
The Avanti indeed was a fine performance car but it’s somewhat of a stretch to call it a muscle car, especially in a conversation about pony cars. I kinda see the Avanti more as a GT.
I’ve got news for you, we could use a car like that today. I’d certainly buy one. It would have to be called something else, however, as implying the Sottish are unusually frugal, wouldn’t fly today.
The Scots I know are extremely frugal BUT wish to cut your lunch price wise on anything purchased.
Though base model POV packs were hardly Studes realm. All the manufacturers did it. Especially in Commercials.
In the 70s the base Ford Escort had cardboard trims, rubber mats and very few available extras.
A Ford F trucks used painted caps for decades, as indeed Holden 1 tonners.
Even a pov pack Mustang was not a great deal better.
The early Cuda while Valiant based was quite a deal different. And the Mustang is a Falcon in drag.
Looking at the brochure for my 71 Galaxie the base engine was 240 6 with bench seat and 3 on the tree and drum brakes. As were the others in reality. My LTD is a world different
The Avanti was introduced a full two years earlier, In April 28th 1962… so the same as the Barracuda applies here
Barracuda hit dealers on April 14 1964, Mustangs on April 17, 1964 hardly a difference. Studebacker could only build 1,200 Avantis in all of 1962 with orders approaching 20,000. This contributed to the cars failure. It was too pricy at those production levels and was forced to compete with Corvette. The Car should have been a more Mustang type car with entry level mass appeal but the whole project was botched from the starts and in many ways continues to be. https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/220-55×390.html
Nope, it was April 1. This is documented.
And like I suggested before, the Mustang had solid market research behind it, as it captured several demographics and psychographics at the time. This would have been something that Studebaker wouldn’t have been able to afford, nor did the company have the wisdom to recognize an evolving market the way Ford did. Studebaker was full of cleverness when things got tight, but they didn’t have it at that time.
I prefer not to see the Avanti in such negative light…..Studebaker tried its best with the Avanti, succeeded in many ways, but could not pull it all together before the straw broke the camel’s back.
There indeed was a standard-equipment chrome hood ornament designed especially for the Scotsman. It was about the size of a silver dollar and I recall it cost somewhere about 25 cents to make. It was probably only included to plug the ornament hole in the same hoods that were also fitted on the upscale Studebakers.