When Studebaker Ruled the Road : Indiana City Celebrates Good Old Horse ‘n’ Buggy Days

There are a lot of “I’d Rather Be Driving My Studebaker” bumper stickers visible around this northern Indiana city. It’s not surprising.

This was Studebaker country for 111 years, the home of the longest-lived vehicle company in the world.

The first Studebaker wagon was manufactured here in 1852, the last American Studebaker automobile, a 1964 Lark, on Dec. 20, 1963. (The company’s Canadian factory continued to make Studebaker automobiles until March, 1966.)

Studebaker Street is South Bend’s main thoroughfare. The Studebaker National Museum is here. In downtown South Bend are 30 huge Studebaker buildings, half of them vacant, in a state of disrepair with broken windows.

The Studebaker bumper stickers come from the museum. So do the Studebaker T-shirts worn by many South Benders.

The legacy is here. Studebaker and South Bend are synonymous.

Studebaker National Museum is in two buildings, four blocks apart, in South Bend’s Century Center and in what was the largest Studebaker automobile dealership in the world. It’s one of the finest transportation museums in the nation.

The company comes by its name from five bearded Studebaker brothers, John, Jacob, Peter, Henry and Clem. Visitors to the museum could easily confuse them with the Smith Brothers of cough drop fame.

One of the Studebaker brothers joined the company a few years after it started. That was John, better known to Californians as “Wheelbarrow Johnny” Studebaker. He joined the Gold Rush, but instead of prospecting for precious metal he made his fortune manufacturing wheelbarrows for miners in his Placerville shop.

Every year, in the Mother Lode town in August, a “Wheelbarrow Johnny” race is the highlight of the El Dorado County Fair in Placerville, commemorating one of the Studebaker brothers who left his mark in the Golden State.

In the replica of the Studebaker brothers’ first shop is the first buggy the Studebakers ever made. The year was 1857, five years after they began manufacturing wagons. They were mass-producing carriages, buggies and wagons by the 1860s.

During the Civil War, the brothers manufactured wagons for the Union Army, charging the government $130 each. An original $6,500 order for 50 of the wagons is on display.

It wasn’t long before Studebaker became the largest buggy and wagon works in the world. By 1900, the 3,000 Studebaker workers were producing more than 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles of all types each year.

In 1902, Studebaker began manufacturing electric cars. Thomas Edison bought No. 2 off the assembly line; No. 1 is in the museum. It wasn’t a surprise that Edison bought a Studebaker electric car: His company made the batteries. The car had a top speed of 15 miles per hour and could go 50 miles without recharging batteries.

Studebaker made about 2,000 electric cars and trucks from 1902 to 1911. The cars sold for $1,750. In 1904, Studebaker produced its first gasoline-powered car in conjunction with the Garford Automobile Co. in Cleveland.

Garford made the chassis in Cleveland and Studebaker made the bodies in South Bend from 1904 to 1910. “We know of one in Cleveland but don’t know of any others. We would love to have one for the museum if it’s still out there somewhere,” said Tom Appel, 36, Studebaker historian and museum operations manager.

In 1912, Studebaker was the nation’s second-largest car manufacturer with Overland No. 1 and Ford No. 3, Appel said. Studebaker by then joined forces with the Everett, Metzger and Flanders Car Co. The cars were produced in Detroit. Buggies and wagons continued to be made in South Bend.

In 1920, Studebaker went out of the wagon and buggy business and devoted its efforts exclusively to manufacturing automobiles in South Bend. The first Studebaker Light Six that rolled off the assembly line that year is on exhibit at the Studebaker National Museum.

Studebaker had its own museum almost from the company’s beginning in the 1850s. After Studebaker went belly-up, it donated its archives and extensive horse-drawn vehicle and car collection to the City of South Bend. For three years, the museum has been operated by a private board made up primarily of past presidents of the Studebaker Drivers Club.

With 11,300 members, it is the largest one-make car club in the world. Chapters are in every state, every Canadian province and in 10 other nations. Chapters have annual meets. The Orange Empire chapter met over the Memorial Day weekend in La Mirada. From July 9-14, the 25th international Studebaker Drivers Club meet will be in Las Vegas.

Under glass in the Studebaker National Museum--on loan from Darrell Dye, 51, a Southern California Mercedes-Benz auto mechanic who lives in Woodland Hills--is a 1931 Studebaker President, one of four known to exist. Fewer than 100 were made. Dye spent 4,200 hours restoring the car.

The museum has a Studebaker Rockne 75 made in 1932. It originally sold for $685, and, according to museum officials, is the only car ever made named in honor of a football coach, Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne, who died in an airplane crash in March, 1931.

Another museum exhibit is that of the “Mr. Ed” television show, which starred actor Alan Young and a horse named Wilbur and which Studebaker sponsored for 4 1/2 years. Studebakers appeared in nearly every episode.

Ron Radecki, 44, museum director, designed the exhibits. His grandfather worked in the Studebaker plant and died there while on the job. His father worked there, too.

“By the time I came along, the plant closed--the year I graduated from high school,” Radecki recalled. “It was a sad day in South Bend. Workers lost their pensions. There was no guarantee law for pensions then. Today’s pension law came about because of the closing of Studebaker. Job training for employees of plant closures resulted because of what happened here. A lot of labor protection exists as a result of Studebaker going under.”

South Bend residents have been meeting to figure what to do about vacant Studebaker buildings. The city owns a third of the old structures. Allied Stamping Co. makes parts for Ford Mustangs in one of the old Studebaker buildings.

Taking Care of Business

A six-story, 1870s Studebaker wagon plant is now the home of the largest Studebaker parts company in existence--Newman & Altman, which does a $900,000 annual business taking care of the needs of Studebaker owners.

More than 100,000 Studebakers are still on the road, at least 10% in California, the state with more Studebakers than any other.

Ed Reynolds gave up a teaching career to devote full time to his first love, Studebakers. He owns and operates Studebaker of California in Long Beach, the second largest Studebaker parts supplier in the country.

“People constantly pop into our store and tell us they once owned a Studebaker, their parents had one or Aunt Lil or somebody else in the family was a Studebaker owner. We can’t understand how the company went out of business, if almost everyone drove a Studebaker at one time,” Reynolds said with a laugh.

Turning Wheels, the Studebaker Drivers Club’s monthly magazine, ran a feature about two of those previous Studebaker owners this month--Barbara and George Bush. They drove their shiny new 1947 Studebaker from New England when they moved to Texas that year.