The Studebaker National Museum is a museum in South Bend, Indiana, United States, that displays a variety of automobiles, wagons, carriages, and military vehicles related to the Studebaker Corporation and other aspects of American history.
Layout
Museum lobby
The Studebaker National Museum is connected to and shares an entrance with The History Museum as part of The Museums at Washington and Chapin.[1] Visitors can purchase a ticket to visit one or both museums.[2]
The Studebaker museum consists of three floors. The main level displays Studebaker history and vehicles from the 1800s to 1934. The upper level displays vehicles from 1934 onward.[3] The lower level displays military vehicles and equipment and additional vehicles in "viewable storage" (stacked on lifts but still viewable).[3] A secondary area on the main level displays family history of the Studebakers and the Olivers, South Bend makers of the Oliver Chilled Plow and other farm equipment.
The collection
Upper showroom, featuring vehicles from 1935 onward
Most of the museum's collection was part of the historic company's collection, although vehicles continue to be added from time to time. It includes more than 70 vehicles and numerous photos and displays as well as huge archive of photos and documents not on exhibit.[4] Although the collection focuses on the century-long history of the Studebaker corporation and the wagons, cars, trucks, and military vehicles it produced, the collection also includes a variety of other vehicles and products made locally.[5]
The Studebaker Sceptre concept car from the 1960s
Highlights of the collection include:
A broad variety of Studebaker production vehicles and concept cars
Some Packard production and concept cars, reflecting Studebaker's merger with Packard
In November 2005, the museum opened a new building on Chapin Street, attached to The History Museum.[4][9] The new building for the museum was designed on the architectural styling of many of the older Studebaker factory buildings in the area.
