Fundraising efforts for Hoosier gem: The Muppet Car
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend is looking for help to pay for restoration of a Hollywood “celebrity.” The auto museum has launched a GoFundMe campaign to restore its 1951 Studebaker Commander “Muppet Car.”
The auto was used in the 1979 film, The Muppet Movie. The vintage machine took Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear on a cross country adventure.
The museum says after filming was complete, the auto sat on a Warner Brothers back lot in California, exposed to the elements. Members of a California chapter of the Studebaker fan club acquired the car and donated it to the museum.
The museum plans to restore the Muppet Car to its on-screen appearance. They also intend to make it operable.
The fundraising goal is to raise of $175,000. Click here to learn more.
The automaker closed its South Bend factory in 1963 and shuttered its last plant in Ontario in 1966.