The Forgotten Story of Studebaker’s Monster Cars

40 feet long car! The car was as amazing to hear as it was to see. The huge car, built by Studebaker, did not have a vehicle to drive. It can be called a giant replica or model of the original car. The company built this monstrous car in the form of their own President Four Seasons Roadstar car. 

However, the task of making a big car to surprise everyone is not once, but twice as a Studebaker. In addition to the 40-foot car, they also built another 80-foot temporary car model for display at the World’s Fair. The journey of the Stubbaker Company started in 1852 by making models of these wonderful cars and keeping them in the pages of history. 

Their business journey began with the opening of a blacksmith shop in South Bend. Horse-drawn carriages and wagons were made in the shops of the Henry and Clement Studebaker brothers in those days. With the passage of time, the Studebaker Company became famous for building various types of military vehicles for the US Army during and after the Civil War. The tank they built-in 1918 was recognized as one of the earliest. Apart from this, they were involved in building trucks and engines for bombers for the US Army during the First and Second World Wars.

Although skilled in building military vehicles, Studebaker also built a variety of vehicles for the general public to use. They built a factory and a huge car testing center in 1926 at the cost of about 1 million to build and test cars. In addition to the 3-mile oval track at the test center, there were a variety of artificially prepared environments where the ability to drive newly invented vehicles could be ensured.

In 1931, the Stubbaker Company undertook plans to build a huge 40-foot model car as an innovative advertising project to boost the Nastanabud market due to the economic downturn. They decided to build the huge car in the 1926 President Four Seasons Roadstar style. About two and a half times the size of the original car, this model was 40 feet long and 14 feet high. The car’s body made of white pine wood looked exactly like the original car. After construction, the total weight of the model car stands at 5.5 tons.

However, it may have been chosen to increase the acceptability of this model to the general public. The original car with 122 horsepower engines had a 5.8-liter six-cylinder engine. The 1926 model was equipped with a shock observer and thermostat to protect passengers from shock. 

The Stubbaker Experimental Body Department in South Bend, Indiana, oversees the construction of the 40-foot giant model car. About 60 workers took part in the car’s construction, which took about three months to complete. However, the builders have to face some complications in the construction. Although the giant wooden structure of the car was relatively easy to build, it was not easy to make suitable wheels and tires to fit in this huge car. 

The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company came forward to build the wheels of the giant car. They make their own engraved tires and wheels. The wheelbase of each of those wheels was 325 inches in size and 6 feet in diameter. As spokes for the wheels, the builders used a special type of tube to store electrical wires. Firestone gave Stubbaker a total of 5 wheels with an extra wheel. 

Preparations are made for painting in the last step of construction. The monstrous vehicle was painted in two shades of one of the most popular greens of that time. Later on, however, its color is changed to bright red. After working for a long time, a 9-minute long advertisement was made using it after the car was built. 

One of the ways to advertise at that time was to show advertisements in the middle of the movie in cinema halls. This video was originally made for that purpose. In addition to being attached to the film, Studebaker arranged for the video to be played in various theaters to entertain the general public. After the advertisement was completed, the car was permanently parked on the proving ground near the main gate of the Stubbaker factory.

To see this vehicle, many people from far and wide come every day to take pictures standing next to it. Authorities also ensured that anyone involved in the sale of Studebaker cars, other than travelers, could take pictures with the car and run a campaign. But as much as Studebaker was interested in building the extraordinary car, he was just as indifferent to its maintenance. 

The weather in Indiana was destroying the wooden car lying in the open in various ways. At the same time, due to the lack of a guard system, the hunters of the souvenirs started removing various parts of the vehicle. Finally, in 1936, Paul G. Hoffman, the former president of Studebaker, and Jesse Mayer, the secretary, decided to destroy the eroded, almost destroyed structure on their own. On May 18, they sprayed oil on themselves and set fire to this wonderful model car. It takes only 30 minutes for the car to turn to ashes.

The journey of building giant car models did not stop at their 40-foot car. They also built cars almost twice their size for a special exhibition. The Stubbaker Company built a temporary car model, 60 feet long, 26 feet high, and 30 feet wide, as the reception gate for the auditorium reserved for them at the Travel and Transport Building of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

They built the car in a bright canary yellow color similar to their latest fashion Land Cruiser model car. It is planned to build the car without making it as solid as before and made with a plaster coating on a wooden frame. The car really attracts all classes of visitors. And at the end of the fair, the car was opened in small parts as planned.

But despite all the hype and the history-making model car, Stubbaker couldn’t do it. GM Motors or Ford have never been able to overtake the top US car sellers. However, before the market collapse in 1929, the company manufactured about 160,000 vehicles a year from their three large factories. But since then, their business situation has been slowly deteriorating.

Although somehow the Great Depression has passed, the organization’s condition continues to deteriorate day by day. At this point, the chairman of Studebaker committed suicide. After the ’30s and 40s, some bad decisions began to take their toll. Finally, in 1966, Studebaker shut down their assembly line. This is how the company that made the giant car ended up like the giant car they made.