Scene in Easton: Antique Studebakers Line Northampton St.

By Christina Georgiou

Five 1960s Studebakers seen parked along the 500 block of Northampton Street Saturday afternoon. The rare
antique vehicles belong to members of the Keystone Region Chapter of the International Studebaker Drivers Club,
which met in the city this weekend.

The Keystone Region Chapter of the International Studebaker Drivers Club met in Easton on Saturday, paying visits to Farmers' Market, Nurture Nature Center, and the Josiah White canal boat and the National Canal Museum.

A bit of a blast from the past, we spotted five members' vehicles parked on Northampton Street early Saturday afternoon, shortly before they were displayed for the afternoon at Hugh Moore Park.

While Studebakers haven't been in active production for nearly 50 years, the company still holds the record for the longest "over the road" vehicle production in U.S. history--114 years, from 1852 to 1966--and is the only vehicle manufacturer to have made the transition from the horse-and-buggy era, first making electric cars in 1902, and then petroleum-powered vehicles, beginning in 1904.

The Pennsylvania drivers' club also notes that the Studebaker Corporation has a connection with the state, since members of the Staudenbecker (later Studebaker) family of Solingen, Germany arrived in Philadelphia in 1736, and John Studebaker, was born in Getty's Town (later Gettysburg) in 1799.

John Studebaker and his sons moved to South Bend in a covered wagon in 1851, and went on to establish a carriage company that eventually evolved into the car company in the 20th century, according to studebakerhistory.com.