This lavishly illustrated book (86 integrated illustrations) is the complete story of the Studebaker company from its beginnings to its end in 1966.

The Studebaker history is a short one, and a sad one at that, but inside Studebaker, you'll find a meticulously crafted history of the early automobile. Studebaker began business as a builder of covered wagons. By 1921 they were the number four automaker in the nation. By 1932 they were bankrupt. And for Studebaker, one of the most remarkable stories in American automotive history, that was only the beginning. Studebaker: America's Most Successful Independent Automaker tells the full and fabulously colorful history of this icon of the American automotive scene. Rife with triumph and tragedy, brilliant moves and boneheaded decisions, Studebaker's decades of building cars makes for a tempestuous saga featuring some of the more interesting characters in the twentieth-century business world. Above all, the story features cars that, for countless Americans, truly defined driving: not just the Champion, which rocketed the company back to the top in 1939, or the 1950s Raymond Loewy-designed Starliner, deemed a "work of art" by the Museum of Modern Art, but also the Hawks and Larks that so many drivers loved. As the book traces Studebaker's fortunes from success to crisis to merger and back, it also dwells with loving photographic attention on the vehicles, from the first electric car to the last Avanti.

The Studebaker Bibliography was developed with the intent of cataloging as much as possible of the available Studebaker literature. Our goal was to make information accessible to current and future historians as well as casual readers. The bibliography lists 321 books (both fiction and nonfiction), 1,784 magazine articles and 2,768 newspaper articles. All are related to the Studebaker Corporation, its founders, officers, employees, dealers, subsidiaries, or vehicles, and nearly all of it is available free (or inexpensively) from your local libraryâs interlibrary loan program!

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

While the Big Three automobile companies came to dominate the industry, its early history was characterized by an array of competing companies. Studebaker's story is the chronicle of the life and death of an American automobile company where managements concept of "tradition" played a fundamental role in modeling corporate culture, rhetoric, and strategy. Donald T. Critchlow focuses on how organizational philosophies, developed by successive managerial regimes, reflected and influenced corporate strategies concerning product development, investment policies, employee relations, and the allocation of resources. The upper management of Studebaker thus shaped corporate strategy within an institutional environment that embodied company tradition and responded to market forces.

American automakers and their landmark cars are examined with in-depth driving reports, comparisons to contemporaries and complete specification lists. Appendices provide club contacts, parts suppliers and specialists. Each title is illustrated with 250 archival photographs taken from company archives and private collections. Compiled by the editors of Hemmings Motor News' Specialty Automotive Magazine.

In February 1852, Two Young Men Went Into Business For Themselves In South Bend, Indiana, To Shoe Horses And Repair And Build Wagons. Within Twenty-Five Years, South Bend Was The Site Of The World's Largest Wagon Works. Studebaker Entered The Automotive Business In 1902 With Electric Vehicles And In 1904 With Gasoline Vehicles. The Company Established An Enviable Reputation For Quality And Reliability.