Studebaker, producer of some of the most iconic cars in America, started making wagons for farmers, miners, and the military in 1852. Incorporated in 1868 under the name Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Co., it entered the automobile business in 1902 making electric vehicles. By 1904 it was making gasoline-powered vehicles, and for the next 50 years it became a major player in the industry. Studebaker earned a reputation for quality and reliability during America’s golden age of the automobile.

It’s gone now. A bloated and sluggish manufacturing system, poor capital management, and an ill-advised merger finally did the company in. The last vehicle rolled off its assembly line in 1966.

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