Don Dunbar, 82, of Ottoville purchased this 1958 Studebaker two years ago.
Jim Krumel | For The Lima News
OTTOVILLE – Don Dunbar considers himself to be lucky to own a 1958 Studebaker.
The vehicle met all of the criteria the 82-year-old Ottoville man had when he went car shopping two years ago.
There was no rust on the body and the interior was clean. The car also ran well.
But most of all, it was different — “in a good sort of way.”
He explained, “I had a 1931 Ford that I put up for sale. It sold in one day, so I found myself looking for something on the internet. I wasn’t sure what I really wanted, then I saw an ad for the Studebaker. It was a different car than what you see at most of these Cruise-ins. I liked that.”
Dunbar didn’t have far to go to look for his prize. The owner was in Woodville, Ohio, a small village outside Toledo.
“He told me the car originally came from Arkansas. He painted it and fixed it up. It was ready to go,” Dunbar said.
The Studebaker attracted quite a bit of attention when car enthusiasts showed up in September for the final Happy Daz Cruise-in of 2022.
“This brings back memories. The Studebaker was quite a car during its day,” said Lionel Deslandes, 75, of Lima, who himself had a car at the Cruise-in.
The Studebaker Company was indeed memorable.
When you look at Studebaker’s automotive history, you have to go back to 1852 when the company was founded in South Bend, Indiana, by two brothers – Henry and Clement Studebaker. They began building the covered wagons that early settlers used to head out West.
When the automotive industry took hold, Studebaker was the only wagon and carriage manufacturer to make a successful transition. It built its first electric car in 1902 and followed two years later with a gasoline-powered engine. The company proudly noted it allowed people to see “the world on wheels.”
Studebaker fell on difficult times during the Great Depression. In 1933 it declared bankruptcy. A reorganization kept it afloat until 1954, when it was bought by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit.
The next 12 years would see the Studebaker-Packard company struggling with declining sales. The last Studebaker was produced in Hamilton, Ontario, in March 1966.
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• Mail: Real Wheels, Newsroom, The Lima News, 3515 Elida Road, Lima, OH 45807.
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• Include: Photograph of your car; year of car, make and model; how many years you have owned the vehicle; car’s history; best memory of car; your name, address and telephone number (the phone number will not be published).
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