Spotlight

on Members

 by Assistant Editor Andrew Minney

Julian Poupard

 Broadstairs, Kent

The 2009 AGM of the Studebaker Owners Club at the Rally of the Giants was a memorable one for Julian. He had been driving Studebakers for 50 years and the Lark was also 50 years old.

 Julian bought his first Studebaker, a 1954 model Starlight coupe, in Vancouver and drove it down to California to get married in Las Vegas in 1960.  After that, he and his wife, Sheila, returned to England where they used the car for a further ten years. He brought back, in 1960, a Commander from New York on the Queen Mary and along with his other car, they were known by his children as “Stew & Bacon”.

More Studebakers followed including a '56 Champion, a '56 Hawk, a '62 Hawk a '55 President and a '64 GT Hawk, the latter being used for a few years as it was a really good car.  In actual fact, this car was bought for spares but as is often the case, turned out to be too good for this purpose and was put back on the road.  Not withstanding all of the above, the Poupard family have also owned a '54 Commander Starlight and a '55 President coupé.

        Today in his “fleet” Julian has a gorgeous red '64 Avanti (in which he attended the 2009 Rally of the Giants) as well as his original '54 coupé.