The Studebaker Connection: Documentary about the rise and fall of this historic car company

In 1920, the first #Studebaker automobile rolled off the assembly line in South Bend.
The influence of this once mighty company is still evident today.
During this 30-minute special report, we take a look back at the history of the Studebaker Corporation, it's continued connection to Michiana and an inside look at the Navistar Proving Grounds.
Special thank you to Studebaker National Museum, Carguys Auto Detailing and Navistar International Corporation.

[@garylangley4502]

In about 1972, I met some people who had a Studebaker connection. They were all members of the Bokon family. Studebaker made a movie, "A Family of Craftsmen" which was about them. They also used the movie to introduce the 1953 Studebaker. They liked the Studebakers that I owned at the time.

[@drakbar5957]

So cool those trees at the test track planted decades ago still remind us of Studebaker’s legacy.

[@MsNickie1001]

My grandparents owned only studebaker cars and trucks. I bought one of them. What a car!

[@centexan]

My dad bought a 1955 Studebaker President new It was quite a car and ahead of it's time. It was his first automatic transmission AND air conditioned car and he was proud of it. I'm pretty sure it even had an anticreep brake sysrem . He had that car a long time.

[@kenon6968]

studes all had hill holder, what a great feature

[@sharkinstx]

There’s also an old Studebaker docudrama made in 1953, “The Studebaker Story”. I watched it on Turner Classic Movies some months back (I just stumbled upon it).

[@whirledpeas3477]

This upload is much more important than the B.S. kids watch . That's why China has been eating our lunch for decades.

[@paulsupronojr.4976]

They're watching these documentaries ? 😬🇺🇸

[@vincentconsolo5782]

This country has been up for sale for years !😠

[@charlesroyka]

Partly to blame is the lack of American patriotism and loyalty and cuz of this because of crooked shareholders these American corporations have been selling out. Basically taking bribes from Chinese factories in order that the American factories should move to China. This country is our enemy and everybody gives us a hard time for knowing the truth.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

And don't forget Saint Ronnie's tax code amendment that provides for employers to get paid, WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS, to move jobs off-shore.

[@MrShobar]

It was Americans that mismanaged and ruined Studebaker. Don't blame the Chinese...

[@Olliethelabradane]

I’m from and still live in South Bend and I’m a big fan of Studebaker.

[@walterweddle7644]

When the Studebaker plant was closing at South Bend Indiana and moving to Canada, the funds that had been promised to provide pensions for thousands of vested Studebaker employees were gone.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

They didn't move, they shrunk. That small Canada plant was all that seemed necessary.

[@MrShobar]

You are correct. All of those loyal Studebaker employees were ripped off in the end...If the surprise of losing their job wasn't bad enough, their pension was looted as well.

[@happydays8171]

What is the oldest Studebaker still in use today? This is in Guiness, it's the wagon pulled by the Budweiser Clydesdales.

[@zelphx]

Choice: an absolutely mint '64 Hawk, or a modern Tesla (no flipping allowed)? Well... it's NO CONTEST!

[@jorgetoro3573]

A Studebaker Hawk, of course!

[@frequentlycynical642]

I can remember a month before my third birthday, my father pulling into the driveway with our new green Studebaker Champion with wide whitewalls. Not too many years later, my friend across the street's family had a Lowey Starlight Coupe. I can remember going to the dealership with my father. No hydraulic hoists, just that pit under the cars. A mechanic there named Basil bought the dealership from the owner, only to find out that the owner knew Studebaker was about to close. My Dad told me this years later. In the 1980's I had a best bud and roommate, Stan. A Black man. I've never had such a close male friend. We were muy sympatico and even shared a lot of the same women. Anyway, his Dad was one of the men laid off in 1963 when Studebaker shuttered. He was a custodian, opened his own business, but of course never had the income and security of that at Studebaker. There is a Silver Hawk I pass by many times a week. It sits outside, although somewhat sheltered by an overhead garage door. I've never seen it move in years.

[@MrShobar]

What's my take-away from this? Deceptive dealers? Sharing pass-around girls with your roomate is simpatico? Some Studebaker in town is broken-down?

[@manoelteixeira4936]

Studebaker my car, my favorite brand. maneco - Porto Alegre-RS.

[@olgadelgado3988]

I have this cars 1952 champion in good condiccion in cuba

[@southbend3406]

Well done!!

[@MikeLawson-cj4kt]

There are other models I like but the ones I like most, are the 1964-66 models. I think think the company could've made a comeback if the parent company, hadn't wanted too much progress too soon.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

What killed Studebaker was not bringing back their straight 8 after the war, and listening too much to Raymond Lowey. He believed in lightness and fuel economy, but the public liked road-hugging weight, and soon would care less and less about fuel economy. Performance would soon become the thing. The result was cars that were too narrow, and starting 1951, too stubby as well. When the seller's market turned into a buyer's market in 1951, the slide to the bottom started, despite their new V8 engine. The new 1953 models didn't help at all, despite the sensational "Lowey coupes and hardtops".

[@edarcuri182]

Studebaker could make cars. Indeed, for a time in the fifties they had the highest volume of any of the independents. What they couldn't do was make money. There are a number of reasons for their financial difficulties. Product was among them from time to time, but dealing with the various cost pressures and not availing themselves of opportunities (joint ventures, appropriate mergers, etc.) when they had money in the till after WW2 tightened the leash. Studebaker had, for many years, unsustainable production costs. The Board of Directors looked at the costs they faced to get relevant as an auto manufacturer in 1963 and decided, wisely, to put the company's cash in profitable enterprises. Car business is two words. We often focus on products. Getting the business part right is more significant in most cases.

[@ronaldlucas5360]

Nice

[@gregoriodelgadoherrera7621]

Fathers car 1938 Champion and a 1962 Station Wagon . Both excelent.

[@paulsupronojr.4976]

SP - excellent 💀

[@chucksmith7166]

Man I have a ton of studabaker hawk parts if anyone would like to purchase everything I have

[@andrewberube69]

Did you sell everything ?

[@victor-th4qs]

Studebaker was from Canada

[@timothykeith1367]

Mack was a wagon maker than became a truck manufacturer.

[@howardwmoore]

Kent Rollins has a Studebaker chuckwagon

[@davidkimmel4216]

Interesting

[@juliowalther581]

En casa hubo dos studebaker un champion convertible 1951 y un presidente 1957 y actualmente un poco un champ 1962

[@terryfrye2401]

My dad worked for Studebaker and had a studebakers

[@MrShobar]

Where's his pension money?

[@erichbower9659]

I had no idea they tested Russian tanks too. 🤔 . . . In your video. You showed a T-55 Russian built tank. I know. I'm a Army Vet who shot an them during Desert Storm. 🇺🇲 . . P.S. We won too! 😁👍

[@user-mn6yw3ov6d]

I owe a 1951 Studebaker champion

[@edarcuri182]

I like to note that Studebaker left the auto business as a result of financial decisions made by the board of directors. The company didn't fail; it changed direction. American Motors also never went "out of business." The company's major shareholder. French government owned Renault, sold its interest to Chrysler for domestic political reasons. Neither GM nor Chrysler, both liquidated in bankruptcy, can say that.

[@MrShobar]

Neither GM nor Chrysler were liquidated in bankruptcy.

[@edarcuri182]

@@MrShobar Yes, they were. General Motors Corporation no longer exists. A new company, General Motors Company Incorporated now owns assets of the former company. The liquidation allowed the bankruptcy court to stack the worthless assets in the old company and leave assets with some future potential in the new one.

[@MrShobar]

@@edarcuri182 That's not "liquidation". That's reorganization.

[@edarcuri182]

@@MrShobar That's, at the most, a semantic argument. Legally, General Motors Coroporation no longer exists having been ended by the bankruptcy court. Doing so did facilitate providing a new company with a 'reporganized" asset base and management. GM, as we knew it, was done. Finito, kaput. I am glad to still drive Cadillacs but my current one was not built by the company once headed by Billy Durant or Alfred Sloan.

[@MrShobar]

@@edarcuri182 No. There is a legal distinction. Neither GM nor Chrysler were liquidated.

[@richardautry8152]

I totally hate those two words " near miss". There's no such thing as a near miss, you either collide or you don't. The proper phrase is near collision.

[@jerrylagesse9046]

Ummm , Willies/Overland ?

[@TigerDominic-uh1dv]

We had a Lark 6 4 Door

[@Paul-hk7ue]

advertisement for car guys detailing wtf

[@garygreen8837]

Interesting, but not terribly informative.

[@neildickson5394]

Since you live in that area, I think it's extremely deceptive to claim Studebaker is just 100 year's on, and that their first car was built in 1920. Everyone knows Studebaker is far older than 100, and that gasoline and electric cars were built before 1920, Detroit or South Bend. The whole slant of the story is deceptive .

[@vsrmediacompany]

I’m gonna have to disagree since I clearly state…multiple times… that it’s been 100 years since the first Studebaker rolled of the assembly line in South Bend. Thanks for watching.

[@scottweatherman3266]

Make great Pro Mods , WHAT ?????

[@barrybarnard836]

Very disappointing vidio, very little in it about Studebaker cars.

[@kitwalker520]

Some say the Ford Thunderbird and Mustang were studebaker designs

[@michaelbenardo5695]

Not true. The spinner nose of the 49 Ford was designed by the same guy who put it on the 50 Stude - Richard Caleal, who was a free-lancer, not a Ford or Studebaker employee. That's probably how rumors of the Thunderbird and the Mustang being Studebaker designs got started.

[@MrShobar]

Some say you've been misled.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

Not a word about what caused Studebaker to wither away and die.

[@MrShobar]

Because the truth is rather embarrassing.

[@agenturawubekistanie]

Why are you wearing those cloth masks? Bad breath? Air contamination?

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

2020.....Covid restrictions.

[@carlchristensen584]

Someone needs to draw up an SUV version of the Avanti.

[@vsrmediacompany]

Yes - I agree. Always one of my favorites in the line-up

[@michaelgriffin7943]

They did. In the early 2000's, the owners of Avanti came up with a prototype called the Avanti Studebaker XUV. It was displayed but nothing came from it.

[@carlchristensen584]

@@michaelgriffin7943 Oddly, the 2003 offering looked like a mix of the Lamborghini 4x4 and the Hummer. MY comment was about offering a family based SUV similar to the 3 row Honda Pilot but with Avanti styling cues. Nope, this could not result in the Isuzu VehiCross (at least by exterior styling).

[@MrShobar]

What's stopping you?

[@paulscaife7677]

Why has the presenter failed to put his mask over his nose