Egbert After Studebaker

[murph the surf]

Sherwood Egbert,after his departure from Studebaker,led yet another company.Can anyone name that company?

Edited November 25, 2017 by murph the surf

[murph the surf]

Hint-located in California

[mfg]

4 minutes ago, murph the surf said:

Hint-located in California

Wasn't it some sort of management consulting firm he operated until becoming too ill?

[murph the surf]

14 hours ago, mfg said:

Wasn't it some sort of management consulting firm he operated until becoming too ill?

He did have a management consulting firm after Studebaker,but this was a company with a specific  product.

Edited November 26, 2017 by murph the surf

[murph the surf]

Hint: The product was "of it's time",but he showed "Avanti" thinking by his timing in becoming involved with this product when he did.

Edited November 26, 2017 by murph the surf

[r1lark]

I'm waiting anxiously for the answer to this one!

[studegary]

I know that I read about this, but I do not remember where or what the answer is.

[abasile]

Egbert went into business for himself and got on with his life. His expertise was still highly regarded in the industry. He granted an interview to Gene Booth of Car Life Magazine. By then he had recuperated from his last cancer bout and was looking tan and fit, with a few pounds gained. After he left Studebaker, he had established a management-engineering consulting firm in the posh Los Angles suburb of Westwood at the Kirkaby Center Tower.  He defined his new job as “Being someone a company president can talk to and who talks the same language”. He continued to pilot a plane and often did so to meet with clients. The interview appeared in the September 1966 issue of the magazine.  Since Egbert had been a big proponent of automobile safety, Car Life was interested in his views on the “Safe Car” debate that was being held in The United States Congress at the time.  His views on the responsibility of the automakers and the role of government sound if they were spoken just yesterday, “We, the public, are entitled to the best engineering brains available in any major company. He explained we expect a prudent fiduciary obligation from every manufacturer, regardless of product, to provide us with the best. I say that the automakers have provided less than the best during these past few years. As a consumer, I am entitled to the very best, and I’ve gotten something less.  His advice to any automaker would have to be that you know about safety, and you have all the engineering brains, and all the statistics - you know why I need safety items. Provide them”.  Still very much the father of the Avanti, Egbert wondered why many of its safety features had yet to appear on other domestic cars.   He listed the standard equipment disc brakes, red instrument panel lighting for better night vision, recessed switches and a strong chassis.           .         

.

 

Edited November 30, 2017 by abasile

[murph the surf]

Very ,very interesting, and thank you for sharing...anyone have any idea as to the specific product and it's corporation that he led?

Edited November 30, 2017 by murph the surf

[mfg]

On 11/30/2017 at 8:58 AM, murph the surf said:

Very ,very interesting, and thank you for sharing...anyone have any idea as to the specific product and it's corporation that he led?

Apparently not Murph, but we'd sure like to know!!

[abasile]

The product was his expertise.

[murph the surf]

His expertise undoubtedly led to his involvement,but there was a specific product that was marketed

[murph the surf]

The name of the company was The Stereo Tape Club of America, and it's products were the sales of 4-track tapes  (similar to 8-track tapes)  done in conjunction with the distribution of car and home tape players ,all done on a membership basis.Mr. Egbert was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Stereo Tape Club of America.

The attached article describing the company's operations appeared in a 1968 Billboard magazine.Stereo cartridge tapes were in their infancy at that time,and were rapidly gaining in popularity. A huge market was opening,so forward thinking entrepreneurs came up with a marketing twist-the concept of membership tape sales. The Stereo Tape Club of America worked on this membership basis. In a similar fashion to the Book of the Month Club,members were required to buy a number of tapes initially to join ,and agree to buy one tape a month for the subsequent 12 months.A tape player was provided as part of their membership.

This certainly helps explain Stan Brigg's description of the tape player that was in Mr. Egbert's car that he offered Briggs just before his passing!

 

[r1lark]

Good stuff murph! I did a lot of online searching trying to find the answer to this question, but would have never found (nor guessed!) this.

Back when I was a teenager in the early '70s, I belonged to a similar 8-track tape 'club'. The ads were something like "Get 15 8-track tapes for 15 cents", but of course you agreed to buy at least one tape a month at regular price for a certain period of time. Good memories, thanks!

[mfg]

Well done Murph!.....This was an entertaining (and very nostalgic) thread!........Keep 'em coming!

[murph the surf]

Thanks,mfg-coming from The Master of Trivia,that's quite a compliment!