Studebaker National Museum

Museum Facts

Mission

The Mission of The Studebaker National Museum is to honor and perpetuate the legacy of the rich industrial heritage of the South Bend area, through the display, interpretation, conservation and preservation of Studebaker vehicles, archives and other objects to enrich present and future generations.

The Museum is intended to be a fitting memorial to men and women of our community whose vision, creativity and energy built the products that are today our industrial manufacturing heritage.

Vision

To keep the flame of the Studebaker tradition alive and burning for generations to come.

Board of Trustees

David Barry

Tim Batalis
Heptagon

Merlin Bellinger, Recording and Corresponding Secretary
CB Richard Ellis/Bradley

Walt Botich
AM General

Marci Burdick, 2nd Vice President
Schurz Communications, Inc.

Deborah Cafiero

Rob DeCleene
South Bend/Mishawaka CVB

Harry Dees Jr.
US Bankruptcy Court

Brad Emberton
Emberton Development, LLC

Dr. Thomas Felger
Family Physician

Dave Fischgrund
Ziker Cleaners & Uniform Rentals

Patrick Flynn, Jr.
Indiana Beer, Inc.

Steven Haines
American Technology Components, Inc.

Dennis Hartman
Twinlode Corporation

Charles Hayes
Charles S. Hayes, Inc.

Mike Kendzicky, President
Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.

Ed Levy
Freeman-Spicer Financial Services

Charles Loving
Snite Museum of Art

Tom Lowe
Round 2 LLC

Michael Marien
City Securities Corporation

Larry McClelland
Retired- Allied Signal

Mark McDonnell, Past President
LaSalle Grill

Steve Neeser
1st Source Bank- Business & Estate Planning

Craig Nowicki
Jackel, Inc.

Mike Palmer, 1st Vice President
Barnes & Thornburg

Dr. William B. Rozzi
Orthopedic Surgeon

Patrick Ruszkowski
Carleton, Inc.

Dan Smogor, Treasurer
Kruggel Lawton & Company LLC

Nyal Weaver
Weaver Properties, Inc.

Life Trustees

Ray Burnett, Jr.
Retired Studebaker executive

Stu Chapman
Retired- Business Executive

Ron DeWinter
Hair Crafters Day Spa and Salon

Max Gretencord
Retired- General Electric

Richard Quinn
Retired- Educator

Robert Shields
Retired- Business Executive

2011 in Review

Personnel
The Museum currently employs seven full-time and six part-time employees.

Admissions/Rentals
Total annual attendance was 36,765 for 2011. Total Studebaker National Museum membership is 1,296 which includes Campus memberships.

Museum Store
The Museum Store currently stocks over 3,000 items in inventory. Catalog orders represent approximately 20 percent of sales. The store maintains a website with secure online shopping capabilities.

Financial Position
This year was an exciting year for the Museum, as the Museum was able to continue to improve its overall financial position. The various new exhibits helped maintain attendance levels and sales of items in our gift shop.
The other fundraising activities (annual dinner, golf outing, car raffle, and adopt a car program) added an additional $50,000 to our revenue over prior years, and are allowing us to focus on our educational offerings and growing our collection.
As in the past two years, we have restructured our personnel to reinvest the monies into educational programming and social media.

Vehicle Collection
The Studebaker National Museum has 120 vehicles in the collection. The collection includes the Studebaker Corporation’s “original collection” of 37 vehicles that were given to the City of South Bend in 1966. The Museum displays approximately 70 vehicles at any time, with an additional 40 vehicles are kept in “visible storage” in the Museum’s lower level. The collection features several one-of-a-kind vehicles including the 1956 Packard Predictor and the 1934 Bendix SWC.

Archives
The Studebaker National Museum Archives contain over 70 tons of paper documents, including corporate minutes, correspondence, records, etc. from The Studebaker Corporation and Packard Motor Car Co. The Archive collection also includes over 400,000 engineering drawings, photos, production records, newspaper articles and other artifacts.