View source for Studebaker

{{Short description|Car manufacturer}}
{{Other uses}}
{{External links|date=September 2025}}
{{No newcomer task}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name          = Studebaker Corporation
| logo          = [[File:Studebaker.svg|150px|Studebaker's "Lazy S" logo, designed by [[Raymond Loewy]], was used from the 1950s until 1966]]
| logo_caption  = Badge used in the 1950s and 1960s
| foundation    = {{Start date and age|1852|02}}
| defunct       = {{End date and age|1968|02}}
| fate          = Merged with [[Packard]] to form the [[Studebaker-Packard Corporation]]{{br}}Merged with [[Wagner Electric]] and [[Worthington Corporation]] to form [[Studebaker-Worthington]]{{br}}Some naming and production rights, along with Studebaker's South Bend plant, acquired by the [[Avanti Motor Company]]
| successor     = [[Studebaker-Packard Corporation]]{{br}}[[Studebaker-Worthington]]
| location      = 635 S. Main St., [[South Bend, Indiana]], U.S.
{{Coord|41|40|07|N|86|15|18|W|type:landmark_region:US-IN|display=inline,title}}
| industry      = [[Automotive industry|Automotive]], [[manufacturing]]
| founders      = {{Plain list|
* Henry Studebaker
* [[Clement Studebaker]]
* [[John Studebaker]]
* [[Peter Studebaker]]
* Jacob Studebaker
}}
| key_people    = {{Plain list|
* [[Frederick Samuel Fish]]
* [[Clement Studebaker Jr.]]
}}
| products      = [[Automobiles]] (originally [[wagon]]s, [[carriage]]s and [[Horse harness|harnesses]])
| num_employees = 
| former_name   = Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company
}}

'''Studebaker''' was an American wagon and [[automobile]] manufacturer based in [[South Bend, Indiana]] with a building at 1600 Broadway in [[Times Square]], [[Midtown Manhattan]], [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Out of the Inkwell Films, Incorporated |url=https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/companies/O/outoftheInkwellFilmsInc.html |website=Progressive Silent Film List |publisher=Silent Era |access-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121082014/https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/companies/O/outoftheInkwellFilmsInc.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Inkwell |url=https://www.fleischerstudios.com/inkwell.html |website=Fleischer Studios |access-date=21 January 2022 |language=en |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121082014/https://www.fleischerstudios.com/inkwell.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1600 broadway |url=https://bixography.com/1600broadway/bix1600broadway.html |website=bixography |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121082017/https://bixography.com/1600broadway/bix1600broadway.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1600 Broadway on The Square |url=http://www.condopedia.com/wiki/1600_Broadway_on_The_Square |website=Condopedia |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404083922/http://www.condopedia.com/wiki/1600_Broadway_on_The_Square |url-status=live }}</ref> It was founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868<ref>{{cite web |title=German heritage biography: Studebaker Brothers |url=http://www.germanheritage.com/biographies/mtoz/studebaker.html |access-date=February 6, 2007 |archive-date=October 17, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017072057/http://www.germanheritage.com/biographies/mtoz/studebaker.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. The firm was originally a [[coachbuilder]], manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.

Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with [[electric vehicle]]s and gasoline vehicles in 1904, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the [[Garford Company]] of [[Elyria, Ohio]], and after 1909 with the [[E-M-F Company]] and with the [[Flanders (automobile company)|Flanders Automobile Company]]. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912<ref name="Hendry-1972">{{cite book |title=Studebaker: One can do a lot of remembering in South Bend |last=Hendry |first=Maurice M |publisher=Automobile Quarterly |location=New Albany, Indiana |date=1972 |pages=228–75 |id=Vol X, 3rd Q, 1972}}</ref>{{rp|231}}and over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.<ref>E.g., see motoring review "[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21246433/1650997 An ideal car] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021074831/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21246433/1650997 |date=October 21, 2020 }}" in ''The Brisbane Courier'', April 25, 1928, p.8</ref>

After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with [[Packard]] (the [[Studebaker-Packard Corporation]]) and failure to solve chronic post-WWII cash flow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962. When this happened the South Bend plant stopped automobile production on December 20, 1963,<ref name=lastsbsdk>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RpApAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GOkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3475%2C1578628 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=South Bend builds last Studebaker |date=December 21, 1963 |page=15}}</ref> and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the [[Hamilton, Ontario]], Canada, assembly line on March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967<ref>{{cite web |date=17 December 1966 |title=Studebaker Corporation And Wagner Electric |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/17/archives/studebaker-corporation-and-wagner-electric.html |access-date=1 January 2021 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303200522/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/17/archives/studebaker-corporation-and-wagner-electric.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and then Worthington Corporation in February 1968<ref>{{cite web |date=28 November 1967 |title=Worthington Completes Merger With Studebaker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/28/archives/worthington-completes-merger-with-studebaker.html |access-date=1 January 2021 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304071854/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/28/archives/worthington-completes-merger-with-studebaker.html |url-status=live }}</ref> to form [[Studebaker-Worthington]].

== History ==
=== German forebears ===
The ancestors of the Studebaker family descend from [[Solingen, Germany]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2015/09/16/a-brief-history-of-studebaker-1852-1966 |title=A brief history of Studebaker, 1852–1966 |work=Hemmings |date=September 16, 2015 |access-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201034938/https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2015/09/16/a-brief-history-of-studebaker-1852-1966 |url-status=live }}</ref> They arrived in America at the [[port of Philadelphia]] on September 1, 1736, on the ship ''Harle'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=studebaker history, " studebaker family history" HAGERSTOWN, MD Exhibit B - 1736 Harle |url=https://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitb1736harle.html |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.bakerslookout.com}}</ref> from [[Rotterdam|Rotterdam, Netherlands]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=studebaker history, " studebaker family history" HAGERSTOWN, MD Exhibit A - Erskin |url=https://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitaerskin.html |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.bakerslookout.com |page=11}}</ref> (Original manuscripts now in the Pennsylvania State Library at Harrisburg). This included Peter Studebaker and his wife Anna Margrethe Studebaker, Clement Studebaker (Peter's brother) and his wife Anna Catherina Studebaker, and Heinrich Studebaker (Peter's cousin).<ref name=":0" /> In 1918, [[Albert Russel Erskine]], Studebaker Corporation president, wrote the book, ''History of the Studebaker Corporation'', including the 1918 annual report, "written for the information of the 3,000 stockholders of The Studebaker Corporation."<ref name=":0" /> The 12,000 dealers in its products living throughout the world, its 15,000 employees, and numberless friends." This book was verified by lawyers, accountants, and all board members, and was a legal document.<ref name=":0" /> In the same book, Erskine accurately wrote that Peter Studebaker was the "wagon-maker, which trade later became the foundation of the family fortune and the corporation which now bears his name."<ref name=":0" /> 

John Studebaker's sons, Henry and Clement Studebaker, started the wagon business in 1852, which later became the foundation of the family fortune and the corporation that now bears their name. John Studebaker, father of the five brothers who began the Studebaker Corporation, was the son of Clement Studebaker Jr. John Clement Studebaker (son of Clement Studebaker and Sarah Rensel) was born on February 8, 1799, in Westmorland, Pennsylvania, and died in 1877 in South Bend, St. Joseph, Indiana. John Studebaker (1799–1877) moved to Ohio in 1835 with his wife, Rebecca (née Mohler) (1802–1887).

=== The five brothers ===
[[File:Peter, Jacob, Clement, Henry and John Mohler Studebaker.jpg|235px|thumb|right|The five Studebaker brothers—founders of the Studebaker Corporation: Left to right, (standing) [[Peter Studebaker|Peter]] and Jacob; (seated) [[Clement Studebaker|Clem]], Henry, and [[John Studebaker|John M.]]]]
[[File:Studebaker Brothers Mfg. Co. Coach and Harness Builders Chicago, U. S. A. 1894 ad in The Press Club of Chicago - a history, with sketches of other prominent press clubs of the United States (IA pressclubofchica00infree) (page 6 crop).jpg|thumb|235x235px|Studebaker Brothers Mfg. Co. 1894 ad]]
[[File:Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company 1906.jpg|thumb|Share certificate of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company]]

The five sons were, in order of birth: Henry (1826–1895), [[Clement Studebaker|Clement]] (1831–1901), [[John Studebaker|John Mohler]] (1833–1917), [[Peter Studebaker|Peter Everst]] (1836–1897), and Jacob Franklin (1844–1887). The boys had five sisters.<ref>Genealogy at [http://www.fritziinc.com/tree/pafg262.htm Conway's of Ireland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005232556/http://www.fritziinc.com/tree/pafg262.htm |date=October 5, 2011 }}—John Clement Studebaker</ref> Photographs of the brothers and their parents are reproduced in the 1918 company history, which was written by Erskine after he became president, in memory of John M.,<ref name="Erskine-1918">{{cite book |title=History of the Studebaker corporation |first=Albert Russel |last=Erskine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iO9HAAAAIAAJ |year=1918 |access-date=February 7, 2016}}</ref>{{rp|5}} whose portrait appears on the front cover.

=== 18th-century colonial family business ===
{{Copyedit section|for=redundant, awkward writing and the need to rework parentheticals into appropriate prose and cites|date=October 2025}}
In 1740, Peter Studebaker, master of the German Cutler Guild, built his home on a property known as "Bakers Lookout." The first Studebaker wagon factory was also built in the same year, where he began forging and tempering steel & seasoning wood. In this factory, Peter manufactured everything, all necessities, including products he had previously made in [[Solingen|Solingen, Germany]], and naturally wagons. Peter owned property on both sides of the [[Conococheague Creek]], so he built a bridge over the creek in 1747. In 1740, the Bakers Lookout 100-acre [[land patent]] in [[Hagerstown, Maryland|Hagerstown]], Maryland, was the first of many land patents to be acquired by Studebaker. Peter purchased approximately 1500 acres in what is now known as the [[Maryland|State of Maryland]]. The home still stands today. [http://www.bakerslookout.com/ (see Bakers Lookout Peter Studebakers 1740 home website)]

In 1747, Peter Studebaker built a road across his properties, which became known as the Broadfording Wagon Road. It allowed heavy traffic to reach the wagon and forging services on Baker's Lookout that were instrumental in expanding the west. The Maryland Historical Trust WA-I-306 writes 04/03/2001, that this road was "One of Washington County's earliest thoroughfares, Broadfording [Wagon] Road was already in existence in 1747."<ref>{{Cite web |title=studebaker history, " studebaker family history" HAGERSTOWN, MD Exhibit I - Surveys |url=https://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitisurveys.html |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.bakerslookout.com}}</ref> The wagon transportation industry boomed. On the property, Broadfording Wagon Road, built in 1740 by Peter Studebaker, went directly through the property to allow access from the home to the factory and to the mill.

Although Peter's life in the colonies of America was short, less than 18 years, the family business flourished through his descendants [http://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitmpeterline.html (see Exhibit M)] and apprentices. They expanded the vast land holdings, enlarging the Studebaker family business and its industrious wagon-making region. Peter's trade secrets were passed from father to son, generation to generation. The Studebaker family business plan was top gradually purchase vast amounts of land, on which they could build industrious farms with mills and facilities to make and sell wagons, each identical to the set-up on Bakers Lookout, industrious farms, much acreage, on which one finds the necessary resources: lumber, iron ore, oil shale and land selected with stream, spring, or river to hydropower factories, mills and equipment.<ref>"[http://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitcweirbach.html Exhibits are evidence of the historical significance of Peter Studebaker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816040555/http://www.bakerslookout.com/exhibitcweirbach.html |date=August 16, 2017 }}"</ref> Peter's technology enabled the expansion of the family business through the famous [[Conestoga wagon|Conestoga]] and [[Covered wagon|Prairie Schooner]] wagon designs. Peter's trade was the stepping-stone that expanded the transportation industry. Thomas E. Bonsall wrote, "Much more than the story of a family business; it is also, in microcosm, the story of the industrial development of America." Peter Studebaker died in the mid-1750s.

==== End of horse-drawn era ====
John M. Studebaker had always viewed the automobile as complementary to the horse-drawn wagon, pointing out that the expense of maintaining a car might be beyond the resources of a small farmer. In 1918, when Erskine's history of the firm was published, the annual capacity of the seven Studebaker plants was 100,000 automobiles, 75,000 horse-drawn vehicles, and about $10,000,000 worth of automobile and vehicle spare parts (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000000|1918}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|85}} In the preceding seven years, 466,962 horse-drawn vehicles had been sold, as against 277,035 automobiles,<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|87}} but the trend was all too clear. The regular manufacture of horse-drawn vehicles ended when Erskine ordered the removal of the last wagon gear in 1919.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|90}} To its range of cars, Studebaker would now add a [[pickup truck|truck]] line to replace the horse-drawn wagons. [[Bus]]es, [[fire engine]]s, and even small rail [[locomotive]]-kits<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87110219 Petrol Motor Vehicles on Railways] ''[[Bunbury Herald]]'', Western Australia, May 3, 1919, at [[National Library of Australia Trove|Trove]]</ref> were produced using the same powerful six-cylinder engines.

Number of motor vehicles produced by Studebaker:
*1902 – 20 electric vehicles
*1902–1912 – 1,841 electric vehicles
*1904–1910 – 2,481 gasoline vehicles <ref>{{cite web|url= https://archive.org/details/historyofstudeba00ersk/page/44/mode/2up |title= History Of The Studebaker Corporation  |date=1918-01-01|publisher= Albert Russell Erskine |access-date=2025-09-30}}</ref>
*1909 – 8,132 vehicles <ref>{{cite web|url= https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheStudebakerCorporation18521923/page/n59/mode/2up |title= History Of The Studebaker Corporation 1852 1923 |date=1924-01-01|publisher= Albert Russell Erskine |access-date=2025-09-30}}</ref>
*1910 – 15,300 vehicles
*1911 – 22,555 vehicles
*1912 – 28,623 vehicles
*1913 – 35,410 vehicles
*1914 – 35,460 vehicles
*1915 – 46,845 vehicles 
*1916 – 65,885 vehicles
*1917 – 42,357 vehicles
*1918 – 23,864 vehicles
*1919 – 39,356 vehicles 
*1920 – 51,474 vehicles 
*1921 – 66,643 vehicles 
*1922 – 110,269 vehicles
*1923 – 145,167 vehicles 
*1924 – 110,240 vehicles
*1925 – 134,664 vehicles
*1926 – 111,315 vehicles <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/2343812.pdf |title= A financial history of the American automobile industry; a study of the ways in which the leading American producers of automobiles have met their capital requirements, (p.57) & (p.238)|date=1928-01-01|publisher= Lawrence H Seltzer (Lawrence Howard); revsinstitute.org |access-date=2025-06-11}}</ref>
*1949 – 199,460 vehicles <ref>{{cite web|url= https://trombinoscar.com/studebaker/postwar.html |title=  Studebaker Corporation|date=2025-01-01|publisher= trombinoscar |access-date=2025-09-30}}</ref>
*1950 – 268,226 vehicles

=== Studebaker automobiles 1897–1966 ===
==== In the beginning ====
[[File:Studebaker Model A Touring (1903-1904).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model A Touring (1903–1904) The Model A was the first Studebaker with an internal combustion engine. Production started from the end of 1903 to 1904. It was followed by the Model B, a modified Model A turned into a delivery van, produced only in 1904.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015024326004&seq=65 |title= Studebaker Model A and Model B|date=1904-04-01|publisher= Automobile trade journal v.8 1904 Apr |access-date=2025-10-01}}</ref>]]
[[File:Studebaker Model C 9502 Rear Entrance (1904-1905).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model C 9502 Rear Entrance (1904–1905)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model D 9503 Side Entrance (1905).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model D 9503 Side Entrance (1905)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model A-30 Suburban (1906-1909).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model A-30 Suburban (1906–1909)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model B-40 Speed Car (1908-1909).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model B-40 Speed Car (1908–1909)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model B-40 Landaulet (1908-1909).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model B-40 Landaulet (1908–1909)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model D Touring (1909-1911).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model D Touring (1909–1911)]]
[[File:Studebaker Model D Limousine (1909-1911).jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model D Limousine (1909–1911)]]
[[File:Carbon County High School Bus by Studebaker, Utah c 1912.jpg|thumb|1912 Studebaker bus]]
In 1895, John M. Studebaker's son-in-law Fred Fish urged the development of 'a practical horseless carriage'. When, on Peter Studebaker's death, Fish became chairman of the executive committee in 1897, the firm had an engineer working on a motor vehicle.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|66}} At first, Studebaker opted for electric (battery-powered) over [[gasoline]] propulsion. While manufacturing its own [[Studebaker Electric]] vehicles from 1902 to 1911, the company entered into body-manufacturing and distribution agreements with two makers of gasoline-powered vehicles, [[Studebaker-Garford|Garford]] of [[Elyria, Ohio]], and the [[E-M-F Company|Everitt-Metzger-Flanders]] (E-M-F) Company of [[Detroit]] and [[Walkerville, Ontario]]. Studebaker began making gasoline-engined cars in partnership with Garford in 1904.<ref>Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p. 178.</ref>

==== Studebaker marque established in 1911 ====
[[File:Studebaker Speedster 1916.jpg|thumb|Studebaker Speedster 1916]]
[[File:Studebaker Touring 1916.jpg|thumb|Studebaker-EMF Touring 1916]]
[[File:Studebaker1920.jpg|thumb|Studebaker's Big Six Touring Car, from a 1920 magazine ad]]
[[File:GBStude.jpg|thumb|1928 Studebaker GB Commander crossing the continent of Australia on unmade roads in 1975]]
[[File:Studebaker Phaeton.jpg|thumb|1930 Studebaker President Phaeton]]
[[File:36 Studebaker rhd.jpg|thumb|A UK-imported right-hand-drive 1936 Studebaker four-door sedan]]
[[File:Studebaker Bus 1938.jpg|thumb|1938 Studebaker Bus on a K-series truck chassis]]

In 1910, it was decided to refinance and incorporate as the Studebaker Corporation, which was concluded on February 14, 1911, under New Jersey laws.<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|p.63}} The company discontinued making electric vehicles that same year.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|71}} The financing was handled by [[Lehman Brothers]] and [[Goldman Sachs]] who provided board representatives including [[Henry Goldman]] whose contribution was especially esteemed.<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|76}}

After taking over E-M-F's Detroit facilities, Studebaker sought to remedy customer dissatisfaction complaints by paying [[mechanic]]s to visit each disgruntled owner and replace defective [[automobile parts|parts]] in their vehicles, at a total cost of [[US$]]1&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1000000|1920}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). The worst problem was rear-axle failure. Hendry comments that the frenzied testing resulted in Studebaker's aim to design 'for life'—and the consequent emergence of "a series of really rugged cars... the famous [[Studebaker Big Six|Big Six]] and [[Studebaker Special Six|Special Six]]" listed at $2,350 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2350|1920}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|231}} From that time, Studebaker's own marque was put on all new [[automobile]]s produced at the former E-M-F facilities as an assurance that the vehicles were well built.

In 1913, the company experienced the first major labor strike in the automotive industry, the [[1913 Studebaker strike]].

==== Engineering advances from WWI ====
The corporation benefited from enormous orders cabled by the British government at the outbreak of [[World War I]]. They included 3,000 transport wagons, 20,000 sets of artillery harness, 60,000 artillery saddles, and ambulances, as well as hundreds of cars purchased through the London office. Similar orders were received from the governments of France and Russia.<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|79}}

The 1913 six-cylinder models were the first cars to employ the important advancement of [[monobloc engine]] casting, which became associated with a production-economy drive in the years of the war. At that time, a 28-year-old university graduate engineer, [[Frederick Morrell Zeder|Fred M. Zeder]], was appointed chief engineer. He was the first of a trio of brilliant technicians, with [[Owen Ray Skelton|Owen R. Skelton]] and [[Carl Breer]], who launched the successful 1918 models, and were known as "[[The Three Musketeers (Studebaker engineers)|The Three Musketeers]]".<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|234}} They left in 1920 to form a consultancy, later to become the nucleus of [[Chrysler]] Engineering. The replacement chief engineer was Guy P. Henry, who introduced [[molybdenum]] steel,<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|236}} an improved clutch design,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jOIDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA594 |title=Popular Mechanics |first=Hearst |last=Magazines |date=October 7, 1930 |publisher=Hearst Magazines |via=Google Books |access-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603055701/https://books.google.com/books?id=jOIDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA594 |url-status=live }}</ref> and presided over the six-cylinders-only policy favored by new president [[Albert Russel Erskine]], who replaced Fred Fish in July 1915.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|234}}

==== First auto proving ground ====
In 1925, the corporation's most successful distributor and dealer [[Paul G. Hoffman]] came to South Bend as vice president in charge of sales. In 1926, Studebaker became the first automobile manufacturer in the United States to open a controlled [[Bendix Woods|outdoor proving ground]] on which, in 1937, would be planted 5,000 [[pine tree]]s in a pattern that spelled "STUDEBAKER" when viewed from the air.<ref>{{cite web |last=Strohl |first=Daniel |title=Studebaker's tree sign to be restored for 75th anniversary |url=http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/07/31/studebaker-tree-sign-to-be-restored-for-its-75th-anniversary/ |work=Hemmings Daily |publisher=[[Hemmings Motor News]] |access-date=July 31, 2013 |archive-date=August 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803155010/http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/07/31/studebaker-tree-sign-to-be-restored-for-its-75th-anniversary/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Also in 1926, the last of the Detroit plant was moved to South Bend under the control of [[Harold Sines Vance|Harold S Vance]], vice president in charge of production and engineering. That year, a new small car, the [[Erskine (automobile)|Erskine Six]] was launched in Paris, resulting in 26,000 sales abroad and many more in America.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|91}} By 1929, the sales list had been expanded to 50 models, and business was so good that 90% of earnings were being paid out as dividends to shareholders in a highly competitive environment. However, the end of that year ushered in the [[Great Depression]] which resulted in many layoffs and massive national unemployment for several years.

==== Facilities in the 1920s ====
[[File:1929 Studebaker fire engine.jpg|thumb|1929 Studebaker Fire engine]]
[[File:Studebaker W130 fr RSD viaduct jeh.jpg|thumb|The [[Studebaker Building (Columbia University)|Studebaker Building]] at [[Columbia University]]. Formerly a Studebaker finishing plant, it was sold to the [[Borden (company)|Borden Milk Company]] in 1937, and now houses the university's finance department.]]

Studebaker's total plant area in Indiana was {{cvt|225|acre|km2}}, spread over three locations, with buildings occupying 7.5 million square feet of floor space. Annual production capacity was 180,000 cars, requiring 23,000 employees.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|237}}

The original South Bend vehicle plant continued to be used for small forgings, springs, and the making of some body parts. Separate buildings totaling over one million square feet were added in 1922–1923 for the Light, Special, and Big Six models. At any one time, 5,200 bodies were in process. South Bend's Plant 2 made chassis for the Light Six and had a foundry of {{cvt|575000|sqft|m2}}, producing 600 tons of castings daily.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|236}}

Plant 3 at Detroit made complete chassis for Special and Big Six models in over {{cvt|750000|sqft|m2}} of floor space and was located between Clark Avenue and Scotten Avenue south of Fort Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/42132.html?1112984310 |website=Discuss Detroit: Old car Factories |access-date=25 February 2021 |title=Discuss Detroit: Old Car Factories – 6 |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414180004/https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/42132.html?1112984310 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What Makes Detroit A Great City? "Industry and Henry Ford" |url=https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/archive/2BC717C0-9735-4CFD-89D0-748400438357 |publisher=Detroit Historical Society |access-date=25 February 2021 |archive-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303221328/https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/archive/2BC717C0-9735-4CFD-89D0-748400438357 |url-status=live }}</ref> Plant 5 was the service parts store and shipping facility, plus the executive offices of various technical departments.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|236}} The Detroit facilities were moved to South Bend in 1926,<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|91}} except that the [[Ford Piquette Avenue Plant|Piquette Avenue Plant]] (Plant 10) was retained for assembly of the [[Erskine (automobile)|Erskine]] between 1927 and 1929 and the [[Rockne]] (1931–1933).<ref name=NRHP />

Plant 7 was at Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, where complete cars were assembled from components that had been shipped from South Bend and Detroit factories or locally made in Canada, and is in close proximity to the current Ford Windsor Engine Factory. Output was designated for the Canadian (left-hand drive) and British Empire (right-hand drive) trade. By locating it there, Studebaker could advertise the cars as "British-built" and qualify for reduced tariffs.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|237}} This manufacturing facility had been acquired from E-M-F in 1910 (see above). By 1929, it had been the subject of $1.25&nbsp;million investment and was providing employment that supported 500 families.<ref name= finpost />

==== Impact of the 1930s depression ====
[[File:Studebaker-Glenn Motor Sales, 600 Saginaw St., Bay City, Mich.jpg|thumbnail|left|Studebaker dealer, 600 Saginaw St., Bay City, Michigan, ''circa'' 1950–52]]
[[File:Studebaker Champion 1939 BW.JPG|thumbnail|1939 Studebaker Champion]]

Few industrialists were prepared for the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|Wall Street Crash]] of October 1929. Though Studebaker's production and sales had been booming, the market collapsed and plans were laid for a new, small, low-cost car—the [[Rockne]]. However, times were too bad to sell even inexpensive cars. Within a year, the firm was cutting wages and laying off workers. Company president [[Albert Russel Erskine]] maintained faith in the Rockne and rashly had the directors declare huge dividends in 1930 and 1931. He also acquired 95% of the [[White Motor Company]]'s stock at an inflated price and in cash. By 1933, the banks were owed $6 million, (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|6000000|1933}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}) though current assets exceeded that figure. On March 18, 1933, Studebaker entered [[receivership]]. Erskine was pushed out of the presidency in favor of more cost-conscious managers. Erskine committed suicide on July 1, 1933, leaving successors [[Harold Vance]] and [[Paul G. Hoffman|Paul Hoffman]] to deal with the problems.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|96–98}}

By December 1933, the company was back in profit with $5.75 million working capital and 224 new Studebaker dealers, while the purchase of White was cancelled.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|99}} With the substantial aid of [[Lehman Brothers]], full refinancing and reorganization were achieved on March 9, 1935. A new car was put on the drawing boards under chief engineer [[Delmar "Barney" Roos]]—the [[Studebaker Champion#First generation|Champion]]. Its final styling was designed by [[Virgil Exner]] and [[Raymond Loewy]]. The Champion doubled the company's previous-year sales when it was introduced in 1939.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|109}}

==== World War II ====
From the 1920s to the 1930s, the South Bend company had originated many style and engineering [[milestone]]s, including the [[Studebaker Light Four|Light Four]], [[Studebaker Light Six|Light Six]], [[Studebaker Special Six|Special Six]], [[Studebaker Big Six|Big Six]] models, the [[Studebaker Dictator|Dictator]], the record-breaking [[Studebaker Commander|Commander]] and [[Studebaker President|President]], followed by the 1939 [[Studebaker Champion|Champion]]. During [[World War II]], Studebaker produced the [[Studebaker US6]] truck in great quantity and the unique [[M29 Weasel]] cargo and [[personnel]] carrier. Studebaker ranked 28th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p. 619</ref><ref>Herman, Arthur (2012). ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,'' pp. 81, 215–18, 312, Random House, New York. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref> An assembly plant in California, Studebaker Pacific Corporation, built engine assemblies and nacelles for [[B-17]]s and [[PV-2 Harpoon]]s.<ref name="Studebaker Pacific Corporation">{{Cite web |url=http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/studebaker-pacific-corporation.htm |title=Studebaker Pacific Corporation |website=usautoindustryworldwartwo.com |access-date=December 2, 2019 |archive-date=November 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126035029/http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/studebaker-pacific-corporation.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> After cessation of hostilities, Studebaker returned to building automobiles.

==== Post-WWII styling ====
[[File:Studebaker M16 52A Truck 1948.jpg|thumb|1948 Studebaker M16 52A truck]]
[[File:Studebaker 4-Door Sedan.jpg|thumb|1949 [[Studebaker Champion]] four-door sedan]]
[[File:1953 Studebaker Commander.jpg|right|thumb|1953 [[Studebaker Commander]] Starliner, showing the streamlined design of the 1950s Studebaker]]
[[File:1960 Studebaker Lark Deluxe Convertible (8451761887).jpg|thumb|right|1960 Studebaker Lark VIII Deluxe Convertible]]
[[File:1963 Studebaker Avanti R1 front, concours 6.1.19.jpg|thumb|right|1963 Studebaker Avanti]]

Studebaker prepared well in advance for the anticipated postwar market and launched the slogan "First by far with a post-war car". This advertising premise was substantiated by [[Virgil Exner]]'s designs,<ref name="theoldmotor.com">[http://theoldmotor.com/?p=160117 Virgil M. Exner's Striking Studebaker Starlight Coupe Design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182337/http://theoldmotor.com/?p=160117 |date=November 19, 2016 }}. ''The Old Motor'', September 26, 2016. Accessed November 19, 2016</ref> notably the 1947 [[Studebaker Starlight]] coupé, which introduced innovative styling features that influenced later cars, including the flatback "trunk" instead of the tapered look of the time, and a wrap-around rear window. For 1950 and 1951, the Champion and Commander adopted a polarizing appearance from Exner's concepts, and were applied to the 1950 [[Studebaker Starlight]] coupe.<ref>[http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_6.html Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826091128/http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_6.html |date=August 26, 2011 }} in ''America on the Move'' history website</ref> The new trunk design prompted a running joke that one could not tell if the car was coming or going, and appeared to be influenced by the [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]], particularly by the shortened fuselage with wrap around canopy.<ref name="theoldmotor.com" /> During the war, the Studebaker Chippewa Factory was the primary location for aircraft engines used in the [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]], and the marketing department attempted to evoke a reference to their contribution to the war effort.

==== Industry price war brings on crisis ====
Studebaker's strong postwar management team including president Paul G Hoffman and Roy Cole (vice president, engineering) had left by 1949<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|252}} and was replaced by more cautious executives who failed to meet the competitive challenge brought on by [[Henry Ford II]] and his [[Whiz Kids (Ford)|Whiz Kids]]. Massive discounting in a price war between [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[General Motors]], which began with Ford's massive increase in production in the spring of 1953—part of Ford's postwar expansion program aimed at restoring it to the position of the largest car maker which GM had held since 1931—could not be equaled by the independent carmakers, for whom the only hope was seen as a merger of Studebaker, [[Packard]], [[Hudson Motor Car Company|Hudson]], and [[Nash Motors|Nash]] into a fourth giant combine after [[Chrysler]]. This had been unsuccessfully attempted by [[George W. Mason]]. In this scheme, Studebaker had the disadvantage that its South Bend location would make consolidation difficult. Its labor costs were also the highest in the industry.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|254}}

== Merger with Packard ==
Ballooning labor costs (the company had never had an official [[United Auto Workers]] (UAW) strike and Studebaker workers and [[retiree]]s were among the highest paid in the industry), [[quality control]] issues, and the new-car sales war between Ford and General Motors in the early 1950s wrought havoc on Studebaker's [[balance sheet]].<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|254–55}} Professional financial managers stressed short-term earnings rather than long-term vision. Momentum was sufficient to keep going for another 10 years, but stiff competition and [[price]]-cutting by the [[Big Three (automobile manufacturers)|Big Three]] doomed the enterprise.

From 1950, Studebaker declined rapidly, and by 1954 was losing money. It negotiated a strategic takeover by Packard, a smaller but less financially troubled [[Automotive industry|car manufacturer]]. However, the cash position was worse than it had led Packard to believe, and by 1956, the company (renamed [[Studebaker-Packard Corporation]] and under the guidance of CEO [[James J. Nance]]) was nearly [[Bankruptcy|bankrupt]], though it continued to make and market both Studebaker and Packard cars until 1958.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|254}} The "Packard" element was retained until 1962, when the name reverted to "Studebaker Corporation".

== Contract with Curtiss-Wright ==
A three-year management contract was made by CEO Nance with [[aircraft]] maker [[Curtiss-Wright]] in 1956<ref>''Dallas Morning News'', August 9, 1956, Part 3, p. 5.</ref> with the aim of improving finances due to Studebaker's experience building aircraft engines during the war and military grade trucks.<ref name="Hendry-1972" /> C-W's president, Roy T. Hurley, attempted to reduce labor costs. Under C-W's guidance, Studebaker-Packard also sold the old Detroit Packard plant and returned the then-new Packard plant on Conner Avenue (where Packard production had moved in 1954, at the same time Packard took its body-making operations in house after its longtime body supplier, [[Briggs Manufacturing Company]], was acquired by Chrysler in late 1953) to its lessor, Chrysler. The company became the American importer for [[Mercedes-Benz]], [[Auto Union]], and [[DKW]] automobiles, and many Studebaker [[car dealer|dealers]] sold those brands, as well. C-W gained the use of idle car plants and tax relief on their aircraft profits while Studebaker-Packard received further working capital to continue car production.

== Last automobiles produced ==
The automobiles that came [[#Diversified activities|after the diversification process began]], including the redesigned [[compact car|compact]] [[Studebaker Lark|Lark]] (1959) and the [[Studebaker Avanti|Avanti]] [[sports car]] (1962), were based on old chassis and engine designs. The Lark, in particular, was based on existing parts to the degree that it even used the central body section of the company's 1953–58 cars, but was a clever enough design to be popular in its first year, selling over 130,000 units and delivering a $28.6&nbsp;million profit to the automaker (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|28,600,000|1959}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). "S-P rose from 56,920 units in 1958 to 153,844 in 1959."<ref>''The Washington Post and Times-Herald'', January 6, 1960, p. 21.</ref>

However, Lark sales began to drop precipitously after the Big Three manufacturers introduced their own compact models in 1960, and the situation became critical once the so-called "senior compacts" debuted for 1961. The Lark had provided a temporary reprieve, but nothing proved enough to stop the financial bleeding.

A labor strike occurred at the South Bend plant<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872908,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510084309/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872908,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |title=The President & the Picket |magazine=Time |date=January 26, 1962 |access-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref> starting on January 1, 1962, and lasting 38 days.<ref>''Studebaker-Packard Corporation Annual Report, 1961'', p. 4.</ref> The strike came to an end after an agreement was reached between company president [[Sherwood Egbert|Sherwood H. Egbert]] and [[Walter P. Reuther]], president of the UAW.<ref>''Aberdeen Daily News'', February 8, 1962, p. 7.</ref> Despite a sales uptick in 1962, continuing media reports that Studebaker was about to leave the auto business became a self-fulfilling prophecy as buyers shied away from the company's products for fear of being stuck with an "orphan". [[NBC]] reporter [[Chet Huntley]] made a television program called "Studebaker – Fight for Survival" which aired on May 18, 1962.<ref>''Plain Dealer'', May 18, 1962, p. 25</ref> By 1963, all of the company's automobiles and trucks were selling poorly.

== Exit from auto business ==
=== Closure of South Bend plant, 1963 ===
After insufficient initial sales of the 1964 models and the ousting of president Sherwood Egbert, on December 9, 1963, the company announced the closure of the aging South Bend plant.<ref name=usclosdue>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JM8zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=avcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4395%2C2079258 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Studebaker says U.S. closings due |date=December 9, 1963 |page=18}}</ref> The last Larks and Hawks were assembled on December 20,<ref name=lastsbsdk/><ref name=plnlst>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=L88zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=avcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6811%2C5658159 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=U.S. plant plans last Studebaker |date=December 20, 1963 |page=18}}</ref> and the last Avanti was assembled on December 26. To&nbsp;fulfill government contracts, production of military trucks and Zip Vans for the United States Postal Service continued into early 1964. The engine foundry remained open until the union contract expired in May 1964. The supply of engines produced in the first half of 1964 supported Zip Van assembly until the government contract was fulfilled, and automobile production at the Canadian plant until the end of the 1964 model year. The [[Studebaker Avanti|Avanti]] model name, tooling, and plant space were sold off to Leo Newman and Nate Altman, a longtime South Bend Studebaker-Packard dealership. They revived the car in 1965 under the brand name "Avanti II". (See ''main article'' [[Avanti (car)]].) They likewise purchased the rights and tooling for Studebaker's trucks, along with the company's vast stock of parts and accessories. The plant, alongside Studebaker's General Products Division, was bought by [[Kaiser Jeep Corporation]], who used it to produce military vehicles. That unit formed the nucleus for what would later become [[AM General]] Corporation, which today is the world's largest producer of tactical wheeled vehicles.<ref>{{cite web |title=A look at Studebaker's last trucks, 1960–'64 |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/07/05/a-look-at-studebakers-last-trucks-1960-64 |website=Hemmings |date=July 5, 2022 |publisher=Pat Foster |access-date=11 June 2023 |archive-date=June 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611194341/https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/07/05/a-look-at-studebakers-last-trucks-1960-64 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, as Newman and Altman decided not to progress with any Studebaker truck production, the tooling was then sold off again to Kaiser Jeep in late 1965, which continued producing parts for Studebaker trucks for a few more years. Some '1965' model Champ trucks were built in South America using completely knocked-down kits and left-over parts.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} These models used a different grille from all previous Champ models.

The closure of the South Bend plant hit the community particularly hard, since Studebaker was the largest employer in [[St. Joseph County, Indiana]]. Nearly a quarter of the South Bend work force was African-American.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Negroes Lose 1,500 Posts in South Bend |date=December 21, 1963 |journal=Pittsburgh Courier}}</ref>

==== Closure of Hamilton plant, 1966 ====
[[File:Last Studebaker 1.JPG|thumb|A 1966 Cruiser four-door sedan, the last Studebaker manufactured]]

Limited automotive production was consolidated at the company's last remaining production facility in Hamilton, Ontario, which had always been profitable and where Studebaker produced cars until March 1966 under the leadership of Gordon Grundy. It was projected that the Canadian operation could break even on production of about 20,000 cars a year, and Studebaker's announced goal was 30,000–40,000 1965 models.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} While 1965 production was just shy of the 20,000 figure, the company's directors felt that the small profits were not enough to justify continued investment. Rejecting Grundy's request for funds to tool up for 1967 models, Studebaker left the automobile business on March 17, 1966, after an announcement on March 4.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Dale |title=The last days of Studebaker |via=Hemmings.com |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=March 4, 2006 |url=http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/hpsdc/LastDays.htm |access-date=February 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315113223/http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/hpsdc/LastDays.htm |archive-date=March 15, 2007}}</ref> A turquoise and white Cruiser sedan<ref name="memproj45" /> was the last of fewer than 9,000 1966 models manufactured (of which 2,045 were built in the 1966 calendar year<ref>{{cite journal |ref=AR69 |title=Die Personenwagen-Weltproduktion 1968/La production mondiale de voitures en 1968 |trans-title=The world's car production 1968 |last=Gloor |first=Roger |journal=Automobil Revue – Katalognummer 1969/Revue Automobile – Numéro catalogue 1969 |editor1-last=Braunschweig |editor1-first=Robert |display-editors=etal |language=de, fr |publisher=Hallwag AG |page=526 |location=Berne, Switzerland |volume=64 |date=March 13, 1969}}</ref>). In reality, the move to Canada had been a tactic by which production could be slowly wound down and remaining dealer franchise obligations honored.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} The 1965 and 1966 Studebaker cars used "McKinnon" engines sourced from [[General Motors Canada]] Limited, which were based on Chevrolet's 230-cubic-inch six-cylinder and 283 cubic-inch V8 engines when Studebaker-built engines were no longer available.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

The closure adversely affected not only the plant's 700 employees, who had developed a sense of collegiality around group benefits such as employee parties and day trips, but the city of Hamilton as a whole; Studebaker had been Hamilton's 10th-largest employer.<ref name="memproj45" />

==== Potential link with Nissan and Toyota ====
In 1965, Gordon Grundy of Studebaker Canada was sent by Studebaker management to Japan to investigate potential links with [[Nissan]] and [[Toyota]], to sell their vehicles badged as Studebakers. While Grundy was negotiating with Nissan to possibly import the [[Nissan Cedric#Second generation 130|Nissan Cedric]], the Studebaker board found out about the [[Toyota Century]], which was not introduced until February 1968, and then the attorney representing the board, former United States Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], asked Grundy to contact Toyota, as well. Toyota was insulted at being Studebaker's second choice, and when word got out to Nissan that Grundy was also speaking with Toyota executives, Nissan ended negotiations, leaving Grundy empty-handed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arlt |first1=Glenn |title=The Link Between Studebaker and Nissan – Revealed! |url=http://datsunforum.com/1571-2/ |access-date=December 26, 2016 |date=December 27, 2015 |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227060457/http://datsunforum.com/1571-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Network and other assets ====
Many of Studebaker's dealers either closed, took on other automakers' product lines, or converted to [[Mercedes-Benz]] dealerships following the closure of the Canadian plant. Studebaker's General Products Division, which built vehicles to fulfill defense contracts, was acquired by [[Kaiser Industries]], which built military and postal vehicles in South Bend. In 1970, [[American Motors]] (AMC) purchased the division, which still exists today as [[AM General]].

The [[Bendix Woods|grove of 5,000 trees]] planted on the [[proving ground]]s in 1937, spelling out the Studebaker name, still stands and has proven to be a popular topic on such [[satellite photography]] sites as [[Google Earth]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googlesightseeing.com/2005/10/26/arboreal-typography/ |title=Arboreal typography |first=Alex |last=Turnbull |publisher=Google Sightseeing |date=October 26, 2005 |access-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-date=May 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502180319/http://googlesightseeing.com/2005/10/26/arboreal-typography/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The proving grounds were acquired by [[Bendix Corporation|Bendix]] in 1966<ref name=stbbrochure /> and [[Robert Bosch GmbH|Bosch]] in 1996. After Bosch closed its South Bend operation in 2011,<ref>[http://brittonmg.assetnation.com/index.cfm/general/AuctionDetail/AuctionID/2626 Bosch Complete Plant Closure (Auction)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107043257/http://brittonmg.assetnation.com/index.cfm/general/AuctionDetail/AuctionID/2626 |date=January 7, 2012 }} at Britton Management Group, November 2011</ref><ref>Ferreira, Colleen [http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-bosch-to-close-in-south-bend-111610,0,302476.story Bosch plant to close in South Bend] at wsbt.com news, November 16, 2010 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723235759/http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-bosch-to-close-in-south-bend-111610,0,302476.story |date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref> a part of the proving ground was retained and, {{As of|2013|04|lc=y}}, has been restored to use under the name "New Carlisle Test Facility".<ref name=stbbrochure /><ref>[https://archive.today/20130505154555/http://www.bosch.us/content/language1/html/7666.htm History of the New Carlisle Test Facility] at Bosch US website</ref>

For many years a rumor persisted of the existence of a Studebaker graveyard. The rumor was later confirmed to be true when the remains of many prototype automobiles and a few trucks were discovered at a remote, heavily wooded site bounded by the proving grounds' high-speed oval. Most of the prototypes were left to rot in direct contact with the ground and full exposure to the weather and falling trees. Attempts to remove some of these rusting bodies resulted in the bodies crumbling under their own weight as they were moved, so now they exist only in photographs.

However, there were a few notable exceptions. A few of the prototypes were rescued. The only example of a never-produced 1947 Champion wood-sided station wagon was restored and is on display at the [[Studebaker National Museum]].

Another prototype initially slated for disposal at the proving grounds escaped the fate of the others. In late 1952 Studebaker produced one 1953 Commander convertible as an engineering study to determine if the model could be profitably mass-produced. The car was based on the 1953 2-door hardtop coupe. The car was later modified to 1954-model specifications, and was occasionally driven around South Bend by engineers. Additional structural reinforcements were needed to reduce body flexure. Even though the car was equipped with the 232 cu. in. V-8, the added structural weight increased the car's 0–60&nbsp;mph acceleration time to an unacceptable level. In addition, the company did not have the financial resources to add another body type to the model line. The company's leadership mistakenly thought the 2-door sedans, 4-door sedans, and 1954 Conestoga wagon would sell better than the 2-door coupes, so the company's resources were focused on production of the sedans and the wagon. When the prototype convertible was no longer needed, engineer E. T. Reynolds ordered the car to be stripped and the body sent to the secret graveyard at the proving grounds. A non-engineering employee requested permission to purchase the complete car, rather than see it rot away with the other prototypes. Chief engineer Gene Hardig discussed the request with E. T. Reynolds. They agreed to let the employee purchase the car on the condition that the employee never sell it. In the 1970s, the car was re-discovered behind a South Bend gas station and no longer owned by the former employee. After eventually passing through several owners, the car is now in a private collection of Studebaker automobiles.

In May 1967, Studebaker and its diversified units were merged with [[Wagner Electric]].<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19670510&id=98gwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cwEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,3651594 Wagner Electric, Studebaker Vote To Merger Firms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303225443/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19670510&id=98gwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cwEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,3651594 |date=March 3, 2022 }} ''[[Toledo Blade]]'' May 10, 1967, p 70. At [[Google News]], accessed March 24, 2013</ref> In November 1967, Studebaker was merged with the [[Worthington Corporation]] to form [[Studebaker-Worthington]].<ref>Worthington to merge ''[[Railway Age]]'' July 31, 1967 page 64</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0aUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vJ8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5664,3602324 Studebaker, Worthington Vote Merger Despite Antitrust] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303225444/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0aUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vJ8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5664,3602324 |date=March 3, 2022 }} ''[[The Gazette (Montreal)|Montreal Gazette]]'' February 16, 1968, p. 14. At Google News, accessed March 24, 2013</ref> The Studebaker name disappeared from the American business scene in 1979, when [[McGraw-Edison]] acquired Studebaker-Worthington, except for the still existing Studebaker Leasing, based in Jericho, NY. McGraw-Edison was itself purchased in 1985 by [[Cooper Industries]], which sold off its auto-parts divisions to [[Federal-Mogul]] some years later. As detailed above, some vehicles were assembled from left-over parts and identified as Studebakers by the purchasers of the [[Studebaker Avanti|Avanti]] brand and surplus material from Studebaker at South Bend.

=== Diversified activities ===
By the early 1960s, Studebaker had begun to diversify away from automobiles. Numerous companies were purchased, bringing Studebaker into such diverse fields as the manufacture of tire studs and missile components.

The company's 1963 annual report listed the following divisions:

* [https://www.clarkeus.com/ Clarke] – Floor Machine Division, [[Muskegon, Michigan]]
* CTL – Missile/Space Technology Division, [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]
* Franklin – Appliance Division, [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]] (home office; other locations also in Minnesota, Iowa, and Ontario). Manufactured private label kitchen and laundry appliances for major retailers until it was sold to [[White Sewing Machine Company|White Consolidated Industries]].<ref>[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/White-Consolidated-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html White company history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121955/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/White-Consolidated-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html |date=September 29, 2007 }} at fundinguniverse.com</ref>
* [[Gravely Tractor]] – Tractors Division, [[Dunbar, West Virginia]], and [[Albany, Georgia]]
* International – South Bend, Indiana (handled business matters for all divisions doing business overseas)
* [[Cummins#Cummins Power Systems|Onan]] – Engine/Generator Division, [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
* [[Paxton Automotive]] – automobile [[supercharger]]s
* [[STP (motor oil company)|STP]] – Chemical Compounds Division, [[Des Plaines, Illinois]], and [[Santa Monica, California]]. Produced automotive engine additives.
* Schaefer – Commercial Refrigeration Division, [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], and [[Aberdeen, Maryland]]
* [[Studebaker Canada Ltd.|Studebaker of Canada]] – Automotive Manufacturing, [[Hamilton, Ontario]]
* SASCO – Studebaker Automotive Sales Corp., [[South Bend, Indiana]].
* Studegrip – Tire Stud Division, [[South Bend, Indiana]], [[Jefferson, Iowa]], and [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
* [[Trans International Airlines]] – founded by [[Kirk Kerkorian]]

Having built the [[Wright R-1820]] under license during World War II, Studebaker also attempted to build what would perhaps have been the largest aircraft piston engine ever built. With 24 cylinders in an [[H engine|"H" configuration]], a bore of {{cvt|8|in|mm|0}} and stroke of {{cvt|7.75|in|mm|0}}, displacement would have been {{convert|9349|in3|L}}, hence the H-9350 designation. It was not completed.<ref>The U.S. Air Force project designation MX-232 was allocated to the proposed 5000-hp engine, according to researchers George Cully & Andreas Parsch. See explanation and [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/mx/1-499.html link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725081203/http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/mx/1-499.html |date=July 25, 2010 }} from [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/projects.html#_MX Designations Of U.S. Air Force Projects] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616141013/http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/projects.html#_MX |date=June 16, 2016 }} (2005)</ref>

== Attempts at revival ==

=== Studebaker XUV (2003) ===
In 2003, Avanti Motor Company revealed the Studebaker XUV concept at the [[Chicago Auto Show]]. The company was able to use the Studebaker name since it had also purchased the rights to Studebaker Trucks alongside the Avanti tooling back in 1963. The large SUV was built on the chassis of a [[Ford Super Duty|Ford Super-Duty]] and was powered by a 310-horsepower Ford [[V10 engine]]. Due to its close resemblance to the [[Hummer H2]], General Motors filed a lawsuit against Avanti, claiming the XUV was a blatant copy of the H2. A revised design was shown at the 2004 Chicago Auto Show, although did not make production due to Avanti CEO [[Michael Eugene Kelly|Michael Kelly's]] arrest in 2006 and subsequent imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holderith |first=Peter |date=2020-05-27 |title=The 2003 Studebaker XUV Attempted to Revive a Classic Name with an Illegal Hummer Clone |url=https://www.thedrive.com/news/33717/the-2003-studebaker-xuv-attempted-to-revive-a-classic-name-with-an-illegal-hummer-clone |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=The Drive |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Ric Reed ownership (2012–) ===
In 2001, the rights to the Studebaker name were acquired by [[Colorado]] based clothing shop owner Ric Reed, who revealed his plans for the company in 2011. Firstly planned to be used on a [[Retro-style automobile|retro-modern]] pickup truck reminiscent of the Champ, Reed later intended to use the brand name on a range of [[China|Chinese]]-made petrol and electric [[Scooter (motorcycle)|scooters]], before progressing onto producing [[Hybrid vehicle|hybrid cars]] using the Lark, Hawk and president model names.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dowling |first=Neil |date=22 February 2012 |title=Studebaker revival bid as hybrid – Car News |url=https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/studebaker-revival-bid-as-hybrid-19692 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=CarsGuide |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Beissmann |first=Tim |date=6 February 2012 |title=Studebaker planning a comeback |url=https://www.drive.com.au/news/studebaker-planning-a-comeback/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Drive |language=en}}</ref> Reportedly, the cars were to use a [[Hydristor]], a hydraulic transistor device originally invented by Tom Kasmer for use in a [[DeLorean Motor Company|DeLorean]] sports car.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gastelu |first=Gary |date=17 February 2012 |title=Colorado man plots return of Studebaker |url=https://www.foxnews.com/auto/colorado-man-plots-return-of-studebaker |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite intentions of restarting production in the United States, the proposal did not come to fruition.

== Advertisements and logos ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px" widths="250px" caption="Advertisements and Logos">
File:Studebaker advertisement, 1902.jpg|1902 advertisement for horse-drawn vehicles
File:1905StudebakerElectricAd1.jpg|1905 advertisement for electric and gasoline-powered cars
File:Studebaker 1909-0522.jpg|1909 advertisement for new and used cars
File:Anuncio de Studebaker.jpg|1924 illuminated tiled display for Big Six touring car in [[Seville]]
File:Studewheellogo.jpg|Studebaker "turning wheel" badge on cars produced 1912–1934
File:Studebaker 1917 logo.svg|1917 Studebaker logo
</gallery>

== Studebaker factories ==
=== South Bend, Indiana ===
==== Downtown location ====
635 S. Lafayette Blvd., South Bend, IN<ref name="Studebaker South Bend Plant Photos">{{cite web |title=Studebaker South Bend Plant Photos |url=http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/studebakerplantphotos.htm |website=The American Automobile Industry in World War Two |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610045011/http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/studebakerplantphotos.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
*manufactured conestoga wagons, horse-drawn carriages, electric cars, automobiles

Clement and Henry Studebaker Jr., became blacksmiths and [[foundry]]men in [[South Bend, Indiana]], in February 1852.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|229}}<ref name=stbbrochure>[http://www.stjosephcountyindiana.com/departments/SJCHP/Events/studebaker_bendix_brochure_final_2012.pdf Brochure: South Bend's Titans of Industry] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522112242/http://www.stjosephcountyindiana.com/departments/SJCHP/Events/studebaker_bendix_brochure_final_2012.pdf |date=May 22, 2013 }} (2012) at St Joseph County Indiana. Accessed April 12, 2013</ref> They first made metal parts for freight wagons and later expanded into the manufacture of complete wagons. At this time, John M. was making [[wheelbarrow]]s in [[Placerville, California]]. The site of his business is California Historic Landmark #142 at 543 Main St, Placerville.<ref>[http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/testing/html/mss0204a.html Register] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604041941/http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/testing/html/mss0204a.html |date=June 4, 2011 }} California Historic Landmark Project Collection 1936–1940</ref>

The first major expansion in Henry and Clem's South Bend business came from their being in the right place to meet the needs of the [[California Gold Rush]] that began in 1849. From his wheelbarrow enterprise at Placerville, John M. had amassed $8,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|8000|1849}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). In April 1858, he quit and moved out to apply this to financing the vehicle manufacturing of H & C Studebaker, which was already booming because of an order to build wagons for the US Army. In 1857, they had also built their first carriage—"Fancy, hand-worked iron trim, the kind of courting buggy any boy and girl would be proud to be seen in".<ref name="Longstreet-1952">{{cite book |title=A Century on Wheels: The Story of Studebaker |year=1952 |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryonwheelss0000long |url-access=registration |last=Longstreet |first=Stephen |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/centuryonwheelss0000long/page/121 121] |isbn=978-0-8371-3978-4 |id=1st edn., 1952}}</ref>{{rp|24}}

That was when John M. bought out Henry's share of the business. Henry was deeply religious and had qualms about building military equipment. The Studebakers were [[Dunkard Brethren]], conservative [[Schwarzenau Brethren|German Baptists]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Guttman |first=Jon |title=Studebaker Wagon |journal=Military History |publisher=WHG |issue=July 2013 |page=23}}</ref> a religion that viewed war as evil. Longstreet's official company history simply says, "Henry was tired of the business. He wanted to farm. The risks of expanding were not for him".<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|26}} Expansion continued from manufacture of wagons for westward [[Human migration|migration]], as well as for farming and general transportation. During the height of westward migration and [[wagon train]] [[Settler|pioneering]], half of the wagons used were Studebakers. They made about a quarter of them, and manufactured the metal fittings for other builders in [[Missouri]] for another quarter-century.

The fourth brother, Peter E, was running a successful general store in [[Goshen, Indiana]], which was expanded in 1860 to include a wagon distribution outlet.<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|28}} A major leap forward came from supplying wagons for the [[Union Army]] in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (1861–1865). By 1868, annual sales had reached $350,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|350000|1860}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|229}} That year, the three older brothers formed the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company—Clem (president), Peter (secretary), and John M. (treasurer).<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|38}} By this time, the factory had a spur line to the [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway|Lake Shore railroad]] and, with the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] finished, most wagons were now dispatched by rail and [[steamship]].

===== World's largest vehicle house =====
[[File:Budweiser-team aug2009.jpg|235px|thumb|right|Studebaker wagon hauled by eight [[Budweiser Clydesdales]] in [[Wisconsin]], 2009]]

In 1875, the youngest brother, 30-year-old Jacob, was brought into the company to take charge of the carriage factory, making sulkies and five-glass [[Landau (carriage)|landaus]]. Following a great fire in 1874, which destroyed two-thirds of the entire works, they had rebuilt in solid brick, covering {{cvt|20|acre|m2}} and were now "The largest vehicle house in the world".<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|43}} Customers could choose from Studebaker [[Sulky|sulkies]], [[Brougham (carriage)|broughams]], [[Clarence (carriage)|clarences]], [[Phaeton (carriage)|phaetons]], [[Runabout (carriage)|runabouts]], [[Victoria (carriage)|victorias]], and [[Tandem carriage|tandems]]. For $20,000, a [[Four-in-hand (carriage)|four-in-hand]] for up to a dozen passengers, with red wheels, gold-plated lamps, and yellow trim, could be had.

In the 1880s, roads started to be surfaced with tar, gravel, and wooden blocks. In 1884, when times were hard, Jacob opened a carriage sales and service operation in a fine new [[Fine Arts Building (Chicago)|Studebaker Building]] on Michigan Avenue, [[Chicago]]. The two granite columns at the main entrance, {{cvt|3|ft|8|in|m}} in diameter and {{cvt|12|ft|10|in|m}} high, were said to be the largest polished monolithic shafts in the country.<ref>See building No.3 on illustration [http://uic.edu/depts/ahaa/imagebase/intranet/chiviews/page173.html Looking West from Michigan Boulevard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114152940/http://uic.edu/depts/ahaa/imagebase/intranet/chiviews/page173.html |date=January 14, 2009 }}</ref> Three years later, Jacob died, the first death among the brothers.

In 1889, incoming [[Benjamin Harrison|President Harrison]] ordered a full set of Studebaker carriages and harnesses for the White House.<ref>[https://www.studebakermuseum.org/p/whats-happening/exhibits/the-presidential-carriage-collection/ The Presidential Carriage Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829024806/http://www.studebakermuseum.org/p/whats-happening/exhibits/the-presidential-carriage-collection |date=August 29, 2016 }} at [[Studebaker National Museum]]. Accessed February 7, 2016</ref> As the 20th century approached, the South Bend plant "covered nearly {{cvt|100|acre|km2}} with 20 big boilers, 16 dynamos, 16 large stationary engines, 1000 pulleys, 600 wood- and iron-working machines, {{cvt|7|mi|km}} of belting, dozens of steam pumps, and 500 arc and incandescent lamps making white light over all".<ref name="Longstreet-1952" />{{rp|54}} The worldwide economic depression of 1893 caused a dramatic pause in sales and the plant closed down for five weeks, but industrial relations were good and the organized workforce declared faith in their employer. Studebaker would end the nineteenth century as the largest buggy and wagon works in the world, and by 1900, with around 3,000 workers, the plant in South Bend was producing over 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles of all types yearly.

The wagons pulled by the [[Budweiser Clydesdales]] are Studebaker wagons modified to carry beer, originally manufactured ''circa'' 1900.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clydesdales |url=http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/clydesdale/ab-clydesdale-teams.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509002419/http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/clydesdale/ab-clydesdale-teams.htm |archive-date=May 9, 2009 |access-date=February 2, 2013}}</ref>

=== Family association continues ===
The five brothers died between 1887 and 1917 (John Mohler was the last to die).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/inductee/john-studebaker/703/ |title=John Mohler Studebaker |publisher=[[Automotive Hall of Fame]] |access-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050333/http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/inductee/john-studebaker/703/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Their sons and sons-in-law remained active in the management, most notably lawyer [[Frederick Samuel Fish|Fred Fish]] after his marriage to John M's daughter Grace in 1891.<ref>"Ex-State Senator Frederick S. Fish will leave Newark to become the general counsel of the Studebaker Brothers' Manufacturing Company at South Bend, Ind." [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/03/26/103300335.pdf NYT City & Suburban News] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210155011/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/03/26/103300335.pdf |date=February 10, 2022 }}, March 26, 1891 (PDF)</ref> "Col. George M Studebaker, Clement Studebaker Jr, J M Studebaker Jr, and [Fred Sr's son] Frederick Studebaker Fish served apprenticeships in different departments and rose to important official positions, with membership on the board."<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|41}} Erskine adds sons-in-law Nelson J Riley, Charles A Carlisle, H D Johnson, and William R Innis.

==== Chippewa Factory ====
701 W Chippewa Ave, South Bend, IN<ref name="Studebaker South Bend Plant Photos" />

Due to the war effort, and the capacity of the Downtown Facility was dedicated to [[Studebaker US6 2½-ton 6×6 truck|Studebaker US6 truck]] and [[M29 Weasel]] production, the Chippewa Factory was built south of the city to initially manufacture [[Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone]] aircraft engines to be installed in the [[North American B-25 Mitchell]]. Construction began January 1941 and completed in June 1942. Due to logistics challenges, the initial order was cancelled, and Studebaker was asked to build [[Wright R-1820 Cyclone]] aircraft engines instead. Retooling of the factory commenced and by January 1944 was the exclusive location of the Wright R-1820 installed in the [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]].

After the war ended, the factory was idled until the [[Korean War]] began, and the [[M35 series 2½-ton 6×6 cargo truck]] resumed in 1950, and the [[M54 5-ton 6x6 truck]] was also manufactured at this location. Ownership of the factory changed hands a few times, but the M35 and M54 stayed in production until they were replaced by the [[Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles|FMTV]] in 1989.

=== Chicago, Illinois ===
5555 S. Archer Ave, Chicago, IL

During World War II, the plant produced aircraft engines for the B-17 Flying Fortress starting in January 1944 until the August 9, 1945, announcement for the building sale. Studebaker built 63,789 engines at the plant and each had nearly 8,000 finished parts. The aircraft were equipped with engines known as the Studebaker-built R-1820. The plant's main building, just west of Midway Airport, contained 782,988 square feet and sat on a 50-acre site. Although, engine items were fabricated and produced in the Chicago plant, they were sent to South Bend, Indiana for final assembly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2019/08/august-9-1945-studebaker-engine-plant.html |title=Connecting the Windy City- Studebaker Engine Plant Up for Sale |date=9 August 2019 |access-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627091458/http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2019/08/august-9-1945-studebaker-engine-plant.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The plant was acquired by [[Western Electric]] to produce telephones that were already in backlog orders because of their war efforts.

=== Detroit, Michigan ===
4333 W Fort St, Detroit, MI<br />461 Piquette Street, Detroit, MI<br />6230 John R St, Detroit, MI (E-M-F)
* Manufactured automobiles

==== E-M-F and Flanders ====
Studebaker's agreement with the [[E-M-F Company]], made in September 1908,<ref name="Erskine-1918" />{{rp|47}} was a different relationship, one John Studebaker had hoped would give Studebaker a quality product without the entanglements found in the Garford relationship, but this was not to be. Under the terms of the agreement, E-M-F would manufacture vehicles and Studebaker would distribute them exclusively through its wagon dealers.

The E-M-F gasoline-powered cars proved disastrously unreliable, causing wags to say that E-M-F stood for ''Every Morning Fix-it'', ''Easy Mark's Favorite'', and the like.<ref name="Hendry-1972" />{{rp|231}} Compounding the problems was the infighting between E-M-F's principal partners, Everitt, [[Walter E. Flanders|Flanders]], and [[William E. Metzger|Metzger]]. Eventually in mid-1909, Everitt and Metzger left to start a new enterprise.<ref>{{cite book |title=The E-M-F Company |last=Yanik |first=Anthony J. |publisher=SAE |year=2001 |isbn=0-7680-0716-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8ba9eB6DK0C}}</ref>{{rp|88}} Flanders also quit and joined them in 1912, but the Metzger Motor Car Co could not be saved from failure by renaming it the [[Flanders Automobile Company]].

Studebaker's president, Fred Fish, had purchased one-third of the E-M-F stock in 1908 and followed up by acquiring all the remainder from [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]] in 1910 and buying E-M-F's manufacturing [[factory|plants]] at [[Walkerville, Ontario]], Canada, and across the river in Detroit.<ref name=finpost>{{cite news |url=http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/companyinformationcanada/stude.html |title=Studebaker Factory Supports 500 Families Living in Border Area |newspaper=Financial Post |date=October 31, 1929 |publisher=Western Libraries (Ontario) |access-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725041710/http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/companyinformationcanada/stude.html |archive-date=July 25, 2011}}</ref> The former [[Ford Piquette Avenue Plant]], located across Brush Street from the old E-M-F plant in the [[Milwaukee Junction]] area of Detroit, was purchased from Ford in January 1911 to become Studebaker Plant 10, used for assembly work until 1933.<ref name=NRHP>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/mi/FordPiquette.pdf |title=National Historic Landmark Nomination – Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, pp. 22–23 |access-date=November 20, 2015 |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222032217/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/mi/FordPiquette.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

E-M-F was bought out by Studebaker, which formed [[Studebaker Canada]]. This was followed by [[rebadging]] E-M-F's products: the E-M-F as the [[E-M-F Company|Studebaker 30]], the Flanders as the [[Flanders (automobile company)|Studebaker 20]]<ref name="Windsor Public Library online">[http://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/wow/plants/seagrave.htm Windsor Public Library online](retrieved June 13, 2017) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919234726/http://projects.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/wow/plants/seagrave.htm |date=September 19, 2017 }}</ref> Sales of these rebadged models continued through the end of 1912.<ref name="Windsor Public Library online" />

=== Elyria, Ohio (Studebaker-Garford) ===
400 Clark St, Elyria, OH
*Manufactured automobiles

==== Garford ====
[[File:1908StudeLimo.jpg|thumb|1908 Studebaker-Garford B [[limousine]]]]

Under the agreement with Studebaker, Garford would receive completed [[chassis]] and drivetrains from Ohio and then mate them with Studebaker-built bodies, which were sold under the [[Studebaker-Garford]] brand name at premium prices. Prices listed for the Model G were $3,700 to $5,000 based on the body style used, equal to (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3700|1905}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) to (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|5000|1905}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=Copy of Advertisement from "Cosmopolitan Magazine" unknown date |url=https://myntransportblog.com/2014/10/24/studebaker-e-m-f-erskine-rockne-south-bend-indiana-usa-1852-1967/ |website=Myn Transport Blog |access-date=11 February 2021 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225170724/https://myntransportblog.com/2014/10/24/studebaker-e-m-f-erskine-rockne-south-bend-indiana-usa-1852-1967/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Eventually, vehicles with Garford-built [[engine]]s began to carry the Studebaker name. Garford also built cars under its own name, and by 1907, attempted to increase production at the expense of Studebaker. Once the Studebakers discovered this, John Mohler Studebaker enforced a primacy clause, forcing Garford back on to the scheduled production quotas. The decision to drop the Garford name was made and the final product rolled off the [[assembly line]] by 1911, leaving Garford alone until it was acquired by [[John North Willys]] in 1913.

=== Vernon, California ===
[[File:FWP American Guide Series city 1941 California Los Angeles a guide to the city and its environs 45.png|thumb|The Studebaker and Douglas factories were both featured in the [[American Guide Series|American Guide]] produced in the late 1930s for Los Angeles]]
4530 Loma Vista Ave, Vernon, CA
*Manufactured automobiles

In 1938, the company built an assembly location at 4530 Loma Vista Avenue in [[Vernon, California]], which remained in production until 1956. At one time, the facility was averaging 65 cars a day assembled from knock-down kits shipped by rail from the factory in South Bend, Indiana.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lifeaccordingtoerick.com/2014/09/who-knew-8-las-booming-auto-industry.html|title=L.A.T.E: Who Knew #8 L.A.'s Booming Auto Industry a Thing of the Past|date=January 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113043815/http://www.lifeaccordingtoerick.com/2014/09/who-knew-8-las-booming-auto-industry.html |archive-date=January 13, 2015 }}</ref> The factory manufactured the [[Studebaker Champion|Champion]], the [[Studebaker Land Cruiser|Land Cruiser]], and the [[Studebaker Starlight|Starlight]]. During the war, the factory was in close proximity to [[Douglas Aircraft]] and [[Lockheed Aircraft]] and built engine assemblies and nacelles for [[B-17]]s and [[PV-2 Harpoon]]s.<ref name="Studebaker Pacific Corporation" />

=== Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ===
{{See also|Studebaker Canada}}

391 Victoria Ave N, Hamilton, ON L8L 5G7
*Manufactured automobiles

On August 18, 1948, surrounded by more than 400 employees and a battery of reporters, the first vehicle, a blue [[Studebaker Champion|Champion]] four-door [[sedan (car)|sedan]], rolled off of the Studebaker assembly line in [[Hamilton, Ontario]].<ref name=memproj45>{{cite press release |title=The Hamilton Memory Project: Studebaker |publisher=The Hamilton Spectator – Souvenir Edition |page=MP45 |date=June 10, 2006}}</ref> The company was located in the former Otis-Fenson [[military]] [[weapon]]s factory off Burlington Street on [[Victoria Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario)|Victoria Avenue North]], which was built in 1941. Having previously operated its British Empire export assembly plant at [[Walkerville, Ontario]], Studebaker settled on Hamilton as a postwar Canadian manufacturing site because of the city's proximity to the Canadian [[steel industry]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}

Studebaker manufactured cars in Hamilton from 1948 to 1966.<ref name="Windsor Public Library online" /> After the [[South Bend]] plant shut, Hamilton was Studebaker's sole factory.<ref name="Windsor Public Library online" /> Studebaker briefly manufactured cars in [[Windsor, Ontario]], from 1912 to 1936.

=== Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ===
{{See also|Automotive industry in Australia}}

Studebakers were assembled in Melbourne in right-hand drive configuration from [[CKD kits]] manufactured at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada beginning in 1960. The first location was the Canada Cycle and Car Company in the neighborhood of [[Tottenham, Victoria|Tottenham]], which assembled [[Studebaker Lark]] sedans and station wagons, the [[Studebaker Champ]] pickup truck and the [[Studebaker Silver Hawk]]. In 1964, after the South Bend, Indiana factory closed, Australian assembly was handed off to Continental & General's factory in [[Heidelberg West, Victoria|West Heidelberg]] until 1968 when the last car was built. When the factory ceased operations [[Renault]] products were brought in to replace them. Previously, Studebakers were exported to Australia fully assembled beginning in 1948 in limited numbers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian Motor Vehicle Manufacture |url=https://www.pocketoz.com.au/afe/motoring-manufacture2.html |website=All about Australia |publisher=Australia For Everyone |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228003945/http://pocketoz.com.au/afe/motoring-manufacture2.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Item MM 137690 Negative – Canada Cycle & Motor Company, Pair with Motor Car Brochure, Victoria, 15 Feb 1960 |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/2050710 |website=Museum Victoria Collections |publisher=Museums Victoria |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808190230/https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/2050710 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Studebaker had a long history of selling products in Australia, starting in the 1880s when horse-drawn wagons and carts were imported from the South Bend, Indiana factory, and as the company transitioned to automobiles, they were also brought in.<ref>{{cite web |title=Studebaker in Australia |url=https://studebakercarclub.net/studebaker-in-australia/ |website=The Studebaker Car Club of Australia |publisher=Studebaker car club |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303123307/https://studebakercarclub.net/studebaker-in-australia/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Legacy ==
While Studebaker closed fully its automotive sector in 1969, the company still left a big legacy behind it among classic car enthusiasts. The [[Studebaker US6]] truck was the basis for the legendary [[GAZ-51]] Soviet truck that was produced in the [[Soviet Union]] until 1975,<ref>{{cite web |title=drakony-s-zdanovich-a-m-gaz-51-osobennosti-raboty-dvigatelya |url=https://marshalinstrument.ru/en/kpp/drakony-s-zdanovich-a-m-gaz-51-osobennosti-raboty-dvigatelya/ |access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref> nearly a decade after Studebaker had closed, and proceeded to form the basis for all GAZ trucks later, such as the [[GAZ-53]], [[GAZon|GAZ-3307]] and [[GAZon|3309]] and the [[GAZon NEXT|GAZon Next]].

The designers of the 1993 [[Ram pickup|Dodge Ram]] stated that the [[Studebaker E-series truck|Studebaker E series]] pickup was their main inspiration for the design.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=29&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=%22dodge+ram%22&OS=%22dodge+ram%22&RS=%22dodge+ram%22 |title=U.S. Patent D396,828 – Body Styling of 1994 Dodge Ram |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office |date=August 11, 1998 |access-date=2010-11-22 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224084555/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=29&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=%22dodge+ram%22&OS=%22dodge+ram%22&RS=%22dodge+ram%22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Spectra Merchandising International, Inc. produces a number of "retro" styled audio equipment under the brand name "Studebaker."<ref>https://spectraintl.com/index.php/brands/studebaker {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610173900/https://spectraintl.com/index.php/brands/studebaker |date=June 10, 2021 }} Spectra Merchandising International: Studebaker products (Retrieved: 10 June 2021)</ref>

== Products ==
{{See also|List of Studebaker vehicles}}
[[File:South-bend-studebaker-museum-new.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Studebaker National Museum]]]]

=== Studebaker automobile models ===
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
*[[Studebaker Electric (automobile)|Studebaker Electric]] (1902–1912)
*[[Studebaker-Garford]] (1904–1911)
*Studebaker Six monobloc-engine models (1911–1918)
*[[Studebaker Light Four]] (1918–1920)
*[[Studebaker Big Six]] (1918–1927)
*[[Studebaker Special Six]] (1918–1927)
*[[Studebaker Light Six]] (includes Standard Six model) (1918–1927)
*[[Studebaker Commander]] (1927–1935, 1937–1958, 1964–1966)
*[[Studebaker President]] (1928–1942, 1955–1958)
*[[Studebaker Dictator]]/Director (1927–1937)
*[[Studebaker Champion]] (1939–1958)
*[[Studebaker Land Cruiser]] (1934–1954)
*[[Studebaker Conestoga]] (1954–1955)
*[[Studebaker Speedster]] (1955)
*[[Studebaker Scotsman]] (1957–1958)
*[[Studebaker-Packard Hawk series|Hawk series]]:
**[[Studebaker Golden Hawk]] (1956–1958)
**[[Studebaker Silver Hawk]] (1957–1959)
**[[Studebaker Sky Hawk]] (1956)
**[[Studebaker Flight Hawk]] (1956)
**[[Studebaker Power Hawk]] (1956)
**[[Studebaker Hawk]] (1960–1961)
**[[Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk]] (1962–1964)
*[[Studebaker Lark]] (1959–1966) (Includes the Lark-based 1964–66 Cruiser, Daytona, Commander, and Challenger)
*[[Studebaker Avanti]] (1962–1964)
*[[Studebaker Wagonaire]] (1963–1966)
{{div col end}}

=== Studebaker trucks ===
[[File:Studebaker Model 2013 (1906) 3,5 t.jpg|thumb|Studebaker Model 2013 (1906) 3,5 t]]
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
*Studebaker Model 2013 (1906–?)
*Studebaker GN series (1929–1930)
*Studebaker S series (1930–1934)
*Studebaker T series (1934–1936)
*Studebaker W series (1934–1936)
*Studebaker J series (1937)
*[[Studebaker Coupe Express]] (1937–1939)
*Studebaker K series (1938–1940)
**In 1938, Studebaker sold 2000 units and in 1939 it increased to 2110 trucks.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022419272&seq=30 |title= Studebaker 1938 and 1939 |date=1940-03-01|publisher= The Commercial car journal v.59 1940 Mar–Aug |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
*[[Studebaker M-series truck|Studebaker M series]] (1941–1942, 1945, 1946–1948)
*[[Studebaker US6]] (1941–1945)
*[[Studebaker M29 Weasel]] (1942–1945)
*Studebaker 2R Series (1949–1953)
*Studebaker 3R Series (1954)
*[[Studebaker E-series truck|Studebaker E series]] (1955–1964)
*[[Studebaker Transtar]] (1956–1958, 1960–1964)
*[[Studebaker Champ]] (1960–1964)
*Studebaker Zip Van (1964)
*[[M35 2-1/2 ton cargo truck]] (1950s through 1964)
{{div col end}}

=== Studebaker body styles ===
*[[Studebaker Starlight]] (1947–1955, 1958)
*Studebaker Starliner
*[[Studebaker Coupe Express|Coupe Express]]

=== Affiliated automobile marques ===
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
*[[Tincher]]: An early independent builder of luxury cars financed by Studebaker investment, 1903–1909
*[[Studebaker-Garford]]: Studebaker-bodied cars, 1904–1911
*[[E-M-F Company|E-M-F]]: Independent auto manufacturer that marketed cars through Studebaker wagon dealers, 1909–1912
*[[Erskine (automobile)|Erskine]]: Brand of automobile produced by Studebaker, 1926–1930
*[[Pierce-Arrow]]: owned by Studebaker 1928–1934<ref name="Windsor Public Library online" />
*[[Rockne]]: Brand of automobile produced by Studebaker, 1932–1933
*[[Packard]]: 1954 merger partner of Studebaker
*[[Mercedes-Benz]]: Distributed through Studebaker dealers, 1958–1966
{{div col end}}

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
*[[Automotive industry]]
*[[Charles Brady King]]
*[[List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers]]
*[[South Bend Watch Company]] (maker of Studebaker watches)
*[[Studebaker Canada Ltd.]]
*[[Studebaker National Museum]]
*[[Story Monument]]
*[[The Three Musketeers (Studebaker engineers)]]
*[[Turning Wheels magazine]]
*[[Tippecanoe Place]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== References ==
* Bonsall, Thomas E ''More Than They Promised: The Studebaker Story'' Stanford University Press (2000)
* Erskine, A R ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iO9HAAAAIAAJ History of the Studebaker Corporation]'', South Bend (1918) (via – Google Books)
* Foster, Patrick ''Studebaker: America's Most Successful Independent Automaker'' Motorbooks
* Grist, Peter ''Virgil Exner: Visioneer: The official biography of Virgil M. Exner, designer extraordinaire'' Veloce, US
* Longstreet, Stephen ''A Century on Wheels: The Story of Studebaker, A History, 1852–1952'', New York: Henry Holt and Co (1952)

== Further reading ==
* Bodnar, John. "Power and memory in oral history: Workers and managers at Studebaker." ''Journal of American History'' 75.4 (1989): 1201–1221. {{JSTOR|1908636}}.
* {{NHLS url|id=73000044|title=Clement Studebaker House, Tippecanoe Place}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form. (The heritage research includes details of the early history of the firm at South Bend.)
* Severson A. [http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/family-cars/196-studebaker-lark-super-lark.html Lark and Super Lark: The Last Days of Studebaker] at ''Ate Up With Motor'' October 17, 2009
* Justice L. [https://classiccarsonline.us/the-studebaker-company-a-journey-from-wagons-to-wheels/ The Studebaker Company: A Journey from Wagons to Wheels] at "Classic Cars Online US" December 1, 2023

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Studebaker Corporation}}
* [http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?advertiser=studebaker Collection of mid-twentieth-century advertising featuring Studebaker automobiles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024124615/http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?advertiser=studebaker |date=October 24, 2020 }} from The TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design.
* [http://www.ritzsite.nl/63Stude/01_63stude.htm 1963 model range at RitzSite]
* [http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/ The Studebaker Drivers Club]

{{Studebaker}}
{{Studebaker historic timeline}}
{{Studebaker-Packard Hawk series}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Automotive industry in the United States}}

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