Studebaker Dictator
The Studebaker Dictator was a passenger car made by the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend, Indiana from 1927 to 1937. The 1928 model year was the first full model year of this vehicle.
In the mid-1920s, Studebaker began to rename its model range. The former Studebaker Standard Six was named Dictator in model year 1927 . The internal name of this model was GE . The name was chosen to suggest that this Studebaker should "dictate the standard for the other automobile brands" that were to follow it.
The Dictator was the cheapest model in the Studebaker range, followed by the Commander and the President . From 1929 the company offered eight-cylinder engines for the Dictator. They were available in all possible configurations.
At the end of 1935, Studebaker hired the Commander and only offered the Dictator and President . Beginning in 1937, Dictator was renamed Commander for the reasons described below .
Follow the name "Dictator"
In retrospect, the choice of this model name appears to be unfavorable. Benjamin L. Alpers begins his story of American knowledge of dictators ( Dictators, Democracy, and Public Culture: Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy, 1920s – 1950s ) with the introduction to the Studebaker Dictator: “There were of course some political problems associated with the name Dictator were connected. A number of European monarchies to which Studebaker delivered the car were careful with this designation. Diplomatically, Studebaker delivered its Standard Six model to these countries under the name Director . In the United States - it initially seemed - the name should not cause any problems. "
Studebaker chose the name Dictator at a time when the only dictator that came to mind was Benito Mussolini , who was widely admired in the United States for his image of chutzpah and strength - an image that successfully sold cars in Contrasted with the well-known fascist violence (Alpers 2003). The rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, however, tainted the word dictator, and Studebaker immediately and without much fuss (or any internal correspondence that has survived to this day) discontinued the Dictator at the end of the 1936 model year and replaced him in 1937 with the Studebaker Commander .
swell
- James H. Maloney: Studebaker Cars . Crestline Books, 1994, ISBN 0-87938-884-6 .
- Richard Langworth: Studebaker, the Postwar Years . Motorbooks International, 1979, ISBN 0-87938-058-6 .
- John Gunnell (Ed.): The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 . Kraus Publications, 1987, ISBN 0-87341-096-3 .
- Benjamin L. Alpers: Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture: Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy, 1920s-1950s. University of North Carolina Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8078-2750-9 .