Sometimes it might be best to leave a legacy undisturbed. Take Ric Reed’s idea of resurrecting the storied Studebaker nameplate with a lineup of hybrid cars and trucks with the famed Lark, President and Champ model names.  It all sounds well and good until you see the proposed design concepts. Ouch. Carscoops offers a glimpse of the retina searing, new age Portlandia Studebakers.

The wizard behind this idea is businessman Ric Reed, who runs the Big Kahuna apparel company from Colorado. He bought the rights to the Studebaker name in 2001 and wants to revive the long shuttered automaker with eco-hip  “21st century hybrids..”  Like Tesla’s Elon Musk, Reed thinks he can cross over to the “knuckle dragging” automobile industry because he is an enlightened outsider with an iPhone and an internet connection.

Then we see Reed’s CGI generated designs ideas. Not only do the renderings have zero correlation to any Studebaker in anyway whatsoever, they are pug ugly even by current Chinese auto industry standards. Check out the images and ask yourself, is there one iota of Studebaker DNA in these renderings? Even the new “S” logo looks like it was ripped from Hyundai. Not good.

This could be a really cool idea if executed correctly. Look no further than the Chrysler 300, Challenger Mustang, Camaro, et al. The idea of selling hybrid clown cars under the ancient Studebaker nameplate to Portlandia people who have no knowledge of this marque (and could care less,) is a non-starter and a question no one asked. At least our beloved Avanti was never mentioned.