Champion of the Lark: Harold Churchill and the Presidency of Studebaker-Packard, 1956-1961

A career engineer at Studebaker, Harold E. Churchill became president of the recently merged Studebaker-Packard Corporation in 1956, at a time when finances were shaky and an aging product line was losing ground to the Big Three. Quickly launching a program of “realism and common sense,” he focused the company’s energies on a few selected market segments where he saw opportunities for gain. His vision for a compact economy car led to the Lark, the hit model that Studebaker desperately needed.

This thorough examination of Churchill’s leadership of Studebaker-Packard draws upon Board of Directors minutes, internal documents, oral histories and media reports in constructing a detailed account of these crucial years. In addition to covering the cars and trucks produced under Churchill in detail, it closely traces Churchill’s actions as president and analyzes his motivations, the pressures he faced, his leadership style and the success or failure of his tenure.