In 1952 Studebaker celebrated it’s centennial year, 100 years of building transportation, from horse drawn wagons to automobiles. It was a memorable year for the South Bend, Indiana company. On February 16, the local Association of Commerce put on a huge celebration at Notre Dame University.
Two days later the first Studebaker of the automaker’s second century left the Studebaker factory amid much fanfare. It was a Champion four-door sedan.
During that year Studebaker was the official pace car of the Indianapolis 500 race. After the race a blue Commander convertible that was given to winner Troy Ruttman.
1952 Studebaker Commander Pace Car
On Memorial Day a parade was led by the Conestoga wagon that had carried John C. Studebaker west to Ohio from Gettysburg, PA in 1836 where he raised his family including the five brothers that would play an important part in the creation of the Studebaker Corporation. That original Studebaker wagon was followed by locally built varieties and followed by an early Studebaker Electric and a variety of gas powered Studebakers through to the current model year.
As part of the milestone celebration many other items were offered to the public and to dealers. Author Stephen Longstreet wrote “A Century on Wheels” which was a great history of the family and company and Studebaker itself published an illustrated softbound book called “100 Years on the Road”. They also passed out souvenir Centennial coins to its employees. These came in two sizes and presentation folders for dealers. Automotive journalist Floyd Clymer devoted an entire issue of “Automobile Topics” to Studebaker in July.
Another item offered was a set of two 78 rpm records called “The Story of Studebaker”.
The story of the company’s history was narrated by actor Raymond Massey. There was also a brief speech from the President of the Studebaker Corporation and music featuring the Studebaker Male Chorus singing “Rolling Along for a Hundred Years”.
Now available is this CD which was made from a mint condition original set of records. The original centennial album’s cover was reproduced to fit the jewel case.
The Story of Studebaker on CD
Now you can listen to this anywhere you have a CD player since many people don’t have the ability to play a 78 rpm record anymore. You can order the CD through this website.
