Studebaker: 111 Years in South Bend, Then the Pensions Ran Out

The rise and fall of Studebaker, told from the records: how two brothers with $68 and two forges in South Bend, Indiana, in 1852 built what the company called the largest wagon works in the world, made the jump to the automobile, went into receivership in 1933, built trucks and aircraft engines for the Second World War, and closed its South Bend plant in December 1963. And then the part most Studebaker stories leave out: the pension plan that could not pay, the thousands of workers who got fifteen cents on the dollar or nothing, and the federal law of 1974 that grew partly out of South Bend. It is told from the records: the company's own histories of 1918 and 1924, a dealer's price list of 1876, the Federal Trade Commission's 1939 report on the motor industry, the 1954 Packard-Studebaker report to stockholders, newspaper wire stories of 1954 and 1963, President Johnson's statement of December 24, 1963, the Congressional Record of 1966, the U.S. Senate hearing held in South Bend on June 4, 1971, the National Register nominations, the Census, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and Robert R. Ebert's studies in the Automotive History Review. Where the record stops, we say so. Dollar figures are also given in 2025 dollars. Hometown Almanac tells the everyday history of small-town America, from the records. The pictures are credited archive photographs and AI-assisted illustrations, labelled on screen. Studebaker is a historic name; this video is not connected with any company that uses it today. This is history, not advice about pensions. 0:00 Two Forges 6:55 Hangtown 10:52 Wagons for a War 15:20 The Wagon Works 21:36 The Horseless Vehicle 26:04 The Last Wagon 31:09 Partners in Business 37:20 The Boom Years 42:44 Out of Cash 48:21 The Champion 55:09 Trucks for a War 58:28 First by Far 62:46 Fourteen Percent 67:00 The Lark and the Avanti 73:44 December 1963 77:26 Hamilton 81:38 After the Gate 89:22 Who Paid 97:29 Ten Years to a Law 101:21 What Is Left Main sources: Erskine 1918, History · U.S. Senate 1971, Hearing · Congress 1966, Record · Wooten 2001, Buffalo LR · Studebaker Museum, History · Studebaker Museum, Trail · Straw 1984, NRHP · St. Joseph Parks, Trees · U.S. Census 1970, Indiana · Census, South Bend 2025 · UPI 1963, The Bulletin · Ebert 2022, AHR · Ebert 2019, AHR · Studebaker Museum, Cars · Studebaker Museum, Building · Studebaker Museum, B17 · Sinsabaugh 1942, Auto News · PBGC 2026, History · PBGC 2025, Annual Report · PBGC, 2026 Guarantee · Mulvihill 2022, Museum · FTC 1939, Motor Vehicles · Packard 1954, Proxy · UAW Local 5, History · NPS 1977, Studebaker House · Studebaker Museum, Factory · UP 1954, Breckenridge · Capital Journal 1954 · UPI 1963, Bulletin p. 1 · UPI 1963, Bulletin p. 5 · Johnson 1963, Statement · NCOA 1966, Training · Jennings 1933, N.J. Eq. · Smithsonian, 1930–1939 · Erskine 1924 · Studebaker price list, 1876 · Harris & Ewing 1939, LOC · OWI 1943, LOC. #Studebaker #AmericanHistory #SouthBend #AutomotiveHistory