They say nothing last forever , and that is surely true in the pillow slip of the extremely competitive automotive industry . While today we have the Big Three U.S. auto maker in Ford , General Motors and Fiat Chrysler , there have , in fact , been hundreds of self-propelled manufacturers in the U.S. over the last century . Sadly , many of the most iconic carmakers fail due to poor management , shift consumer sentiments , mischievously received vehicle or failure to keep up with fresh technologies . But many of these automakers are deserving remembering as they build some of the honest and most valuable vehicles ever . Here ’s a tilt of 10 once great car companies that failed and have been relegated to the dustbin of history .
10. Studebaker
There was a time when Studebaker was a lofty American stigma . The cars made by Studebaker were parked in driveways across the country in the forties and early fifties . The company really began as horse - drawn wagon builders , but switched to making electric and small gas elevator car in central Indiana in 1902 . By 1910 , Studebaker was sell gravid cars and limo that had four - cylinder engines under the hood . By 1927 , Studebaker graduated to large six - cylinder engine , with two - shade pigment , rumble seats and the name Dictator as a model , preceding other democratic poser such as Commander and President . However , after World War II , Studebaker make out a series of vehicles that were not well - receive by the world . The company stagger until it occur out with a smaller vehicle , the Lark , in 1958 , which repair Studebaker ’s cash flow place . After the Lark , Studebaker bring out the Avanti hardtop , which today has many fans in car clubs around the U.S. Nevertheless , Studebaker flunk for good in 1967 due to turn down sale . Today , many of its car are considered classics .
9. Stutz
Stutz was a smaller car manufacturer that had a reputation for creation . found in 1902 by engine driver Harry Stutz , the company built a small car too soon on that used a steering roulette wheel alternatively of the then - more vulgar tiller for guidance . Stutz was actually a pioneer of the steering wheel . Stutz really took off as a motorcar caller in 1911 , when one of the companionship ’s railcar finish 11th at the inaugural Indy 500 , averaging a then - crushing speed of 70 stat mi per hour . In 1912 , a two - fanny model Stutz , called the Bearcat roadster , defined the full term “ sports automobile ” in America . They were among the coolest cars of their day . Moving more into carrying out racing , Stutz make up the Black Hawk in 1927 , the ship’s company ’s first origin car used for cannonball along . Stutz then built the U.S. ’s fast production auto , clocked at a speed of 106 Roman mile per hour in 1928 , which was a record at the time . However , Stutz ’s fortunes take a bout for the worse during the Great Depression , and the companionship built its last automobile in 1934 .
8. Kaiser-Frazer
Kaiser - Frazer enjoy a great reputation for its satiny and stylish appearance . A partnership between automobile administrator Joseph Frazer and industrialist Henry Kaiser , the company enjoyed success through to the mid-1950s . However , although advanced , their vehicles were never commercially successful despite collaboration with far-famed designer Dutch Darrin , whose 1954 two - door buggy with a supercharged six - piston chamber locomotive engine is highly prize by car collector today . Kaiser - Frazer made jeeps during World War II , and transfer its production from Michigan to the Toledo jeep manufacturing plant . Kaisers were assembled and sold in South America until the other 1960s , but the company lay off output in the U.S. in 1955 .
7. Pontiac
Remember Pontiac ? People should as there are still quite a few of the vehicles on road today . Established as a brand in 1926 , General Motors manufactured the Pontiac sword until 2009 . Today , Pontiac remains a registered and active trademark of General Motors , although the party no longer manufacturers the brand . General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said the passing of Pontiac , which GM let go during bankruptcy transactions in 2008 , was one of the worst import in the party ’s chronicle . Indeed , with vehicle such as the snappy Solstice and the roaring G8 , as well as a distinguished chronicle of popular muscle cars such as the GTO and Trans - Am , Pontiac was a storied self-propelled brand . alas , it was n’t to be and Pontiac is no more .
6. Oldsmobile
There was a prison term when multitude in the U.S. were enunciate to be “ Oldsmobile People . ” The car brand inspired fierce loyalty among consumer . And for good grounds . Oldsmobile was America ’s oldest carmaker having started cognitive operation in 1897 in Lansing , Michigan . Founder Ransom Olds had been experiment with cars as far back as the 1880s before establish his company . The Olds ’ family business concern built some of the first gasoline power engines in the res publica . Automotive historiographer accredit the first Oldsmobile as the first mass - produced railroad car in the U.S. In 1908 , General Motors purchased Oldsmobile and continued to make up the marque of car . By 1940 , Oldsmobile had the first HydraMatic contagion , a four - velocity unit that was true and popular . In 1964 , Oldsmobile offered the 442 muscle - motorcar package . In 1966 it rolled out the now - noted front driveway Toronado model . The Oldsmobile brand continue to enjoy achiever in the 1970s , remaining the third big nameplate seller for much of that decade . As recently as 1986 , Oldsmobile deal more than a million cars . However , despite its story , sales taper off in the 1990s and General Motors shuttered the stain in 2004 .
5. Packard
Brothers James and William Packard establish the Packard Motor Car Company in 1899 from their hustle electrical office manufactory located in Warren , Ohio . By 1903 , the Packard brothers had move to Detroit , Michigan . By 1916 , Packard had the first production 12 - cylinder locomotive , which it refined through 1939 , as well as the Liberty aircraft engine , which was the most wide used locomotive engine in airplanes during World War II . The Packard cars were known as the most expensive production vehicles in their twenty-four hours , and the small 1941 Clipper model , design by Kaiser ’s Dutch Darrin , is a much sought after collector car . instantly after World War II , the tone of Packard cars remained topnotch , but the lack of a V8 engine and pre - war styling hurt the popularity of the railroad car . give out to keep up with changing consumer gustatory sensation , Packard made its last gondola in 1958 and vanished short afterwards .
4. Pierce-Arrow
People may have a difficult time recalling Pierce - Arrow , but the Pierce - Arrow Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer free-base in Buffalo , New York , that was a drawing card in the industry from its inception in 1901 through to its death in 1938 . Although best known for building luxury cars , Pierce - Arrow also built commercial motortruck , fire trucks , ingroup trailers , motorcycles and even bicycle . in the beginning a bird cage company in Buffalo , Pierce - Arrow built its first car in 1901 , a flyspeck Motorette , then expanded to larger cars with then - in advance engineering such as hydraulic lifter , power brake and fender - mounted headlights . Big six - cylinder engines were the Pierce - Arrow stylemark , although the ship’s company made a model with a V12 locomotive that set speed records . Pierce - Arrow coalesce with Studebaker in the thirties , but cut-rate sale refuse until the last car roll off the forum line in 1938 , a dupe of the Great Depression .
3. Duesenberg
Today , Duesenberg car sell for top dollar sign at automotive auctions around the world . The Duesenberg Model J , which appeared in 1928 , is considered the most worthful and iconic car ever made by a U.S. manufacturer . Bought by Errett Lobsban Cord in 1926 , the Duesenberg Company was the leading carmaker of its 24-hour interval in term of institution and luxury . No expense was spared . The applied science - productive cars , which weighed more than 5,000 pounds , feature ego - lubricating chassis , eight - piston chamber engines and boasted a top speed of 110 miles per hour . Hollywood wizard of the twenty-four hours such as Clark Gable and Gary Cooper paid top clam for their Duesenberg railcar , which were built by nine unlike motorbus builders . However , the Duesenberg Company show to be short - live . By 1937 , E. L. Cord sell the troupe and no more vehicles were made , making them extremely rare today and tug up their considerable time value .
2. Hudson
The Hudson marque of car was created in 1910 when former employees of Olds Motor Works banded together and receive a loan from a department store tycoon to begin a new troupe sport a small , shiny brass buggy that could reach speeds of 50 naut mi per hour . In 1916 , the Hudson set a 102 mile per hour record at Daytona , and motor from San Francisco to New York in just five twenty-four hour period . Sales of Hudson car hang glide after each young racing or distance achievement . However , the company ’s Detroit plant was co - opted by the military during World War II and convert to build bomber parts . In the 1950s , the Hudson Hornet was a NASCAR champ , though the production gondola were easy - merchandising . The company was merged with another defunct auto company , Nash , in 1953 and the Hudson mark was give up by 1960 .
1. Vector
Vector Motors Corporation is a notorious cable car manufacturer that go stony-broke before really take off . establish in 1978 , the Vector company built cars that had amazing aim and were very eye - catching . However , mass who bought vector complain that the cars were technically hick and suffered from inconsistent functions and poor carrying out . As a result , advance sale were frightful and Vector never made cable car in significant telephone number . They mostly made one - off models for showing at auto shows around the populace . Yet the epitome of Vector gondola was used to market fast U.S.-made vehicles throughout the eighties and early 1990s . vector were so well - marketed that many people incorrectly believed that Vector made the fastest railroad car in the world . Defunct since the mid-1990s , Vector Motors Corporation was recently revived and a new supercar is reportedly in development with promises that it will compete with leading operation cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghini . We shall see …
