Q:: I was always a lover of the Studebaker cars and trucks. When did they start manufacturing vehicles, and when was the last Studebaker produced? Also, what was your favorite? Thelma K., New Port Ritchey, Florida.
A: Thelma, Studebaker "vehicles" have been around since 1852, when brothers Clem and Henry Jr. Studebaker built three covered Conestoga-style wagons. Five Studebaker brothers became involved, as John, Peter and Jacob all joined the company, and used the skills the learned from their father, Henry Studebaker, while growing up in Gettysburg, PA.
Henry was a blacksmith and farmer who built wagons as a side business in the early 1830's. The family moved to Ohio in 1840.
In 1911, the first gasoline-powered car with Studebaker brothers input appeared, but it wasn't until 1913 that a gas-powered car with the Studebaker name arrived on the scene. The company maintained car and truck production for many years, surviving some tough times in the Twenties and Thirties, and the World War II years of the Forties.
Studebaker was sold in 1954 to Packard Motors Company in Detroit, and became a division of the Studebaker Packard Corporation until 1962, when it reverted to its previous name, the Studebaker Corporation.
The company continued car production through 1966, when the last 8,949 Studebakers were produced.
As for favorites, there were many that caught my eye, especially as a youngster.
The "needle nose" 1950 Studebaker Commanders, Champions and Business Coupes resulted in a record year for the company, with over 340,000 cars built. These cars came to be known as the "coming and going" cars, because they looked pretty much the same front and back. I really liked the “needle nose” Studebakers very much.
The Avanti, built in 1963, is also high on my list, but my all time favorite Studebaker is the 1957 and 1958 Golden Hawk/Silver Hawk series. The Golden Hawks came with a 289-inch V8 with a Paxton Supercharger that put of 275 horsepower. The four passenger, two-door "Hawk" blueprint is still respected as one of the finest examples of auto design. The Silver Hawks were not supercharged, and developed 210 horsepower with the 289-V8, or 101-horsepower with a 185-inch six-cylinder engine.
Most automotive theorists agree that Studebaker made a fine product, but could not compete with the Big Three and its mass production capabilities and lower production costs. Had it not been for the success of the Studebaker Lark in 1959, the company might not have lasted into the Sixties. Matter of fact, the Studebaker 1958 4-door sold only 18,800 units, but the newly designed Lark accounted for an astonishing 48,459 4-doors of the total 138,858 Studebakers produced. The company thus made money for the first time since 1953.
As for the year 1958, 14-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship; the Baltimore Colts beat The New York Giants 23-17 to win The NFL Championship; Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant; Jim Henson forms his Muppets puppeteer company; Actress Sharon Stone is born March 8 in Meadville, Pa.; Tris Speaker, Hall of Fame centerfield baseball player, dies Dec. 8.
Thanks for your question.