Marque of the Month of January

Studebaker

1915 Series ED6	1931 President	1939 Commander	1948 Champion	1950 Commander	1954 Champion Starliner	1955 President	1958 President
	1960 Lark	1962 Lark	1963 Avanti	1964 GT Hawk	1965 Wagonaire	1966 Cruiser

Studebaker began making transport vehicles in 1852, but did not make self-propelled vehicles until 1902. While there were attempts at prestige vehicles over the years (the President, the Hawk, and the Avanti), Studebaker was best known for economical cars with a sense of style.  It is ironic that Studebaker was known best for their trend-setting designs, as they did not have a styling department in the company.

Engineering was the department responsible for design, but for the period of 1939-1954, Lowey Studios (headed by Raymond Lowey) was contracted to provide Studebaker with style.  Lowey did more than just set the look of the cars; he emphasized light weight as a way to achieve economy.  The economy car niche was one that Studebaker would exploit a number of times when the company fortunes were on the wane (1939 and 1959 in particular).

But Studebaker had more to offer than just economy.  Studebaker engineering was on par with the best of the rest, and produced items such as the "Hill Holder" clutch (to prevent roll-back at stops on grades), black-light instrument panels, and supercharged engines that produced over 1.1 hp per cubic inch.  While Studebaker cars had many fine attributes, the company paid out the highest labor rates in the industry, and in the end the company was not able to make a profit building automobiles.

Today the Studebaker Corporation lives on as part of Studebaker-Worthington, a business equipment leasing company that was acquired in Feb. 2001 by State Bank of Long Island.