In the early '50s, Studebaker commissioned Porsche to engineer a new car for them. The design went through a few iterations, but the final one was a front-engine RWD unibody sedan, powered by a revolutionary 120 degree V-6. Surprisingly, Studebaker had specified that they wanted an air-cooled engine, and Porsche supplied both an air-cooled engine and a variant that was water-cooled in order for Studebaker to evaluate both engines.
Following extensive evaluation of the Porsche prototype, Studebaker seemed to be in favor of producing it, but–as was typical for Studebaker, financial problems scuttled the project. But, the infusion of Studebaker’s development funds actually helped Porsche to expand and become a viable company.
That photo occasionally shows up on various Studebaker oriented Facebook threads, but without the article. Interesting read.
I thought Studebaker erred in not offering a Station Wagon when the 1947 Studebakers went on sale, a wagon was not offered until 1954. 1953-1958 convertibles were not offered.
Studebaker’s top management made several big mistakes over the years. Chief among them–IMO–was their refusal to sell the manufacturing rights to their automatic transmission (co-developed with Borg Warner) to Ford. This transmission even had torqueconverter-lockup–in 1950!
Giving Ford the right to manufacture this transmission would have brought in millions of $$ over the years, and it would have cost Studebaker nothing.
One other unusual thing with Studebaker - they were the importers for Mercedes for a number of years, with both brands sold from Studebaker dealerships.
Yes, but in those days, Mercedes wasn’t so much of a prestige car. IIRC, Studebaker showrooms usually featured one pokey little 180 sedan, and not a lot of Americans were interested in that little Mercedes.
On a side note, the husband of one of my co-workers was a Studebaker parts guy, and he managed to transition to Mercedes’ parts division after Studebaker went under.
And even those millions wouldnt have saved them. They still lost money on every car they produced as their labor cost per unit was the highest in the industry.
Like I said before, I don’t remember what year exactly but in the 50s. I was hanging out at the shell station and a guy from New York drove in with his mercedes. He said it cost him only $3,50 to drive from ny to Minnesota. I was impressed and thought what freedom that would mean. I suppose I was about ten years old at the time. Must have been a diesel but just don’t remember, just the money. I got 50 cents a week so figured in less than two months I’d have enough to drive to New York.
