History Of The Studebaker

What Actually Happened To Studebaker

Studebaker started in 1852 as a wagon-making company in South Bend, Indiana. They built horse-drawn wagons, then adapted to the automotive era in 1902 when they began producing electric cars. The Imperial brand became their big play in the late 1950s, which turned out to be their last real mistake. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1963 and closed its South Bend plant in 1966. Pretty much everyone who still talks about Studebaker today is just nostalgia talking. The reason people still care about this company isn't because they were the best carmaker on earth. They weren't. Studebaker's story is really interesting because it's a textbook case of what goes wrong when a mid-tier manufacturer tries to race against the Big Three without the scale to compete. They had moments of brilliance though. The 1953 Starline Coupe was genuinely ahead of its time with that bullet-nose design. Packard was their second major error, buying a failing luxury brand that dragged them down instead of lifting them up. One thing most people get wrong about Studebaker is that they actually had good engineering. Their flat-6 engine, introduced in 1950, was smooth and reliable. The Commando series was competent. They weren't building junk. The problem was financial, not mechanical. When you're a small automaker trying to fund two completely different product lines (cars and trucks) with shared parts, the economics fall apart fast. I spent a weekend trying to source a correct intake manifold for a '54 Champion and learned pretty quickly that the supply chain for these things is basically a black market at this point. Most reproduction parts are made by one or two shops now, and the quality varies wildly depending on who runs the line that month.

Where To Look If You Want Real Information

The Studebaker Drivers Club International is the primary resource. They maintain detailed production records and have local chapters across the country. Their technical documentation is pretty solid, though some of it is decades old and hasn't been updated to reflect parts availability changes. The annual convention in South Bend is worth attending if you want to talk to actual mechanics who've worked on these cars, but expect a lot of storytelling and not a lot of citations. Common sources:

• Studebaker Drivers Club International archives
• "Studebaker: The Decisive Years" by John B. Schneider
• "The Last Stand of Studebaker" by David L. Lewis
• The Henry Ford Museum has a permanent collection
• Online forums like studebakers.com and driveittonight.com

The Parts Situation Is A Real Problem

Here's something people don't understand until they're deep into restoration. New Old Stock parts from the 1950s exist but the rubber components have degraded to dust. Seals, gaskets, hoses — everything that was stored in a crate since 1960 is now brittle or melted together. I had a '56 Lark where every single rubber hose in the engine bay was fused into one solid chunk. Had to cut them out individually and measure each one by feel while keeping notes. Took me three days for what should have been a two-hour job. The metal parts situation is better. Bodies and frames tend to survive well if they haven't been in an accident. The real pain point is trim and interior. Correct door handles, window cranks, and particularly the dashboard assemblies are nearly impossible to find original. Aftermarket reproductions exist for some items but fitment is inconsistent. The dash bezels on the 1950s models especially — mine was off by about two millimeters on each side and there was nothing I could do about it without fabricating adapters.

Valuation And Buying Advice

Prices for Studebakers vary enormously depending on the model and condition. A running but rough '50s Hawk might sell for eight to twelve thousand dollars. A fully restored one goes for forty to sixty. The 1956-1957 Hawks with the Avanti-style front end are the most valuable, partly because they're the rarest and partly because they have a cult following that won't go away. The Commander and Champion models from the late 1940s and early 1950s are more affordable entry points but parts availability gets thin the older you go. Buy based on what's available in your area, not what a book says. If you live somewhere with a strong Studebaker community, being able to borrow a fellow member's tools or ask someone who's done the same repair before makes a massive difference. I've seen people pay extra for cars that needed work just because they lived near someone who could help. That's a smart move. Studebaker ownership without a network is a lot harder than it needs to be.

The Military Side Most People Skip

Before they made consumer cars, Studebaker built military trucks during World War II. The 2.5-ton 6x6 cargo truck they produced was one of the most widely used vehicles in the war effort. Some of these are still running. The military contracts actually kept the company alive through the late 1930s and early 1940s when the consumer car market was struggling. After the war, they pivoted back to civilian vehicles but the infrastructure and workforce they'd built for military production didn't translate smoothly into consumer car manufacturing. That's another transition most histories gloss over too quickly. If you're researching for a project or paper, the National Archives has substantial documentation on the military contracts. It's dry reading but the information is thorough and accurate. Don't rely on enthusiast books for the wartime period. They tend to repeat each other and neither group has access to the original government documents.