Studebaker, the only company to successfully transition from horse drawn wagons to cars, made this remarkable wagon for the 1893 Columbian Expo

one beautiful piece of carpentry

Made of Brazilian Rosewood and inlaid with American Holly, and decorated with 35 gold silver and bronze medals that Studebaker had been awarded since it's founding.

The Columbian Exposition Wagon was more commonly referred to as the “Aluminum Wagon” because all metal components were made from cast and hand wrought aluminum which was considered to be a rare and precious metal at that time. Iron components, needed for structural integrity, were painted with aluminum powder oil based paints.

When created it took 422 days, and a cost of $2100, 10 times the cost of the wagon it was based on. It's been on display at the Studebaker Museum ever since, except for it's restoration by the B R Howard company http://www.brhoward.com/columbian_wagon.html