Studebaker Conestoga

The Studebaker Conestoga was an all steel station wagon produced from 1954 to 1955 by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (USA). The company chose the name Conestoga as an homage to its early wagon business that company operated from the 1850s to the early 20th century.

Studebaker Conestoga station wagons were built on the company’s 116.5” wheelbase platform. The vehicles were two-door wagons and had a two piece tailgate/liftgate configuration for accessing the cargo area.

The Conestoga was also available as an ambulance, which Studebaker called the Ambulet. It included a stretcher, red cross decals, and other ambulance features. The Ambulet was promoted primarily for police and fire departments as well as for small-town funeral homes, many of which provided ambulance services at the time.

Studebaker discontinued the Conestoga nameplate at the end of the 1955 model year, although the basic body would be continued through several styling changes—and even built as a Lark compact—through 1961.

References

• Maloney, James H. (1994). Studebaker Cars. Crestline Books. ISBN 0-87938-884-6.
• Langworth, Richard (1979). Studebaker, the Postwar Years. Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-87938-058-6.
• Gunnell, John, Editor (1987). The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Kraus Publications. ISBN 0-87341-096-3.