I’d like to pay tribute to Mr. Munkle. Everybody knows him. They all talk about him. I myself have heard of him many times but I could never quite figure out exactly who he was. He seemed to have traveled a lot and lived all over the country. He must have been independently wealthy as well. All I know for sure is that he was very popular and had a lot of Studebakers. I believe he has passed away because everyone talks about him in the past.
I’m sure you’ve heard of him too. How many times have you gone to a car show or cruise-in with your Studebaker and someone comes up to you and says "Nice Hawk" (or any model), "Munkle used to have one of those" I used to wonder if Munkle was actually a fictional character but so many people knew him that he must have been real. What a collection of cars he must have had. I don’t know if he owned any SOB (some other brand) vehicles or not, I just hear about the Studebakers he had. I know he had an Avanti, certainly a Lark and of course a Hawk but I heard he also had a truck, a Commander, a Champion and many others. Why I’m surprised Studebaker ever went out of business considering how many cars Munkle bought.
When you think about all the people who knew Munkle and the cars he owned you would think they would know more about Studebakers in general. I have of course heard that Munkle used to have a Golden Hawk, which were of course all painted gold, and the Silver Hawks were all painted silver. Then there was the Black Hawk… I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve heard Munkle had one of those too.
While driving up the street in my 1963 Daytona one day I had an older gentleman pull up beside me at the red light and asked what year my Studebaker was to which I replied, "It’s a 1963". "No," He said, "They didn’t make cars any more in the 1960s. It looks like a 1956, Munkle used to have one just like it."
So not only did Munkle have at least of of every model and year Studebaker ever built he even had a Daytona years before they were released to the public. I would guess it was an experimental factory model. I think perhaps he worked for Studebaker for a time, perhaps testing the new cars.
I’m not sure when Munkle passed away but it’s too bad he did, I would have enjoyed sitting down with him and talking, he must have had a great wealth of knowledge with all the experiences and autos he had owned. We lost a bit of history when we lost Munkle.
I have checked online but cannot find any records of Munkle. Perhaps I’m spelling the name wrong. It may be French… maybe the proper spelling is M’Uncle… I’ll have to continue my research…
