Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that question. Depending on how old you are, that’s either a silly question or a legitimate inquiry. Old people like me remember being excited about the new cars that hit dealerships every September. Back in the old days, they looked different, significantly so, and little ten-year-old me was on my bicycle peeking into the buildings where the dealerships would hide these cars while they were being detailed for display no sooner than the established big reveal. I knew every one of these hideouts and was certain to see every new car, long before I was supposed to. I just couldn’t wait.
That might not sound like a big deal nowadays because the reveal of new cars doesn’t bring the excitement it did in the 50s and 60s. Car manufacturers don’t spend much money on new, breathtaking styling every year anymore. It’s all become quite boring in my opinion. They still come out with sensational new cars, but the wait is more like decades than annual. Just look at the difference between a 2023, 2024, and 2025 sedan. They don’t even need to be the same make to look very similar. Then look up a 1957 Chevy, a 1958 Chevy, and a 1959 Chevy. Not much is the same each year during the same amount of time.
In my searching when I was 10, Studebaker was on my list of new cars to check out. Studebaker was known for limiting the changes to their cars in order to keep up with the deep pockets of the “Big Three”: Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Even though their styling changes were minimal, they still made them look entirely different, despite a lot of shared sheet metal. That’s what excited me about Studebaker in the 50s and 60s.
But they didn’t survive the 60s. They stopped building cars in 1966. It was sad because Studebaker was one of the early automobile manufacturers, building its first car in 1902. That was before Henry Ford built his game-changing Model T Ford in 1908. During its early days, Studebaker was an upscale car. It was more along the line of a Cadillac or Lincoln, perhaps even being a step up from them. If you have seen the TV show The Waltons, the Baldwin sisters had a 1925-ish Studebaker. They were known to be wealthy, and a Studebaker is appropriate for what wealthy people of that era would have driven. I think it was their father’s car.
People often ask me who made Studebakers, Chevy or Ford? A reasonable question if it were asking about a Corvette or a Mustang, But it is more like asking who made Fords or Chevys? Studebaker is the parent company, and they made Hawks, and Larks, and Champions, and Commanders, among many other very popular makes and models.
May 14th is coming soon, and Sapulpa will be the host for many of my Studebaker friends. It will be a layover stop for our Route 66 event. I wanted Sapulpa to be a stop, as I am proud of this community and all they have done to make the centennial event special. We plan to take advantage of the TeePee Drive-in’s invitation to spend the night. More about that next week. If you want to see some of the many awesome cars that were built by Studebaker, stay tuned…