Anyone remember Studebaker? If you don't, they were best known for the distinctive bullet-nosed designs of the 50s (made famous, to yours truly at least, in
The Muppet Movie of 1979
And now Studebaker - a company that last produced a vehicle in 1966 before competition from the Big Three proved too much - is back. Well, sort of.
A chap called RW Reed is intent on bringing the moribund marque back to life. It's a project that's been ongoing for a couple of years, but the small matter of a global financial crisis has held things back. For 2012, though, the company is making a fresh bid for rebirth, and is looking for investors.
Which is where the whole thing starts to get rather shaky - because despite the *cough* designs you see here really are about as far as the company's got. In fact its website's homepage has a disclaimer on it saying: "Studebaker Motor Company is not yet able to produce vehicles, or anythining (sic), as we are in the planning stages. Also please be advised, this is not a solicitation (sic again) for money."
Read a little further and you'll discover that funding is still needed for "Studebaker concept designs, engineering, prototypes, safety testing, certification, manufacturing and distribution of production vehicles". So that's, er, everything then.
While we wish Mr Reed and Studebaker all the best, then, we shan't be holding our breath for the company's rebirth just yet.