Classic Cars

Studebaker Corporation
Studebaker Corporation

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There are 9 comments for this item.

Posted by LoyalTubist at 3:26 pm (PDT) on Wed August 31, 2016   
I learned how to drive on a 1960 Lark Wagon.
Posted by freddo30 at 11:11 pm (PDT) on Sat April 2, 2016   
Studebaker was my first multi-syllabic word, according to my parents ...
Posted by Tommie at 1:03 pm (PDT) on Tue July 8, 2014   
Duff is correct. "STP" stands for "Scientifically Treated Petroleum", and then Studebaker purchased the company and they wanted to say it stood for "Studebaker Tested Products", but it didn't catch on. They put Andy Granatelli in as CEO of STP.
Posted by Duff at 12:48 pm (PDT) on Tue July 8, 2014   
Alan, according to Wikipedia's "STP (motor oil company)" entry, the company was formed in 1953 and acquired by Studebaker-Packard in 1961. Sounds like they tried, for a while, to tie the names together.
Posted by Alan at 11:08 am (PDT) on Tue July 8, 2014   
Does anyone know that they came up with STP and the letters stand for Studebaker-Packard?
Posted by Steverino at 9:37 pm (PDT) on Mon July 7, 2014   
The Lark was a really great around town car, the one I think that was before it's time was the Avanti.
Posted by Tommie at 2:34 pm (PDT) on Fri June 13, 2014   
I've got a history with Studebaker. I grew up in South Bend, and both my father and grandfather owned numerous Studebakers. They both also worked at the factory. Grandpa ran a milling machine; dad was an inspector at final assembly. My first car was a 1960 Lark. It was six years old and pea green, which wasn't as bad as that sounds. Our high school driver's ed car was a 1964 Studebaker. Re. the merger with Packard, that occured in 1954. By 1957, Packards were nothing more than gussied-up Studebakers, and the last Packards were based on the Studebaker Hawk. In 1963, they closed the plant and production of Larks was moved to Ontario Canada. The last Larks were 1966's. Studebakers were as common in South Bend as Chevrolets. The 1962- 1964 Gran Turismo Hawk was a fine car, very European and sporty. If you notice a resemblence of Larks to the Mercedes Benz' of the time, it's not a coincidence. They had worked out a deal to import Mercedes and sell them at Studebaker dealers beginning in 1957. The design teams of the two companies had visited each other's factories, and the design of the Lark, beginning in 1959, was influenced by M-B. If you're ever in South Bend, visit the fine Studebaker National Museum.
Posted by dtkahler at 12:44 pm (PDT) on Tue June 10, 2014   
My Grandpa always had a Studebaker. Great memories.
Posted by Max at 9:26 pm (PDT) on Fri August 7, 2009   
They have a first-rate museum in South Bend. The company made some very stylish cars. Some were designed by the well-known industrial designer Raymond Loewy. From first hand experience I can say some of Studebaker's compacts were as comfortable as full size cars--. If you watch re-runs of "Mr. Ed" you'll see Studebakers in some scenes. The company was a sponsor. If you have the comic "Pickles" in your newspaper, the bullet-nosed car that the couple drives is a Studebaker.


To stave off failure for a few years, Studebaker and Packard merged some time in the early sixties IIRC.
When Studebaker crashed, the company's pension plan went with it. This left many long-time employees with a broken promise and a need to adjust to lower expectations for their retirement years.

This was an indirect cause of the Congress enacting ERISA, the Employee Pension Security Act of the early 1970's and forming the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. Pension assets are now held by a trustee. It seems that the unfunded pension liabilities of some companies are excessive but presumably they don't violate the regulations.

It will be a moot issue before too long. The defined benefit pension plan is being relegated to the past.

Studebaker may have been a little behind the times when it named one of its models "The Dictator" in the 1930's.

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