Studebaker-Garford
The Studebaker-Garford is a car that jointly by the Garford Company in Elyria (Ohio) and the Studebaker in South Bend (Indiana) was produced 1904-1911. Throughout the manufacturing process, the car was sold as a "Studebaker" under a marketing agreement between the two companies, but collectors of Studebaker vehicles see these vehicles as separate from the others as they contain a lot of Garford components.
Garford made components and chassis for a number of early automakers. Studebaker, who had been manufacturing carriages since the 1850s, built their first automobile in 1897, but did not fully enter this industry until 1902 with the introduction of the Studebaker Electric .
Under an agreement between the two companies, Garford manufactured chassis and then shipped them to South Bend for final assembly. The Studebaker-Garford had a gasoline engine, the first version with 8 bhp (5.88 kW).
The first Studebaker Garfords were called "Model A" and "Model B" and were called 5-seater tourers with a detachable tonneau . After removing the tonneau structure, the cars were 2-seater tourers. The "Model C" was also introduced in 1904 and is also a tourer, but with a removable roof. The cars could be equipped with headlights for a surcharge.
Up until their last year of production, the cars were repeatedly revised:
- 1905: The 15 hp series had a horizontally installed two-cylinder engine that developed 15 bhp (11 kW). With the 20 hp series, a four-cylinder was introduced which - contrary to its name - only achieved 15 bhp.
- 1906: The E, F and G series were all four-cylinder cars and benefited from chassis that had a wheelbase that was 50 mm longer than the previous year with 2,489 mm. Studebaker-Garford also introduced a city car body. The open cars had a windshield and a foldable roof for an additional charge.
- Note: The G 30 model was also sold as the Garford from 1908 when Studebaker had taken over the Everitt-Metzger-Flanders Company , with which it had also signed a marketing agreement for the sale of the EMF cars through the Studebaker dealer organization. Since Studebaker was no longer solely dependent on Garford, the cooperation agreement was unofficially changed and Garford was allowed to enter the automotive business to a limited extent.
- 1907–1911: Studebaker-Garford from this period had better equipment and different bodies every year. The last model made exclusively for Studebaker was the G-10 .
From 1910 onwards, an increasing proportion of the chassis was used for Garford automobiles, and Studebaker was forced to take legal action to secure their contractual rights. Garford reluctantly pleased Studebaker, but relations between the two companies grew strained. In 1911, EMF was completely taken over by Studebaker and the collaboration with Garford was abandoned.
Garford continued to produce automobiles, but without Studebaker's sales organization, the volume of production was not enough to get into the profit zone. In 1913 Garford was taken over by John North Willys and integrated into Willys-Overland .
