News From the Department
Studebakers Roll IntoN.C. Transportation Museum
Contact:
For more information
contact
Misty Ebel at 704-636-2889, ext. 233.
SPENCER, N.C.— N.C. Transportation Museum visitors can experience a piece of classic Americana Saturday, April 23 at the annual Studebaker automobile show.
The show is sponsored by the N.C. Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club and the Hudson-Essex Terraplane Club. The clubs will have their annual meeting at the museum on the same day. Show cars will be on display at the museum from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
The last Studebaker was produced in the 1960s, but the Studebaker company’s history spans 114 years. Brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in Indiana in 1852, which became Studebaker Manufacturing Company in 1868, eventually growing into the largest wagon manufacturer in the world.
Studebaker produced its first car, a model with an electric engine, in 1902, and its first gasoline engine in 1904. The company continued to make wagons until 1920. Perhaps the most familiar Studebakers are the 1940s and 50s models that emerged after the end of World War II. While many automobile manufacturers resumed production of little-changed pre-war models, Studebaker introduced styling with sleek lines now considered ahead of its time.
For more information on the show, call Lester Brown at 704-636-5384.
# # #
The North Carolina Transportation Museum, located in historic Spencer Shops, the former Southern Railway repair facility for steam locomotives, is part of the Division of State Historic Sites, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. The museum offers free admission and is conveniently located just a few minutes off I-85 in Spencer, N.C., and about an hour from Charlotte, Greensboro or Winston-Salem.
Return to News Page
