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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn this day, March 18, 1933, Studebaker went bankrupt.
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March 18
Studebaker goes bankrupt
On this day in 1933, American automaker Studebaker, then heavily in debt, goes into receivership. The companys president, Albert Erskine, resigned and later that year committed suicide. Studebaker eventually rebounded from its financial troubles, only to shut down the assembly line and transition out of the automobile business in 1966.
The origins of the Studebaker Corporation date back to 1852, when brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker eventually became a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons and supplied wagons to the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Around the turn of the century, the company entered Americas burgeoning auto industry, launching an electric car in 1902 and a gas-powered vehicle two years later that was marketed under the name Studebaker-Garford. After partnering with other automakers, Studebaker began selling gas-powered cars under its own name in 1913, while continuing to make wagons until 1920.
Albert Erskine (18711933) assumed the top job at Studebaker in 1915. Under his leadership, the company acquired luxury automaker Pierce-Arrow in the late 1920s and launched the affordably priced but short-lived Erskine and Rockne lines (the latter named for the famous University of Notre Dame football coach: Before his death in a plane crash in 1931, Studebaker paid Rockne to give talks at auto conventions and dealership events). During the early 1930s, Studebaker was hit hard by the Great Depression and in March 1933 it was forced into bankruptcy. (In April 2009, Chrysler became the first major American automaker since Studebaker to declare bankruptcy.) Erskine, who was saddled with personal debt and health problems, killed himself on July 1, 1933.
New management got the company back on track, dropping the Rockne brand in July 1933 and selling Pierce-Arrow, among other consolidation moves. In January 1935, the new Studebaker Corporation was incorporated. In the late 1930s, the French-born industrial designer Raymond Loewy began working for Studebaker: There, he created iconic and popular models including the bullet-nosed 1953 Starliner and Starlight coupes and the 1963 Avanti sports coupe.
By the mid-1950s, Studebaker, which didnt have the resources of its Big Three competitors, had merged with automaker Packard and was again facing financial troubles. By the late 1950s, the Packard brand was dropped. In December 1963, Studebaker shuttered its South Bend plant, ending the production of its cars and trucks in America. The companys Hamilton, Ontario, facilities remained in operation until March 1966, when Studebaker shut its doors for the final time after 114 years in business.
doc03
(35,349 posts)Cirque du So-What
(25,949 posts)but sold it in 1966. STP was started in1953 by three guys using German WW II technology (unknown how they acquired it). Energizer now owns STP.
doc03
(35,349 posts)Cirque du So-What
(25,949 posts)I thought it was the coolest car ever. Don't know what happened to it. Would be worth a mint today.
True Blue American
(17,986 posts)The car companies announced they are closing down!
doc03
(35,349 posts)1966, it was a hell of a car. It could run circles around the Covair or Falcon. His dad a Studebaker fan had an Avanti.
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)There might have never been a Cessna aircraft after about July 1931--they would have easily gone bankrupt. They ceased to exist except on paper until early 1934. Walter Beech came back to Wichita (quit Curtis-Wright) in March 1932 and started Beech Aircraft and damn near went BK by summer of 1933.