| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1932 |
| Defunct | 1933 |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, |
Key people | Knute Rockne, Albert Erskine, Ralph Vail, Roy Cole |
| Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 30,293 (1932-1933) |
The Rockne was an American automobile brand produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, from 1932 to 1933. The brand was named for University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and the automobiles were produced in Detroit, Michigan. [1]
Discussions between Studebaker and Knute Rockne began in 1928. Knute had for some time been appearing at Dealer gatherings to give the same sort of pep talk he gave his teams at Notre Dame. He was offered a high-visibility job by Studebaker president Albert Erskine, and signed a contract to be their Manager of Sales Promotions in February of 1931, perhaps planning to retire from coaching football. Erskine planned to end production of the company's lowest priced offering, his namesake Erskine automobile, which was slow-selling and unduly expensive for its compact stature. [1]
When the Rockne prototype appeared, Erskine decided it would be a more than suitable replacement; larger, more powerful and quite attractive. There were two prototypes that some would consider 1931 Rocknes. In 1930, Ralph Vail and Roy Cole operated an engineering/consulting firm in Detroit. Willys-Overland commissioned them to design a new small six and paid them to build two prototype, a sedan and a coupe. Upon presenting the two vehicles to W-O the independent designers/engineers were told W-O was financially unable to take on another line and they could do what they wanted with the sedan and coupe, having already been paid. Vail stopped in South Bend and demonstrated the car to Albert Erskine, at that time president of the Studebaker Corporation. Erskine bought the design that day and both Vail and Cole would be brought into the Studebaker organization where they enjoyed long illustrious careers. The Rockne moniker was a later adoption so, technically, there were no 1931 Rocknes. [2]
On March 31, 1931, 12 days after signing on as Manager of Sales Promotions, Knute Rockne was killed in an airplane crash. In September, 1931, George M. Graham, formerly of Willys-Overland, was named sales manager of the new Rockne Motor Corporation. Two models were approved for production, the "65" on 110 in (2,800 mm) wheelbase and the "75" on a 114 in (2,900 mm) wheelbase. The "75" was based on the Studebaker Six, while the "65" was entirely the design by Vail and Cole, under contract for Willys-Overland. The "75" was designed under Studebaker's head of engineering, Delmar "Barney" Roos. [2]
Production of the Rockne "75" began at South Bend on December 15, 1931. The smaller "65" went into production at the old E-M-F plant on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, February 22, 1932. This was the same plant at which the 1927 and 1928 Erskine models had been built. The Rockne also went into production at Studebaker's Canadian plant at Walkerville, Ontario, near Windsor. [2]
In 1933 the Rockne offering was reduced to just one line, the Model "10". The Rockne "10" was an update of the "65". When Studebaker went into receivership on March 18, 1933, it was decided to move production of the Rockne "10" to the Studebaker plant in South Bend. The Rockne "10" was built in South Bend from April through July, 1933.
The Rockne "65/10" engine engineered by Vail and Cole would replace all the six-cylinder Studebaker car engines then in production and power Studebaker Dictator and Commander cars until World War II. This engine would also power postwar Commanders and Land Cruisers until the V8 became available for 1951. This engine would also be the larger of two six cylinder engines offered in trucks through 1960. [2]
Although the Rockne was not a huge success it had its moment. Its failure was a product of the times. The year 1932 was the bottom of the depression, not a good time to introduce a new name.
Rockne was assembled at Studebaker’s Canadian plant across the Detroit River at Walkerville, Ont.
There was a small assembly production of Rockne in The Netherlands in 1932 and 1933.
Norway: About 90 Rockne 65 and 75 were assembled by A/S Skabo Jernbanevognfabrik. [3]
Denmark: A small, unknown number of Rockne 65 was assembled in Copenhagen by De Forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S. [4]
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships.
Packard was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
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The E-M-F Company was an early American automobile manufacturer that produced automobiles from 1909 to 1912. The name E-M-F was gleaned from the initials of the three company founders: Barney Everitt, William Metzger, and Walter Flanders.
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The Studebaker Champion is an automobile which was produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, from the beginning of the 1939 model year until 1958. It was a full-size car in its first three generations and a mid-size car in its fourth and fifth generation models, serving as the junior model to the Commander.
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The Studebaker President was the premier automobile model manufactured by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (US) from 1926 until 1942. The nameplate was reintroduced in 1955 and used until the end of the 1958 model when the name was retired.
Studebaker of Canada Ltd. was the name given to Studebaker Corporation's Canadian manufacturing arm.
The Studebaker-Packard Corporation is the entity created in 1954 by the purchase of the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. While Studebaker was the larger of the two companies, Packard's balance sheet and executive team were stronger than that of the South Bend company.
The Erskine was an American automobile brand produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, United States, from 1926 to 1930. The marque was named after Albert Russel Erskine (1871–1933), Studebaker's president at the time.
Studebaker-Garford was an automobile produced and distributed jointly by the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, from 1904 through 1911. During its production, the car was sold as a Studebaker, per the marketing agreement between the two firms, but Studebaker collectors break the vehicles out under the Studebaker-Garford name because of the extent of Garford components.
Albert Russel Erskine was an American businessman. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, he worked in a number of manufacturing industries before joining the Studebaker motor car manufacturing firm in 1911. He served as Studebaker's president from 1915 until the firm encountered severe financial problems in 1933, when he committed suicide.
Harold Sines Vance was an American automobile company executive and government official, notable for being chairman (1935–1954) and president (1948–1954) of the Studebaker Corporation and for a four-year term on the Atomic Energy Commission, where he encouraged the industrial use of nuclear energy.
The Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District is a historic district located along Piquette Street in Detroit, Michigan, from Woodward Avenue on the west to Hastings Street on the east. The district extends approximately one block south of Piquette to Harper, and one block north to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Line. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Delmar Gerle "Barney" Roos was an American automotive engineer who served as Studebaker's head of engineering from 1926 to 1936, specialising in straight-eight engines. He later worked for the British Rootes Group in the design of Humber, Hillman and Sunbeam Talbot cars. Before World War II, he returned to the United States, where he co-designed the Willys MB, the original Jeep.
Willys was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II–era military jeeps (MBs), Willys M38 and M38A1 military jeeps as well as civilian versions, and branding the 'jeep' military slang-word into the '(Universal) Jeep' marque.
Rockne was an American automobile brand produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, from 1932-1933.
The Three Musketeers is a nickname given to a team of three Studebaker engineers, Frederick Morrell Zeder, Owen Ray Skelton, and Carl Breer. They would become instrumental in the founding of the Chrysler Corporation, and were hand-picked by Walter Chrysler to come with him when he started the new company.
