A South Bend trivia question ...

[Welcome]

With all the recent "South Bend" Forum discussions, here is one more for you to ponder:

Which manufacturer built internal combustion powered vehicles in the South Bend area the longest?

Studebaker OR AM General

All Winners will receive absolutely nothing other than the satisfaction of knowing they guessed correctly.

[comatus]

The answer is Oliver.

Maybe Wheel Horse, too.

[Milaca]

It's my understanding that Studebaker built internal combustion powered vehicles in South Bend from 1922 to 1964 (automobile production ended in 1963 but zip van and military truck production continued into 1964)which adds up to 42 years. AM General didnt begin as a company until 1971 when Kaiser Corporation sold its vehicle manufacturing operations to American Motors and as of now totals 40 years.
Being that the Kaiser vehicle manufacturing operations in the South Bend area were a continuation of the Studebaker operations, and AM General was a continuation of the Kaiser vehicle operations, I don't feel it is fair to include the Kaiser years with the AM General years tally. So I currently give longest production to Studebaker.

As for Oliver, I'm not sure, but I believe they only built tractors in South Bend for about 30 years. Oliver tractors were manufactured for about 45 years, but most were built in Iowa in the former Hart-Parr factory and production of Olivers (along with Minneapolis-Moline and Cockshutt) eventually became White Farm Equipment.

Upon further investigation, Comatus may be correct as Wheel Horse began self-propelled lawn tractors in 1947. Interesting to note is that American Motors bought Wheel Horse, in 1974. Wheel Horse traded ownership again in 1986 when purchased by Toro. I dont know when Wheel Horse production ended in South Bend but I assume they surpassed Studebaker automobile years of production.