FOUND: Sales Documentation from 1963 for Mercedes and Studebaker
 

We recently moved my mother-in-law into a condominium in Walnut Creek, CA, and I discovered on the top shelf of her carport closet a ledger from 1963 for an unknown car dealership in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has sales records, all hand-written, for new Studebaker and Mercedes-Benz cars, and also for many used vehicles.

See photos for a sample of the ledger and the information contained within.

The previous owner of the condo has no knowledge of this book, and the only identifying information is written on the side as "C/S 1963". Perhaps one some page is more information as to the dealership, but I haven't seen anything yet.

The M-B section is a bit thin, with most pages going to Studebaker and used vehicles. In a previous life (before kids & running a business) I would have time to log Serial numbers / make / model into a spreadsheet... but I'm happy to search if someone has a vehicle purchased in the Bay Area in 1963 for a record.

I hope this finds you all well in the world...

Greg Fulcher, in Orinda, CA

Wow, you really need to contact a Avanti club or the registry here 1963 Studebaker Avanti Owner Registry ( there may be others )

The Avanti serial number on your 3 rd picture isn't on the list and is somewhat odd compared to others. I can't tell if it is R200213 or RZ20213

In any event, you should be able to track down the dealership. You could probably sell sheets from the book for $ 20 each to cover your time.

The serial number might be RS20213, I'm finding some evidence that this format is an engine number. See serial number R1001 in the link above for engine format.

Found this interesting bit , according to the listing below, in 63 CA required 8 digit serial numbers so some Avanit got a "A" at the end to finish it off. It seems that Avanti standard SN started out with the year 63 then R then sequence of 4 digits.

Aug 14, 2006
1963
R2824A
Robert L. Weir
R1 with air, PS and automatic trans. The "A" in the VIN denotes a California car (in '63, California required 8 digits for VINs, so the "A" was added on the title and a small "A" added to the VIN plate). I currently own: 63R1810, 63R2116, 63R2824A, 63R2859, 63R3039 and 63R3404.

Maybe?

22 miles away
Studebaker Dealers

post 7
"" When I was in the SF Bay Area I bought parts from the Zone Depot in Burlingame and a good dealer in San Leandro was Ben Begier which still operates as a Buick-Saab dealer. "

Big list , however it does not call out dual Stud / MB dealers

Studebaker Dealers - Page 28.


01-28-2015, 03:09 AM #1084
candbstudebakers



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While going through some Studebaker lit I came across one with 17 different dealers here in the San Francisco /Bay area some of them should already be in other posts but I don't plan on going back and checking every one out so will just add all of them now.

Century Motors- Walnut Creek, Ca.
Al Young's Vallejo, Ca.
Rossi Garage inc. San Rafael, Ca.
Ben A. Begier co. San Leandro, Ca.
West bay motors San Carlos, Ca.
Standard motor sales inc. Richmond, Ca.
Oakley Motors Oakley, Ca.
Milton motors Oakland, Ca.
Jobrack motors Livermore, Ca.
Band B motors Hayward, Ca.
Pierotti motors Fremont, Ca.
Wm. J Sweeney and sons Daly City, Ca.
West Bay motors inc. Burlingame, Ca.
Lou Fox inc. Berkeley, Ca.
Howard Motor sales Albany, Ca.
Webster motors Alameda, Ca.
Phil Frates Inc. San Francisco, Ca.

Studebaker Avanti Build Sheet Samples

Where to find Production Orders or Build Sheets for your Avanti.

The Studebaker National Museum sells Avanti Production Orders in the museum store. The Museum Store is located inside the museum at 201 S. Chapin Street; South Bend, Indiana 46601. Store Hours are Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm EST and Sunday 12pm-5pm EST. Call (574) 235-9714 or (888) 391-5600 for more information.

The Production Orders can also be bought online: Open Online Store Main Page or Open Online Store Production Orders

Nostalgic Motors also has Avanti production orders. Nostalgic Motors is located at 47400 Avante Dr. Wixom, Michigan 48393. Call (248) 349-4884 for more information. Online at www.avantiparts.net.