1959 Stude-Benz SL Prototype
The Hybrid Studebaker/Mercedes Project
By the middle of the 1960s, the upstart Mattel Toy Company’s new and innovative genre of toys had elevated them to prominence in their field. Brilliant product engineering based on cutting-edge technology was at the foundation of their success. This became recognized and acknowledged throughout the engineering world, and widely beyond their own industry. It was so innovative that “How would Mattel do this?” became a common spur for problem solving as well as a means of expressing peer admiration. Mattel was the ideal of R&D creativity, resulting from rethinking basic design methodology. This attracted an influx of engineers from many other industries, and aerospace was notable among them. The tongue-in-cheek reason of why were not yet on the moon - was because the rocket engineers had gone to work for Mattel! Indeed, Mattel resembled a NASA field laboratory.
Jack Ryan, the charismatic Vice President and director of Research and Development for the Mattel Toy Company, purchased a Packard Hawk for his wife in 1958. Mr. Ryan was so impressed with the car that he shortly added its mate, a Studebaker Golden Hawk, to their stable for his own driving pleasure. In addition to his talent in electronics and mechanical design, Ryan had been an automobile tinkerer from his early youth. By the time he retired, he had been awarded a mountain of patents spread through many fields. But one of his greatest desires - to design a production automobile - was still eluding him when he gave Barbie her cotillion in 1959.
At that time he met some Packard executives at own of his own extravagant social events (“gatherings” as he liked to refer to them) at his estate, which was the second largest of that sort in Los Angeles. In getting acquainted, he learned of their concern for their continued employment. A redundancy in executive positions at Studebaker-Packard would certainly result if Packard would have to be retired. The possibility was being rumored as it was dire financial times for the company. A shot in the arm to boost corporate image and perk interest in their products would certainly be beneficial. S-P had recently acquired the exclusive rights to import, distribute and sell Mercedes-Benz automobiles in North America. But, beneficial public recognition of this combined association, and meaningful profits from it, would not be instant. It would take time for market establishment and prestige to trickle down. The M-B association alone, it would seem, had no way to effect either S-P’s image or the bottom line in time to be of help in retaining their positions. Might there be a more timely solution?
Jack Ryan found himself sympathetic to these new friends, and his inventive mind instantly started skipping stones across the pond of possibilities. Barbie and Ken’s father loved the Hawks, had established these new friendships, and found it hard to ignore an inviting challenge. Ideas began forming, centered around something special by utilizing S-P’s present assets, including those of Mercedes. This would have to be a car, naturally, a very special car with fetching glamor and uniqueness. Such a car could produce a needed ‘hard to resist’ showroom attraction. But it would have to be producible within their financial entrenchment and within their domestic facilities. This sort of endeavor would have to rely on a basis of existing tooling. So, could the melding of S-P’s and M-B’s images that would result in making a “personal car” (an open roadster especially) be an achievable answer? That novel niche was seemingly wide open in the automobile field at that time. Why not?
In addition to being the main stimulator at Mattel, Mr. Ryan also had his own design and development enterprise on the side, Ryan Engineering Service Co. Through this well-staffed and well-funded additional operation, he perfected varied products through the years which were licensed for royalties. This special car presented itself as a most viable candidate for such a project as well as a means of soothing his long running automotive itch. Propelling his own ideas and desires into reality was Jack Ryan’s style and this was straight up his alley! He gathered his thoughts and approached famed automotive designer Strother MacMinn for assistance. Mr. MacMinn was, by then, teaching and assisting in the administration of the Transportation Department at the Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, California.
Art Center was, and remains, the respected and primary source for training professional automobile stylists from around the world. Within their four year curriculum, sponsored projects from automobile companies commonly involve advanced students in real-life-simulating design projects. Within this context, MacMinn inducted one of his budding students, Paul McKeehan (who would become the last designer at S-P) into the challenge.
This seemed a natural choice as Paul had professed a great desire to become a Studebaker stylist. A very precise criteria was laid out for him: the car was to be based on the Hawk configuration in touring-roadster form and clothed in classic, full-grille Mercedes attire, rather than the more contemporary low grille style of the then current 190SL and 300SL models. It was to be badged with the M-B tri-star, but marketed as a Studebaker-produced, high-powered hybrid. It had to be sophisticated and yet have a flair of excitement, be distinct in looks to stand above the crowd, and above all, it had to be financially and practically feasible to produce at the Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana.
The resulting sketches and renderings were pleasing, met Ryan’s goal, and were backed with a thumbs-up from Strother MacMinn. Mr. Ryan was elated and the project to develop a fully operational prototype was immediately initiated at Ryan Engineering Service Company. Both his and his wife’s Hawks were sacrificed in getting the first stage of prototyping underway. Toward the winding up of this initial expeditionary phase, a fresh-out-of-college engineer, Nick Gutsue, joined the Mattel design staff. Nick relates that the first time he spotted one of these early work-ups in Jack Ryan’s parking spot, he fell in love with it. "It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen in my life.” Nick was, and is, a knowledgeable enthusiast, and not particularly either a Studebaker or Mercedes romantic. It was the car itself that was impressive and beautiful, in its own right. He was astounded and irrepressibly in awe of it.
When the manager of Ryan Engineering, Warren Cabot, announced his intention to pull up stakes and graze in other pastures, Mr. Ryan said to him, “You really need to give me a replacement.” Warren instantly replied, “How about Nick?” Nick Gutsue had impressed everyone with his demonstrated mechanical ability as well as his engineeering creativeness during temporary employment at Ryan Engineering. This came about in the period of Mattel’s scheduled vacation time in which Nick needed to keep a salary, but had not yet accumulated enough work vacation time at Mattel. And, in addition, there was his buoyant and profound enthusiasm for this project. So Nick, a Junior Engineer at Mattel gave a 2-day notice to them and became the Managing Director of Ryan Engineering Service Company - and its youngest employee. In this he picked up the developing hybrid just before it entered the final prototyping phase!
He relates that the exterior surfaces had been finalized when he took over, but it was up to him to get the power train developed and the final and complete prototype made. Its body and chassis had to be tight, the handling roadworthy, everything totally in the real-world, and a real stomper and snorter. To that end, Nick enlisted the help of legendary Waldo Hirschfield to build the big engine (a non-stock Chrysler wedge engine). The bodywork on this final example was done mostly by custom-builder Dick Dean, who had his own famous shop, but came out to the Ryan facilities for the metal surfacing. Nick Gutsue was more than up to getting it all to come together and reflects that “it was the highlight of my life”. Jack Ryan was a perfectionist and required that everything be done in stages (he called this “design by scaffolding”, meaning you learned by trial in each stage before proceeding upward, producing a new version or prototype in the process).
No matter how small, everything had to be first class, and be done right. He didn’t care about expense. Nick relates that Jack’s motto was “excellence without compromise”. This was on his desk, on his stationery, and precisely defined Jack Ryan. In addition, he was a gregarious, friendly and extremely helpful and personable guy, and that was his life in total - “excellence without compromise”. The car shown here was one of the two final prototypes and is the actual one from which the molds were taken. (What would have followed Nick’s completion of this stage would have been a pilot construction of a half dozen or more samples from these molds, for factory approval, production set-up, and initial publicity.) It is gorgeous, and in spite of it being a steel (and leaded) “buck”, it is in every respect a fully going and functioning automobile. It is a magnificent touring roadster. The front portion of the unusual Sedanka Coupe-style top was designed to fold either halfway back while remaining in the up position, or back on itself in the traditional Mercedes fashion. The side Landau irons are functioning components for achieving that latter operation. This is especially mentioned as most of us have become accustomed to seeing “Landau irons” become nothing more than fake ornamental add-ons. These are the “real McCoy”, classic, functional and beautiful expressions of that. The other final prototype was destroyed in Los Angeles’ Watts riots while in storage. This car had the Studebaker supercharged engine.
Such design honesty is adhered to throughout the entire car, from the massively protective front “Beefeater” bumper guards, the airflow directing wheel opening “eyebrows’ (or “airfoils” as Lincoln called them on their 1949-1950 Cosmopolitans), the functional side vents, the aforementioned 2 position roadster top, the slick air-streamed trunk with its adjacent, tailored, fender taperoffs, to the dominating muscle-car powertrain and custom Rogi wire wheels. Those last items are strong enough to absorb the high-torque wheel spin while not appearing bulky at all. As a design, all the features complement each other and do it with style. Nothing was tacked on for mere cosmetics, or not selected without great care for appropriateness. Nothing!
Even if you are a Studebaker expert, do be careful when you look at the car. Don’t guess from these photos that the external treatment is tweaked Hawk sheet metal, which it may seem to be at first glance. All of it is indeed based on that heritage to mate with stock inner body panels in production, but was intended to be fiberglass in production. All the surface contours are subtly re-contoured to produce the resulting blended handling of the desired line and form. To wit, although the hood looks to be stock Hawk, it is actually taller and wider at the grille. Notice that it has not duplicated the dummy air scoop/power bulge at the top, either.
The front fenders have been swung up at the front several inches. This produces, along with the elevated hood a more aggressive appearance. The “eyebrows” above the wheel openings, as well as being functional for directing air flow, soften this initial aggressive stance and help with the transition into the tapering off resolution of the rear portion of the design.
Any residual hint of the distinctive ’53 through Hawk door and fender concave side sculpturing is non existent. The Mercedes top-of-cowl passenger air intake is set on a much flatter surface than was originally below the windshield. (The Studebaker “crotch cooler” passenger air intakes behind the front wheel openings are gone.) Nick Gutsue remembers with a smile that the bodyman looking at the surface told Jack Ryan that it would be quite involved to alter that area, whereupon Mr. Ryan picked up a ball peen hammer and proceeded in short order to flatten it, remarking that all it needed now was to be smoothed out! That flatter cowl also supports the reinforced and sectioned windshield. It frame was modified to lock in and position the folding top when it is up. The ’53’s long chrome moulding on top of the rear fenders was not retained and its kicked up base eliminated along with it. This allows the resulting new rear fender surfaces to continue the main body line and beautifully flow from the preceding door smoothly to its final terminus. In its entirety, it is quite individual within its heritage as well as being exquisitely tailored.
The interior, with its Hawk tradition, is sure to warm the heart of any Stude lover. The seats are truly familiar as well as the instrument panel with its host of proper Stewart-Warner gauges. These are set in a beautiful wood base, however, rather than being the turned metal trim piece of the era. Pleasing differences are immediately apparent, though, in the integrated air conditioning outlets along the lower edge of the instrument panel and the floor shifter with its masculine lockout-gate release lever. Leather throughout is the material of choice, as you might expect. It all looks ready to jump a green light or to slip quietly off on a grand tour, even before you drop into the saddle. It is very inviting.
All of this adds up to an extremely well-executed and integrated re-treatment on the original platform. It very much accomplishes its original goal of maintaining distinct family resemblances of both Studebaker and Mercedes. That approach and the need to gear it for practical production, sets it completely apart from the more usual personalized custom modification. There is no fair comparison to such personal modifications as this is a fully new, rather than altered, treatment. The purpose of the project, its total resurfacing, and its different design philosophy enshrines the program in a very limited and unique category. It has its own niche.
The car was initially displayed on the showroom floor at Hollywood Mercedes-Benz to observe public and dealer reaction. It was more than well-received. This was in early 1962 upon completion of the final prototypes. Thus encouraged, Mr. Ryan brought his plan to Studebaker and to Mercedes with great expectations. South Bend (led at the time by the dynamic Sherwood Egbert) warmly received this presentation and took it under consideration. But Mercedes’ monocles popped out. They immediately served Ryan with Cease and Desist papers that threatened legal action for plagiarism if he continued. They made it clear that they had their own in-house German designers and needed no Yankee input. (In retrospect, this is a bit ironic and humorous as their choice for fender fins at that period were right off a Rambler and the automatic transmissions in their luxury 300D models were a prior Studebaker design!)
In essence, Jack Ryan was told to go try flying his kite somewhere other than from the Black Forest, and not bother them with suggestions again! It was the death of his noble vision. A really glorious vision, too, and perhaps a program that might have made a difference to Studebaker. So after all the effort and development expense, the unique steed never made it out of the starting gate, one of the few Ryan projects that had to be abandoned. It remained a tremendous non-fulfillment to him and to all who were involved in the grand project.
Nick Gutsue ultimately went on to law school and then into the legal profession where he has served as a Judge Pro-Temp and also taught at a Los Angeles law university. Nick raced cars for 20 years and has multiple championships to his credit. He came into possession of the Stude-Benz when Mr. Ryan passed away. He has a nice stable of other special automobiles including his very first car, a 1932 Model B Ford pickup. He has served on the board of the Lamborghini Club and among many auto interests personally restored a 1940 Oliver “Orchard Crawler” tractor, whose factory he grew up across the street from in Battle Creek, Michigan.
In July of 2004, the car was exhibited at the prestigious Annual Art Center Car Classic where it generated great interest and appreciation of its design. One hundred cars were invited and the “Stude-Benz” was assigned an honored location in the very center of the concours field. The event’s theme was “Super Cars, Past and Present” where the Stude-Benz fir the title with pride and appropriateness. One admirer’s comments summed it all up: “Such graceful lines have not fallen on a more perfectly proportioned body so successfully with so much appropriateness.” What more can be said?
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When I was working on the drawings, I did not know specifically who the effort was for at the time, or even realized that it was to be anything more than a one-off custom. I thought no more about it, but did keep (and still have) all the preliminary sketches. It was a fun assignment and I even got paid for the work. Seven years after leaving Art Center, upon seeing Strother MacMinn again I learned, in passing, that the car had indeed been built and that it turned out very nicely.
However, until recently and only when surprisingly united with the car, did I learn about Jack Ryan and Nick Gutsue, and the real purpose of the original project. To say I was surprised and flattered is to understate the overwhelming emotions I experienced upon seeing it for the first time. I recognized it instantly. It was like the discovery of having a child that you didn’t know about! Nick said that he had wondered through the years who the “Mac” was who had signed the renderings! I recall that I was initially reluctant in accepting the assignment when asked back then, since it was specified to have a retro theme, and I was a card-carrying futurist. Since retros are now popular, it shows how advanced Mr. Ryan actually was. I am very impressed with the excellence of the finished work. It is not uncommon for final products coming from renderings only to not quite fulfill the expectations of the designer, especially a student designer. This one does magnificently, however, with flying emblems.
It has struck me that there are some intriguing coincidences and occurrences connected with the whole project. First, I was hired by Studebaker for whom the project was aimed (but I didn’t know that)! Next, when Mr. Ryan made his presentation to Studebaker, I was at Studebaker, probably in the very building (but totally unaware of the occasion)! When this car, for the U.S., bearing the Mercedes-Benz badge but aimed specifically at our citizens, was being finalized by Mr. Ryan, I was involved at Studebaker in pressuring Daimler-Benz for changes in their cars to make them more desirable to our domestic customers. If the project would have been accepted, very likely I would have become re-involved with the car because of the nature of my then-work and position, coupled with my involvement with Mercedes! Coincidentally, at this same time, Brooks Stevens was working up his Mercedes inspired Excalibur with originally the same intention for its use by Studebaker and for exactly the same intended purpose as Jack Ryan! At least two other similarly intended projects as Jack Ryan’s have surfaced. It seems that a lot of people entertained the vision of helping the corporation without knowing of each other! And, it is very easy to guess that one of the Packard executives that prompted Mr. Ryan’s altruistic effort was Byers Burlingame! If it was, he survived the executive thinning-out that Jack Ryan was moved to help prevent, only to oversee the needle being put to the automotive division six years later! What coincidental irony! Then, unusually, Nick Gutsue and I were both extraordinarily young for the responsibilities we were given on a project that was to have an ultimate confluence with S-P three year and two thousand miles away, and then get back together forty years after that! Also, for thirty-nine years, I lived, literally, just miles from Jack Ryan, Nick Gutsue and the car itself, without even knowing it! For several years during that time, I drove within a hundred yards of the car every day (how’s that?!). Then it took the efforts of another former Studebaker stylist, Richard Oehrli, to initiate renewed interest in the car. And last, Art Unger, editor of Turning Wheels, asked me, of all people in this area, to see if I could locate the owner of “an unusual Studebaker”, which turned out to be the car to which I had contributed so long ago! It seems deja vu and serendipity might be soulmates!
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When MacMinn was old enough, it was off to nearby Art Center School of Design for his professional training. His first job in 1936 was under Frank Hershey (!) who had since moved to Buick’s styling studio at GM. World War II interrupted this for duty in the Air Corps. In 1945, he began teaching at Art Center where he remained for 50 years. MacMinn commented that this had been the best job he could have ever had. He felt “nothing could compare with the excitement and stimulation of sharing enthusiasm with and knowledge with dedicated, professionally-oriented young design students.”
His former students populate every auto design studio around the world. Chuck Jordan, GM VP-Styling emeritus said (in part) of MacMinn that “no one has influenced car design more than he did.” MacMinn also did side jobs for leading Industrial Design firms and was a contributor to numerous auto magazines and authored several books. He was the consummate expert and judge at Concours d’Elegance and dozens of awards at these and other shows are titled with his name.
Jack Ryan sought out Stother MacMinn for his era expertise, which was appropriate for this project. Shortly before his death, MacMinn did a drawing of an imaginary LeBaron bodied Packard Twelve for Fran Roxas. This became the Packard Myth. Unfortunately, Roxas turned MacMinn’s elegantly proportioned design into something that looked like it came out of an LA chop shop, a great disappointment to many Packard aficionados, as MacMinn and Roxas had previously collaborated on a Cadillac V16 project that Roxas built as designed by MacMinn, a project that turned out splendidly.
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The story above about his Stude-Benz project mentions his association with Mattel Toys, but by that time, he had already become a multi-millionaire. His inventiveness along with his engineering and problem solving skills in an entirely different industry had rewarded him handsomely. He designed the Sparrow III and Hawk missile systems for Raytheon.
It was an in-person happenstance by which he came to meet the founders of Mattel. He had a model of one of his projects for someone else with him when they met. They were so impressed by him that they asked Ryan to set up their R&D department for them.
He loved people and entertaining. It was his style to invite even new acquaintances to his lavish parties (156 each year). Part of this time, he was married to Zsa Zsa Gabor. At one point, he bought a surplus Navy destroyer and had Nick Gutsue, who engineered the Stude-Benz, and Dick Dean (who did the sheet metal work on the car) remove the destroyer’s communications gear and install some 176 phones for conversation and coded control of his estate, which was the second largest estate in Los Angeles at the time. The home featured a castle motif with turrets, coats-of-armor inside, and all the other accoutrements. Ryan then scrapped the vessel and made money doing it! He has since passed away.
Generosity, and philanthropy also, were very much a part of Jack Ryan’s life.
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Bad Day At The Car Show
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4 commentaires:
WOW, what a story and what a car. I am lost in thought, jack Ryan is someone writer's hero, Clancy? Not sure, but the story is fascinating.
last pictures and facts are not.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE OTHER COAST!!
I thought you'd enjoy the car show video
<< Louis >>!!! Happy New Year!!!
What a beautiful car. The
Studebaker had beautiful lines.
Of course you know I loved
Studebakers.
I had never seem this model. It
is beautiful. Makes the TB look
sick.
Shirl
Nice car, as usual! A belated happy new year to both of you, from both of us!
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