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Built in South Bend: Wagons, War Work, Design Daring, and the Economics That Ended an Independent Car Maker
Paperback
Publisher: Publishdrive
Published: Apr 21 2026
Pages: 354
Weight: 1.04
Height: 0.74 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Built in a Midwest factory town and forged across a century of transportation change, this is the story of an American manufacturer that began with wagons, helped motorize the nation, and then fought to stay visible as the auto industry consolidated around giants. It follows the company's rise from nineteenth-century craft to industrial-scale production, its wartime manufacturing surges, and its postwar struggle to compete in a business where scale, tooling cycles, and cost structure increasingly decided who lived and who disappeared.
Told in a flowing, fact-only narrative, the book traces how engineering culture, labor realities, dealer economics, export ambitions, and design became survival tools-sometimes brilliantly, sometimes at a price the balance sheet could not carry. From early postwar breakthroughs and image-led coupes to the compact lifeline and a futuristic halo gamble, each swing reveals what it took to remain an independent in a market designed to reward size.
In the end, the final exit is explained not as a mystery or a morality tale, but as the clear outcome of documented forces: rising fixed costs, intensifying competition, and the hard limits of manufacturing at smaller volume. The result is a portrait of ingenuity under pressure-and a closing perspective on why this maker's cars and story still endure.
This book is an independent, unofficial work of nonfiction. It is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with any automobile manufacturer or trademark holder. Any trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners and are used only for historical and descriptive purposes.
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