First Hamilton-made Studebaker rolls off the line in 1948

In Aug. 18, 1948, a blue, four-door Champion sedan rolled off the line and into automotive history

That first car at the new Studebaker plant in Hamilton's north end debuted before more than 400 workers and dozens of media at the Mars Avenue plant.

The Spectator reported that Arthur Eggert, the oldest plant employee, cut red, white and blue ribbons held by pretty attendants" before the car was driven off the line. Behind the wheel was W.F. Jones of St. Catharines, the oldest Studebaker distributor in Canada. Seated beside him was D.C. Gaskin, vice-president of Studebaker Corp.

Having an automaker in Hamilton enhanced the city's image, but the venture turned out to be relatively short-lived. The plant suddenly closed in 1966, with a loaded, turquoise Cruiser sedan boasting a 283-cubic-inch General Motors V-8 engine being the last one produced.

The Studebaker brothers were the only buggy-and-wagon makers - they started in 1852 - to make the leap to automobiles - first, electric cars in 1902, then gas-powered two years later.

Their first foray into Canada was a plant in Walkerville, near Windsor, opened in 1910 and built up an impressive array of models, a reputation for solid, well-built vehicles, and brand loyalty.

But problems began in 1953 when Studebaker added one more line, while Ford and General Motors were slugging it out in a price-cutting war that badly hurt smaller automakers.

The company could not meet orders for its beautifully-designed Hawk series, and pushed stodgy sedans that suffered badly from cost-cutting measures. In just one year, its reputation for quality was shot.

By 1954, two-thirds of Studebaker's market share in North America was gone, and in desperation, the company looked for more capital in the form of a Packard takeover.

The merged company closed Packard's Detroit plant and moved production to its Studebaker plant in South Bend, Ind., only to discover the assembly line was too narrow and dated to produce the bigger, wider Packards.

By then, Studebaker's board of directors was losing interest in cars and was diversifying the company, investing in everything from washing machines to airlines. It cut off investment in new models and technology.

Studebaker moved to Hamilton to be close to excellent transportation networks and the steel mills.

In 1946, the company bought a large factory the Canadian government had built in 1941 to manufacture anti-aircraft guns. The first car rolled off the line in August 1948.

The company produced 48 to 70 cars a day, five days a week, in the 320,000-square-foot-plant on Mars Avenue. When the end came in 1966, the plant had turned out 129,325 cars and trucks.

Studebaker closed the South Bend plant in 1963 and shifted all production to Hamilton, but Studebakers were not selling well. The designs were dated, and consumers were looking for something different.

Gordon Grundy, president of Studebaker Canada, had an idea. To save the company, he proposed an alliance with Japanese manufacturer Nissan and selling cars under Studebaker's name.

The idea - ahead of its time - was killed by a law partner of Studebaker's board chair, one Richard Milhous Nixon.