Look for Bob Palma's story about Studebaker's fast Fifties and Sixties cars in the February 2009 issue of Collectible Automobile.

Lotsa facts and figures. (Couldn't you guys do that stuff with some friendly charts or graphics? Why keep writing these stories like college textbooks? Will there be an exam after the article?)

Nevertheless, Palma does a good job shoehorning all those stats under the hood of a nine page story that is 65% pictures. And I DO like seeing those beautifully styled Hawks, Larks and Avantis.

In the January 2009 issue of Hemmings Classic Car, Jim Richardson says the right things in the wrong way.

Jim tells the story of a guy who had a rare 1933 Hupmobile that was all original and had been stored since World War II. He then listened in horror as the owner said he was going to rod it out and "personalize" it. Understandably, Jim reacted like a guy who had been whacked upside the head with a lug wrench.

Jim feels, and I agree, that it's better to restore these vehicles to their original condition rather than turn them into just another canvas for self-expression. A canvas with a small block Chevy engine in it. "...Please, in the name of decency," Jim pleads, "don't destroy a good original car."

I've always felt that street rods were okay if the owner was rescuing a basket case. If that car was one step away from the crusher, it's better that a car gets rodded out rather than squished into a door stop.

However, if that car is an orphan, especially a rare one like a Hupmobile, ya gotta keep it the way the manufacturer built it. It's more important as a rolling piece of history rather than your personal art car.

But Jim: please keep the hood on your contempt for street rodders. Accusing them of lacking "wisdom and maturity" won't exactly keep the purple flames off of their Packards, Willys Americars, or Studebakers. Just like our current national political situation, I think we need to find a way to unite the street rodders with us rather than driving them away. They'll respect us a little more, and I think we'll find that we all have a lot more in common than we first thought. And the next time an old original Graham-Paige or Hudson pops up, we might just steer the tempted owner away from the Dark Purple Side.

What better way to stir up interest in our favorite orphan cars than the threat of GM, Ford, and Chrysler going chassis up?

While the media chew on the subject, I found a BusinessWeek slide show that devotes a picture and a paragraph each to dozens of our favorite orphan brands.

(What's up with some of those weird pix they chose to represent some of the most famous brands? If you mention a Lark or an Avanti as an example of a Studebaker, wouldn't it make sense to use a picture of said vehicles? Hmm.)