By: Paul Cronkwright, Photos courtesy Jon Evans 

A little over a year ago, a fabulous, once in a lifetime opportunity to present Studebakers in a very prestigious way came about. The Canadian International AutoShow (C.I.A.S.) wanted to exhibit Studebakers in the History Room at their 2007 show in Toronto, Ontario Canada. This show, held each February, is ranked in the top three, new car shows in the world, with an annual draw of approximately 300,000 people. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, where else would we be able to capture that many people to view and promote our beloved Studebakers? The show is held in both the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Rogers Centre, (formally Skydome), home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. The venues are next door to each other and cover a lot of real-estate. To say this show is large would be an understatement, it's huge! It spans ten days and is all about "new cars". Well, not quite, they do provide a large hall where fifty plus hot rods, cruisers, muscle cars and customs are on display. At the end of this hall is the 10,000 square foot History Room where each year a different marque will be featured. Last year was the inaugural year for the History Room and MG's graced this beautiful display case.

A Studebaker steering committee of six was struck, made up of members from the Ontario Chapter, Hamilton Chapter and The Canadian Avanti Owners Association. We knew we had a year to organize and implement this occasion to the fullest. We also knew how fast that year would pass! The C.I.A.S. organizers are very history conscious. They knew exactly how they wanted the Studebakers, pictures and specific Studebaker Corporation history presented, right down to corporate colours, logos and phrases being used on all vehicle signs, as well as "leader" signs throughout the show guiding people to the History Room. At the March 2006 Studebaker swap meet in York, Pa., I presented a letter of intent to the National Studebaker Museum designed to evoke interest in having them be a part of this unique show. Their excitement was immediate, and a year later five beautiful museum cars were picked up and delivered to Toronto. In all, a total of eighteen Studebaker vehicles were displayed. The five museum cars took centre stage, with ten chapter member's vehicles around the perimeter of the room. Two cool hot rod Studebakers stood guard just outside the room and one more was located a distance from the History Room as a "teaser car" to get folks over to view the Studebaker spectacle. The cars were displayed on carpeted floors with special overhead trussed lighting, white columns with ferns and other plants strategically placed around the room. Every time I entered the History Room it always made me smile, it was simply spectacular. And in the centre of the room, high above the museum vehicles, was a Lazy S sign, 5 feet in diameter,  rotating around by an electric motor. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

SDC President, Ed Reynolds and Studebaker Museum Trustee Phil Brown, both attended for the opening weekend of the show. Museum staff members Tony Smith, Curator, and Andy Beckman, Archivist, were on hand for the first eight days of the show promoting the museum and Studebaker. A large number of members from the three chapters, volunteered at the show, answering questions from the public and promoting the name Studebaker from 10am to 10pm each day. I'm sure that a lot of young people were viewing Studebaker vehicles for the first time in their lives. We gleaned a lot of interesting comments from visitors who signed our guest book. All were very vivid and colourful praises of the display. Here are a few of those comments; "best part of the entire show", "what a great trip down memory lane", "great display, my dad worked at the Hamilton plant until it closed" and one that simply said, "rocks baby"!

We extend our sincere appreciation to those who made it all happen.

• VEHICLE OWNERS:   Paul Revell, 1939 Champion, George Butterworth, 1947 M5 PU, George Christie, 1950 Land Cruiser, Jim Ramage, 1953 Starliner, Ray Martin, 1956 Golden Hawk, Art & Mary Robson, 1958 Commander, Bill Harris, 1963 Avanti R2, George & Donna Graham, 1963 Daytona convertible, Bill & Linda Hooper, 1964 GT Hawk, Barry & Carol Leppan, 1964 Daytona, Judith & Mike Emmerich, 1940 Champ coupe hot rod, Bill Balzer, 1951 Commander convertible hot rod, Bob Stowell, 1957 Silver Hawk, teaser car.
• THE NATIONAL STUDEBAKER MUSEUM for allowing us to borrow and show off five of their precious vehicles, as well as having Andy and Tony there to work the show with us.
• Special thanks to Ed Reynolds and Phil Brown for travelling the long distance to Toronto, it meant a lot to us!
• All the chapter members who volunteered their time as hosts during the ten days of the show, thank-you!
• Sincere thanks to Tom Tonks, General Manager and Jon Rosenthall, Event Manager, C.I.A.S. for inviting us to display Studebakers at their show. And to their dedicated crews who skilfully moved cars and set up the show.
• And last but certainly not least, the Studebaker Steering Committee members who organized, planned and worked hard for twelve months to bring this show to fruition; Jane Barrett, Keith Barrett, Paul Cronkwright, Richard Griggs, Barry Leppan and Paul Revell.

It was a great ride for all of us that will never be forgotten!

An Overhead View of the Show!