In yesterday’s post I wrote about how some of my content is more popular than others. It turns out that my #wheelswednesday posts are the least popular of the themes I write about each week. My question to those people who do read these posts is: Do you want me to continue writing these posts. If you do, please send me an email via the Contact tab.and let me know. If just a few of you respond, I’ll keep going. Thanks.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“And my car back then, a Studebaker as I recall, was powered, as are most of all means of transportation and other machinery today,… by the most abused, addictive, and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.– A Man Without a Country
Studebaker was an American automobile manufacturer that was based in South Bend, Indiana. The company was founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. The firm was originally a producer of wagons, including the original Conestoga, for farmers, miners, and the military.
How I made this photograph: I photographed this 1955 Studebaker at an Orphan Car Show in Golden Colorado. As if the color scheme on this Studie were not interesting enough, I couldn’t resist shooting a three-shot bracket made with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye USM lens with an exposure of 1/4000 sec at f/5 and ISO 200. I kicked the as-captured JPEG file up a notch using Vivenza to create this final image.
Giving More than You Promise
The primary Studebaker company motto was “Always give more than you promise,” a principle established early in their history to ensure quality and customer satisfaction. This philosophy of over-delivery was central to their success, transforming the company from a wagon manufacturer into a renowned automobile builder.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 starting with producing electric cars–as you can see this is not a new concept–and later in 1904 with gasoline powered vehicles, all of which were sold under the Studebaker Automobile Company name. Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company.
For the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality and reliability. But is was not going to end well. After years of financial problems, in 1954 the company merged with Packard Motor Car Company to form Studebaker-Packard Corporation. It seems that Studebaker’s financial problems were worse than Packard executives thought and the Packard marque was eventually phased out, not before producing a Packard version of the Studebaker Hawk, before returning to the Studebaker Corporation name in 1962. On December 20, 1963, the South Bend plant stopped production and the last Studebaker automobile, a Lark, rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on March 17, 1966.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.