Studebaker's Last Car Had a Chevy V8 and Almost Nobody Knows

Studebaker’s final years ended with little fanfare, but the company managed to slip out a last model that classic-car fans may have missed. The article frames Studebaker’s decline in two common ways automakers fail: either through internal scandal or through gradual product drift as earlier success fades. It recounts Studebaker’s long history, including its roots in South Bend, Indiana, founded by German immigrants, and its rise as a credible alternative to Detroit’s Big Three. Sales strength in the 1950s—nearly 350,000 cars in 1950—is cited alongside popular models like the Champion, Lark, Golden Hawk and Avanti. The piece sets up how the end came, but the excerpt cuts before the “last car” details.