The Studebaker Dictator is an automobile produced by the

Studebaker 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 ...

Corporation of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

from 1927 until 1937. Model year 1928 was the first full year of Dictator production. In the mid-1920s, Studebaker began renaming its vehicles. The model previously known as the

Studebaker Standard Six The Studebaker Light Six was a car built by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana from 1918 to 1927. It shared its wheelbase and standard equipment items with the Studebaker Light Four and was upgraded to the Studebaker Dictator in 19 ...

became the Dictator during the 1927 model year—internally designated model GE. The name was intended to connote that the model "dictated the standard" that other automobile makes would be obliged to follow. The Dictator was Studebaker's lowest-price model, followed (in ascending order) by the

Studebaker Commander The Studebaker Commander is the model name of several automobiles produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (United States) and Studebaker of Canada Ltd of Walkerville and, later, Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). Studebaker began u ...

and

Studebaker President 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 wa ...

series. There was a Chancellor in 1927, too, but that year only. In June 1929, Studebaker began offering an 8-cylinder engine for the Dictator series (221 cubic inches, 70 bhp at 3,200 rpm), designed by Barney Roos, though the old 6-cylinder option was continued for another year. Dictators were available in a full range of body-styles.

Consequences of the Dictator name

In retrospect, the choice of the model name might seem unfortunate. One writer began a history of American perceptions of dictators with the introduction of the Studebaker Dictator. He noted there were political problems in the name 'Dictator', making it unusable in European monarchies. The same applied in

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...

countries which imported the car. Diplomatically, Studebaker marketed its Standard Six as the Director in these countries.Studebaker Director Victoria
''

The Sunday Times (Western Australia) ''The Sunday Times'' is a tabloid Sunday newspaper published by Western Press Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Seven West Media, in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia. Founded as The West Australian Sunday Times, it was renamed The Sun ...

'', p. 23, 13 May 1928, at

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

In the United States the name initially caused no problems. At the time, the only dictator that would have immediately come to an American mind was

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

, whose popular image was one of audacity and strength, in spite of well-publicized fascist violence. However the rise of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in Germany tainted the word 'dictator'. Studebaker abruptly discontinued the name 'Dictator' in 1937, resurrecting the

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

name which had been dropped in 1935. At that time,

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magaz ...

and

Helen Dryden Helen Dryden (1882–1972) was an American artist and successful industrial designer in the 1920s and 1930s. She was reportedly described by ''The New York Times'' as being the highest-paid woman artist in the United States, though she lived in ...

were working on new concepts for body design and customer appeal.

References

* * * {{Studebaker historic timeline

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...

Cars introduced in 1927 1930s cars