Mr. M.S. “Mel” Brooks
Mr. M.S. “Mel” Brooks was a Canadian who started off in the Automotive Manufacturing world with Ford of Canada. In 1923 he was sent to Australia to investigate problems with the local Car Plant which was responsible to assemble Fords, Ford decided to go their own route with their own plant just acouple of years later in Australia but Mr. Brooks moved over to Studebaker and ran their Australian plant for some time. He then moved back to Canada and was appointed as Vice President, in charge of the Studebaker Corporation of Canada, with their Assembly plant located in Walkerville, Ontario. It was originally the EMF plant but was bought out in 1910 and in 1912 was renamed the Studebaker Corporation of Canada. They were responsible to build and distribute Studebakers across Canada and other countries in the British Commonwealth due to their better trade agreements. Mel Brooks was a very dynamic, instrumental leader of the Studebaker Corporation of Canada. When the Studebaker Corporation was going through receivership in 1934 the Canadian operation send a check for 3.5 million dollars to South Bend proving that Mel Brooks had built a very profitable branch of Studebaker. In 1936 production ceased at Walkerville due to lowering of trade tariffs between the US and Canada. The Walkerville Plant remained open until 1941 when it was sold to Gotfredson Truck.
After World War 2 he moved over to be managing director of SAMAD - South African Motor Assemblers and Distributors Ltd who were initially responsible to assemble Studebakers in South Africa at the time. It seems that in 1948 Volkswagen was looking for somewhere to build their cars in South Africa. Mel Brooks convinced them that SAMAD was the place to have the VW build and an agreement was made to make this happen in July 1951. Mel Brooks was highly respected in the Automotive Industry and proved over many years that he was the man to get things done here in Canada and around the British Commonwealth in first half of the 20th Century.
In 2015 for his many contributions, Mr. M.S. Brooks was honoured on the Studebaker of Canada Plaque located at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
Winnipeg Tribune January.18, 1936
STUDEBAKER SALES MAKE BIG ADVANCE
New Champion Line Bound to Be Popular, Says Vice - President factory sales of Studebaker automobile (in December were the largest for any similar month In the history of the corporation, according
to a statement by M. S. Brooks, vice - president and general manager of the Studebaker Corporation of Canada, Limited. "Never before," said Mr. Brooks, "have factory sales of Studebaker passenger cars
and trucks In any December equaled the figure made In that month just past. Satisfactory as this record Is, we were unable to build cars in reasonable quantities until past the middle of the month, else we most
certainly would have set a much more exceptional record of shipments. The demand continues to exceed production, and we have on hand orders for immediate shipment totalling in excess of last January's
factory sales figure. This condition apparently justifies the industry's belief that the early Introduction of new models would serve to spread employment well across the winter months, as it appears now that
we should be able to hold our production at a consistently high level for some time to come." Speaking of Studebaker's new models for 1936, Mr. Brooks said: "You critical motorists will find this new Studebaker
the car of your dreams come true. From radiator to luggage compartment. It's your idea of a car at your Idea of a price. "Smart flowing lines and sumptuously luxurious Interiors give you beauty that literally sings a
glow – big harmony without a lovely melody within. The contours symbolist champion performance and concealed beneath the sleek exteriors Is stamina such as only Studebaker craftsmanship, the most expert
in motordom, can assure. "In these big thrifty new Champions, Studebaker presents you with 11 beauty distinctions, 34 new comfort developments, 35 new advances in economy and performance and 12 steps
forward In safety. Everything you could think of, that's been perfected or invented, these new Studebakers have
Montreal Gazette – Dated 24 November 1937
STUDEBAKER FINDS PROSPECTS SOUND
Canadian Vice-President Looks to Good Year for Automobile Sales
There is little reason to believe that the present business pessimism in the United States, if short-lived, will materially affect this country, M.S. Brooks, Vice-President and General Manager of the Studebaker
Corporation of Canada, stated during an interview in the Mount Royal Hotel yesterday. He expressed the opinion that economic conditions in Canada were on the whole satisfactory.
Mr. Brooks who is here in connection with the exhibition of the 1938 Studebakers now being held at Morgan’s believed that his company’s business would be at least equal this season to that done in 1937,
which he explained was the most successful since 1928. In the Quebec district sales this month were already 100 per cent above last November, and the prospect throughout Eastern Canada was good. The sales of
cars in the rural districts indicated that farm purchasing power was increasing proportionately, he added.
The automotive industry's announcement of price increases this year was due not only to higher labour and raw material costs but also to the inclusion of features on the standard models which a year ago
could only be installed at an additional cost. Studebaker’s new “new vacuum shift” and wider bodies were expected to meet with public approval. Mr. Brooks said. Abolition or the easier operation of gear-
shifting was an important modern trend, he declared.
Asked about conditions in the West, Mr. Brooks said that he looked for an increase in business in Manitoba and Alberta with a slight recession in British Columbia as a result of the falling off of the province’s
lumber export trade, caused by the prevailing costs of high freight rates on the Pacific. In Quebec, Studebaker secured a greater percentage of total cars sold then elsewhere in the Dominion, he said.
Studebaker Made in Canada