Wheels: Remembering Studebaker's giant cars

Studebaker never reached the volume or status of the Big 3 major U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t think big.

Studebaker began in 1852, when brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened their blacksmith shop in South Bend, Ind., making horse-drawn carriages and wagons, supplying the U.S. Army during the Civil War, becoming a leading manufacturer, and in time, successfully making the transition to producing automobiles. Building rugged vehicles for the military was woven into the company culture. Studebaker made one of the world’s first tanks in 1918, Army trucks during World War I and World War II, and radial aircraft engines for heavy bombers.