Eiznhamer Motor Company---Studebaker Dealer The postcard picture is from the John and Irene Jensen collection.
The following story was published in the Spring 2008 edition of the Eye on Kansas Magazine.
The Eiznhamer Motor Company:
A Studebaker Dealer and the
Town He Served
By Randy
Rundle
Bill Eiznhamer owned the Studebaker Dealership in Clay Center
Kansas from late 1945 until his death in 1952. He died in the winter of 1952,
the result of a heart attack while helping the local body shop owner dig his
wrecker out of a snow bank.
I did not come along until the 1958 model year, but I have always
been interested in antique cars and trucks. When my aunt (Bill?s wife) passed
away in the spring of 1968, my grandparents got the job of cleaning out her
house and preparing for an estate sale. I was only too willing to help, having
heard numerous stories from my grandparents over the years, about the Studebaker
dealership.
I will provide you with the history as
I know it.
Bill Eiznhamer?s used car dealerships were located in various
locations around town (he started out selling used cars before WWII) until he
obtained a Studebaker franchise just after the war. In August 1950 he moved over
to 621 Lincoln Street. He was the first tenant in what was then a brand new
building. It was the first building in town that was purposely built as a
dealership, and the first one that he ever had ever? with a complete showroom
and parts department.
He rented the new building from a Mrs. Schabel who was getting
along in years but had taking a liking to Bill and wanted him to be the first
tenant even though he could hardly afford it. She adjusted the rent down and
said he could stay as long as he wanted.
The new building really put Eiznhamer Motors on the map and with
an official parts department and a 4-car work bay, he was right up town. While
he was only there for two years, those were no doubt his best years in the car
business.
In his records it showed he had special ordered a 1952 Studebaker
Model R-17 pickup for a Dr. Muck M. D. who was on temporary leave in the United
States. Dr. Muck was serving as a foreign missionary. The truck was to be used
in the foreign mission field and Dr. Muck had requested that special custom
equipment be ordered and installed on his new truck.
Upon its arrival at the dealership Dr. Muck?s new truck was
immediately sent to Kansas City, for the installation of the special equipment.
The doctor paid in advance $2,182.20 for the truck and an additional $1,837.63
for the special equipment for a total of $4, 219.82, which was a sizeable sum in
those days. It is too bad no pictures exist of the truck.
My aunt got the last car from Bill's dealership, a light blue 1952
Champion 4-door that he had special ordered for her. It arrived the week before
he died. It was in very good condition at the time of her death, as she did not
drive much in her later years.
Her Studebaker Champion had about 22,000 miles showing when it was
sold at the estate auction. It sold for just over $1200 dollars at the estate
sale. A local car collector bought it drove it for a few years then sold it to a
collector in Belgium.
The Studebaker Dealership building became a Chevrolet Dealership
in 1953 and remained the home of Skinner Motors up through the early 1990?s when
it then became a NAPA Auto Parts Store. The building still stands today and
looks much like it did when it was built in 1950.
