Different by design: Keeping Studebaker Museum cars in mint condition

16 News Now took a look back at some South Bend history Thursday with an inside look at some of the artifacts inside the Studebaker National Museum.

Some the cars at the museum are almost 100 years old, and we wanted to know about the work and the passion that goes in to keeping these ancient machines looking pristine.

"Each has its own story behind it, its history from when it was produced to the many hands it went through before it came here," archivist Andrew Beckman said. "Each of them are unique, and we try to tell [their stories] as best as we can."

There is a lot that goes into restoring the old beasts. Chief among the substances needed to keep them fresh is passion.

"Different vehicles, different artifacts have different needs," Beckman said. "The preservation needs, for example, the climate-controlled facility that we have here at the museum. We are constantly monitoring temperate and humidity. At times we are actually running the AC to keep the humidity down and then have reheat coils in the units to bring the temperature back up."

Sometimes the vehicles don't come to the museum in mint condition, said Vivian LaVine, owner of LaVine Restorations in Nappanee.

"We get them in all kinds of conditions," said LaVine, who also serves on the Studebaker National Museum Board of Trustees. "Sometimes they're literally in baskets and boxes, and other times they are complete cars but they have to have everything touched on them in order to restore them. So, we take them completely apart, down to the chassis and engine, and then take them back up to an original condition."

Studebaker National Museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

To learn more about the restoration process, watch the video above and visit the

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