but the will simply was no longer there. Gordon Grundy had made an all out effort to keep the automobiles rolling just as had Packard's James Nance. Most of the board in South Bend sensed the shutdown two years earlier as the first step in ending auto production completely, but surviving evidence indicates that they did not inform Gordon Grundy of this. Grundy, who along with his small staff, had been working with Marcks Hazelquist Powers on a facelifted 1967 model and into 1970, approached the board in early 1966 seeking less than $300,000 in tooling funds (a pittance by Detroit standards) for the job. What emerged was a redesigned rear bumper designed to minimize the car's "high" rear. Much to his dismay, he was told that there would be no 1967 production. The board then moved to close Hamilton as soon as possible, and the last Studebaker car, a Timberline Turquoise Cruiser four-door sedan, was built on March 16, 1966 (some sources claim the car was built on March 17). It was the last of only 8,935 (some sources incorrectly state 8,947) Studebakers built for 1966 and the end of a transportation legacy that stretched back some 114 years. End of production models The last South Bend car and the last Canadian car are on display at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana. The final U.S. built Lark-type was retained by the company instead of being delivered to the Pennsylvania dealer who had ordered it. The car has approximately on its odometer. The final Canadian car, a 1966 Cruiser, was driven several thousand miles by a company executive (records indicate that it was built for delivery to the company's Parts and Service Division in South Bend). It was eventually retired to the company's collection and has been restored in recent years to as-new condition. Ilin Plant at Haifa, Israel continued to produce the car into 1967. Thought was given by this plant to a rather heavy facelift and continued production, separate from the parent company. Some prototype designs have shown up on the internet. Special Larks The Lark's body-on-frame construction made it very easy for custom coachbuilders and designers to create new interpretations of the cars both for Studebaker and for others who wanted something "a little different." The noted Italian coachbuilder and designer Pietro Frua rebodied a very small number of Larks in 1960. Two four-door