The Studebaker Conestoga was an all-steel station wagon

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

 produced in 1954 and 1955 by the Studebaker

Studebaker

Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...

 Corporation of South Bend, Indiana

South Bend, Indiana

The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...

 (USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

). The company chose the name Conestoga

Conestoga wagon

The Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and sometimes in Canada as well. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons , and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen...

 as an homage to its wagon business that company produced from the 1850s into the early 20th century.

The Conestoga station wagons were built on the Studebaker's 116.5 in (2,959.1 mm) wheelbase platform. One body style was available, a two-door wagon with a two-piece tailgate/liftgate configuration for accessing the cargo area.

The Conestoga was also available in an ambulance

Ambulance

An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

 version that Studebaker called the Ambulet. This model included a stretcher

Stretcher

A stretcher is a medical device used to carry casualties or an incapacitated person from one place to another. It is a simple type of litter, and still called by that name in some cases....

, red cross decals, and other ambulance features. The Ambulet was promoted primarily for police and fire departments as well as for small-town funeral homes, many of which provided ambulance services at the time.

Studebaker discontinued the Conestoga nameplate at the end of the 1955 model year, although the basic body would be continued through several styling changes — and even built as a Lark

Studebaker Lark

The Studebaker Lark is a "compact car" which was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" from its name and reverted to its pre-1954 name, the...

compact — through 1961.