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1951 Studebaker Commander State Starlight Coupe 
Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin: 
Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2007-02-03 22:49 |
I would say a 1951 Studebaker. Not sure of the series, but it's a Starlight Coupe. |
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◊ 2007-02-14 18:11 |
55 Pontiac parked in front of the Studebaker and a 57 Chevrolet in front of that. |
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◊ 2007-02-26 20:32 |
I am the owner of the yellow 1951 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe used in the filming of the “Buddy Holly Story” (approximately 1978). I have owned the car since 1975 and am its third owner. The external front sun visor is not a Studebaker option, but was apparently installed by the dealership before they sold the car originally. The part of the filming that my car is in was done here in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA. The Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta was used because, at that time, it still had its old vertical marquee, and the Apollo in Harlem New York also had a vertical sign. The movie producers placed an advertisement in the Atlanta newspaper for cars from the mid-1950’s. As you might expect, they got a number of responses from owners of mid-1950’s General Motors cars and were delighted to have my Studebaker in the movie also. Those of us who had brought our cars to be in the movie were envious of the owner of a black 1955 Chevrolet since he got to drive his car down the street in the filming. However, it turned out that after editing the film, his car is just driving out of the scene as they start this part of the film. So actually, after I saw the movie, I was happier that my car was parked in front of the theatre. As the cars were originally arranged in front of the “Apollo Theatre” before they began filming, my yellow Studebaker was parked in front of the other two cars parked in this scene (the 1955 Pontiac and the 1957 Chevrolet). However, the director wanted the two black cars in the sunlight and my yellow car in the shade. That is how my car came to be so nicely centered in the picture. I lost track of how many “takes” they took of this scene. As I recall, it was literally dozens. During a lull in the filming (and there were lots of lulls), I asked the director who was to star in the picture. His response was, “No one anyone has heard of, but they will when this picture is released. His name is Gary Busey.” The extraordinary efforts they went to in order to make this scene look like it was filmed at the Apollo in Harlem in 1957, were truly amazing. The whitewall tires on my car were too narrow to have been available in 1957, so they put black electrical tape over the white area to make them look like blackwalls. They taped a black cardboard “license tag,” with yellow characters on it, over my license plate to make it look like a 1957 New York State license tag. In addition, at the time, there was a store front to the right of the theatre and in the front window, it said, “Atlanta Ballet Company.” Instead of just putting black electrical tape over the words, they had someone stand there and put small pieces of black tape over parts of letters. The result was that I, standing across the street and having plenty of time to read what was on the window, saw it as having words on the window, but the words were unreadable! I no longer recall how much they paid to use my car, but I do recall that the modest amount they paid was more than the actors shown walking on the sidewalk were paid! |
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◊ 2007-02-26 20:44 |
Wow, that's an amazing story! And it's always interesting to hear from people who have had their car(s) featured in movies. .gif ":)") And I'm glad I added this car. |
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◊ 2007-02-27 00:09 |
I agree with you modell, and I think it could be very nice to be able to group in a special page , when required,all the cars identified by their owners, with these interesting comments/stories ... What do you think about this suggestion?.. I don't know if it can be possible easily? |
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◊ 2007-02-27 00:12 |
We could simply open a topic on the forum and put the links to the vehicles in the 1st post of that topic... |
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◊ 2007-02-27 00:25 |
... there are so many topics open on the forum  ... |
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◊ 2007-02-27 00:29 |
 I do not see the problem. It was just to have a place to put links to these cars to find them easily later. It would be easier to manage than having a page dedicated to that here on the site, that I would have to update myself  Later I could add to the site a page with special info like a link to that topic to allow visitors to find it easily. |
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◊ 2007-02-27 00:43 |
updating should beeing done by any members, at each time these specific comments are post... "en cochant une case" as we do for updating a category of vehicle for ex... Bah ..si c'est tout ce que l'on peut faire? ... à défaut de grives on mangera des merles |
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◊ 2007-02-27 11:44 |
I would have to program a special page for that, i.e. it would not be done immediately (it would go in my to-do list). The forum solution is already usable right now. That's why I suggested it. |
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◊ 2010-02-09 20:02 |
Just saw this entry today and enjoyed your story, StudebakerOwner! My father attended Georgia Tech in the 1940's and went to movies at the Fox. (For researchers, note the V-8 trunklid emblem, showing that this is a Commander model.) |
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◊ 2010-06-29 23:36 |
Great story StudebakerOwner. Beautifil car. I have a 59 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer and got car shows every weekend. I rarely ever see Studebakers. But when I do they are Beautiful. |
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◊ 2011-07-21 22:58 |
Don't know if StudebakerOwner is still around but if so, I would like to complete the listing by showing this as a Commander Regal or a Commander State. (Can't tell from the photo whether or not it has ss gravel shields.) |
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◊ 2011-07-23 19:20 |
I am still around, although I have not checked this site for about a year and now I see Commander 57 just posted a message to me a couple days ago. My car is a Commander State model and yes, it does have stainless steel gravel shields. I have not had this car in another movie until a couple weeks ago when it was filmed along with another of my cars in the "Jayne Mansfield's Car" Movie. |
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◊ 2011-07-23 20:56 |
Thanks, SO. Will be looking for that movie listing some day! |
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◊ 2018-07-24 01:44 |
StudebakerOwner! (Alan) Just saw your article in the Studebaker Driver's Club magazine "Turning Wheels" (which arrived in my mailbox today) about the subject car, your nice Commander, "Bullet". Enjoyed reading it and seeing the photos. (I immediately thought about this IMCDB entry, of course!) A couple of the photos clearly show the stainless steel gravel shields characteristic of State-trimmed Commanders. The subject photo above appears in the article. (Interesting stories about the rear bumper dent and the garlic clove in the glove compartment!) Here are a couple of photos of my 1957 Commander: ![[Image: 1957studebakercompletedrestoration1.1.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/8289/1957studebakercompletedrestoration1.1.jpg) ![[Image: 1957studebakercompletedrestoration6.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/8289/1957studebakercompletedrestoration6.jpg) -- Last edit: 2018-07-24 01:58:54 |
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