Product Description

Studebaker began business as a builder of covered wagons. By 1921 they were the number four automaker in the nation. By 1932 they were bankrupt. And for Studebaker, one of the most remarkable stories in American automotive history, that was only the beginning. Studebaker: America's Most Successful Independent Automaker tells the full and fabulously colorful history of this icon of the American automotive scene. Rife with triumph and tragedy, brilliant moves and boneheaded decisions, Studebaker's decades of building cars makes for a tempestuous saga featuring some of the more interesting characters in the twentieth-century business world.

But, above all, the story features cars that, for countless Americans, truly defined driving: not just the Champion, which rocketed the company back to the top in 1939, or the 1950s Raymond Lowey-designed Starliner, deemed a "work of art" by the Museum of Modern Art, but also the Hawks and Larks that so many drivers loved. As the book traces Studebaker's fortunes from success to crisis to merger and back, it also dwells with loving photographic attention on the vehicles, from the first electric car to the last Avanti.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297368 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780760332870
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

and others. Mr. Foster also has a regular column in Old Cars Weekly. He lives in Milford, CT.

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Customer Reviews

AMC Guy Branches Out
Patrick Foster is the world's leading expert on American Motors Corporation. His corporate biography, American Motors: The Last Independent is excellent. He also writes extensively on the independent auto manufacturers of the 1950's and 1960's in old car magazines.

This is a coffee table book in large format (11 by 9) with large illustrations, lots of white space, double spaced type, and not much text. It suffers when compared to The Last Independent and to Tom Bonsall's book, More Than They Promised: The Studebaker Story.

The author structures his narrative largely based on data and text from individual annual reports but never gives an overview of company financial trends or what was happening to Studebaker's market share or rank in the industry. He spends too much time explaining the intricacies of various parts of the bankruptcy code. For the five year period 1933 - 1937, which includes the 1936 models that brought Studebaker out of bankruptcy, he includes only two pictures, a 1933 station wagon and a 1937 pickup.

The discussion of Studebaker's actions in the early 1950's is excellent. The most glaring omission in the book is the almost total lack of discussion about any Studebaker pickup trucks. There are a few pictures but that's about it.

If you love looking at illustrations from Studebaker sales brochures and promotional photos from the 1950's, this is the book for you. If you want a comprehensive history of Studebaker, look elsewhere.

Studebaker book
A good description of the rise and fall of Studebaker,
presented with accompanying pictures. Sometimes the
pictures are out of sync with the text, but this is
not too distracting. The fabulous cars are seen in their
glory, with the story beginning with the horse-drawn wagons, and continuing with the trucks, airplane engines, and tracked vehicles
of World War-II. The story ends with the Avanti, of course, and the 1963 model looks good in today's terms. Good coverage of all the models,
including the trucks, the Hawks, the Larks, the Commanders and Presidents. Discusses the relationships with Packard and others.

Great Book
Beautiful pics and well researched. Pretty as it is, it definitely isn't your average coffee table book - It makes a great read!