Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

(see Exhibit A, p. 7) In the same book, Albert Russel Erskin, accurately wrote that Peter Studebaker was the "wagon-maker, which trade later became the foundation of the family fortune and the corporation which now bears his name."

[12] Photographs of the brothers and their parents are reproduced in the 1918 company history, which was written by Erskine after he became president, in memory of John M.,[13]: 5  whose portrait appears on the front cover.

The Studebaker family business plan, purchasing, again and again, vast amounts of land, on which they built industrious farms with mills and wagon making facilities and wagon selling facilities, each identical to the Bakers Lookout situation, industrious farms, much acreage, on which one finds the necessary resources, lumber, iron ore, oil shale and land selected with stream, spring, or river to hydropower factories, mills and equipment.

[13]: 76 After taking over E-M-F's Detroit facilities, Studebaker sought to remedy customer dissatisfaction complaints by paying mechanics to visit each disgruntled owner and replace defective parts in their vehicles, at a total cost of US$1 million ($15,209,302 in 2023 dollars[15]).

Hendry comments that the frenzied testing resulted in Studebaker's aim to design 'for life'—and the consequent emergence of "a series of really rugged cars... the famous Big Six and Special Six" listed at $2,350 ($35,742 in 2023 dollars [15]).

Studebaker's total plant area in Indiana was 225 acres (0.91 km2), spread over three locations, with buildings occupying 7.5 million square feet of floor space.

This advertising premise was substantiated by Virgil Exner's designs,[28] notably the 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupé, which introduced innovative styling features that influenced later cars, including the flatback "trunk" instead of the tapered look of the time, and a wrap-around rear window.

[29] The new trunk design prompted a running joke that one could not tell if the car was coming or going, and appeared to be influenced by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, particularly by the shortened fuselage with wrap around canopy.

The automobiles that came after the diversification process began, including the redesigned compact Lark (1959) and the Avanti sports car (1962), were based on old chassis and engine designs.

The Lark, in particular, was based on existing parts to the degree that it even used the central body section of the company's 1953–58 cars, but was a clever enough design to be popular in its first year, selling over 130,000 units and delivering a $28.6 million profit to the automaker ($298,928,767 in 2023 dollars[15]).

[34] Despite a sales uptick in 1962, continuing media reports that Studebaker was about to leave the auto business became a self-fulfilling prophecy as buyers shied away from the company's products for fear of being stuck with an "orphan".

After insufficient initial sales of the 1964 models and the ousting of president Sherwood Egbert, on December 9, 1963, the company announced the closure of the aging South Bend plant.

The supply of engines produced in the first half of 1964 supported Zip Van assembly until the government contract was fulfilled, and automobile production at the Canadian plant until the end of the 1964 model year.

The Avanti model name, tooling, and plant space were sold off to Leo Newman and Nate Altman, a longtime South Bend Studebaker-Packard dealership.

The grove of 5,000 trees planted on the proving grounds in 1937, spelling out the Studebaker name, still stands and has proven to be a popular topic on such satellite photography sites as Google Earth.

After Bosch closed its South Bend operation in 2011,[46][47] a part of the proving ground was retained and, as of April 2013[update], has been restored to use under the name "New Carlisle Test Facility".

The rumor was later confirmed to be true when the remains of many prototype automobiles and a few trucks were discovered at a remote, heavily wooded site bounded by the proving grounds' high-speed oval.

A revised design was shown at the 2004 Chicago Auto Show, although did not make production due to Avanti CEO Michael Kelly's arrest in 2006 and subsequent imprisonment.

[59] The first major expansion in Henry and Clem's South Bend business came from their being in the right place to meet the needs of the California Gold Rush that began in 1849.

The fourth brother, Peter E, was running a successful general store in Goshen, Indiana, which was expanded in 1860 to include a wagon distribution outlet.

Following a great fire in 1874, which destroyed two-thirds of the entire works, they had rebuilt in solid brick, covering 20 acres (81,000 m2) and were now "The largest vehicle house in the world".

In 1884, when times were hard, Jacob opened a carriage sales and service operation in a fine new Studebaker Building on Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

[62] As the 20th century approached, the South Bend plant "covered nearly 100 acres (0.40 km2) with 20 big boilers, 16 dynamos, 16 large stationary engines, 1000 pulleys, 600 wood- and iron-working machines, 7 mi (11 km) of belting, dozens of steam pumps, and 500 arc and incandescent lamps making white light over all".

[16]: 54  The worldwide economic depression of 1893 caused a dramatic pause in sales and the plant closed down for five weeks, but industrial relations were good and the organized workforce declared faith in their employer.

Studebaker would end the nineteenth century as the largest buggy and wagon works in the world, and by 1900, with around 3,000 workers, the plant in South Bend was producing over 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles of all types yearly.

5555 S. Archer Ave, Chicago, IL During World War II, the plant produced aircraft engines for the B-17 Flying Fortress starting in January 1944 until the August 9, 1945, announcement for the building sale.

[68] 400 Clark St, Elyria, OH Under the agreement with Studebaker, Garford would receive completed chassis and drivetrains from Ohio and then mate them with Studebaker-built bodies, which were sold under the Studebaker-Garford brand name at premium prices.

At one time, the facility was averaging 65 cars a day assembled from knock-down kits shipped by rail from the factory in South Bend, Indiana.

[71][72] Studebaker had a long history of selling products in Australia, starting in the 1880s when horse-drawn wagons and carts were imported from the South Bend, Indiana factory, and as the company transitioned to automobiles, they were also brought in.