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(12/26/05)
By BILL SHCRADER, Special to the Times-Mail (Bedford, IN)
SOUTH BEND - The Studebaker brothers of South Bend made transportation history over 114 years of building wagons, carriages and automobiles.
Their story can now be retold because the company meticulously gathered and preserved historic vehicles, mementos and documents for display in its downtown administration building (currently headquarters for the South Bend Community School Corporation.).
When the company closed its doors in 1966, the contents were donated to South Bend and for the next 30 years were displayed throughout the community.
That all changed last month when the $9.4-million Studebaker National Museum opened at 201 South Chapin St.
Museum architects sought inspiration for design of the building from pictures of long-demolished Studebaker manufacturing facilities in South Bend. The glass-topped atrium with exposed steel beams was inspired by an assembly plant of the 1920s. Large windows visible from the street are from the body plant of the 1940s.
The most imposing feature is the atrium. The sleek body of a green 1939 Studebaker Dictator sedan hangs from the ceiling. The floor is tiled with a large red and white re-creation of the Studebaker logo.
The museum contains three floors of vehicles, memorabilia and exhibits tracing the Studebaker story from 1852, when it was started as a blacksmith shop, through its years as a wagon maker, then into automobile manufacturing and then its demise.
The Studebaker museum didn't limit its collecting to its own products, but also artifacts from other South Bend-based industries including Bendix, Oliver Plow, Singer Sewing Machine, South Bend Range and South Bend Bait Fishing Lure Company.
The Studebaker story
- In the 1880s the "Family of Craftsmen" - Henry, Clement, John M., Peter and Jacob Studebaker - were operating the largest horse-drawn wagon manufacturing plant in the world. Carriages and wagons are on display - including some belonging to Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley.
- Studebaker introduced an electric car (on display) in 1902. Its first gas-powered vehicle was produced in 1904, but by the Garford Company in Ohio and marketed under the Studebaker name. It wasn't until 1920 that wagon production was halted in South Bend and automobile manufacturing began there.
- The 1920s ushered in the tumultuous "Erskine Years," a period of prosperity for Studebaker as it carved out a market in the medium-price field and acquired Pierce-Arrow for its high end models. Then came the Great Depression, when questionable management decisions led Studebaker into receivership in 1933. Company president Albert Erskine took his own life.
- During the 1934 to 1940 period, under the leadership of Paul Hoffman and Harold Vance, Studebaker regained a foothold with the hugely popular 1939 Champion, a successful foray into the low-price field.
- The brothers had made their first big money making wagons during the Civil War. During World War I they made ambulances and supply wagons. During World War II the factories switched to the production of the "Weasel" vehicle, US6 military trucks and engines for B-17 bombers.
- In the post-World War II period most U.S. car companies resumed production of pre-war models. The Starlite Coupe, with its distinctive wraparound rear-window, was unveiled in 1947.
- The famous "bullet nose" styling that made Studebaker highly visible was introduced in 1950. The bullet nose of the 1951 "Muppet Movie" Commander, featured in the 1979 "The Muppet Movie," provided the perfect place for a camera that would allow the car to be driven from the trunk while the puppets "drove" from the inside.
- Studebaker's finances began to erode in 1954, leading to a merger with Packard. Packard disappeared altogether in 1958.
- In 1959 Studebaker rebounded with the Lark, which, like the Champion 20 years earlier, pushed the company back into the black. But Studebaker was back in the red by the beginning of the '60s. Another rebound was the introduction of the Hawk in 1961. Then came the sporty Avanti in the 1963 model year.
- In December 1963, the South Bend plant closed its doors. Production continued in the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada plant through March 1966 where a blue-and-white 1966 Cruiser marked the end of the 114-year Studebaker saga.
If you go
Bill Schrader is a former Times-Mail general manager and editor and a frequent contributor to this newspaper.
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