
Industrial design legend Raymond Loewy and the Studebaker marque are intrinsically linked.
The dapper, French-born stylist was a household name in post-war American life – the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art had created a mock-up of his studio for a 1937 exhibition and the king of streamlining even made the cover of Life magazine in 1949.
The Indiana manufacturer made the most of its expensive association with the mustachioed design dandy and, although Loewy barely lifted a pencil or clay modelling tool in the origination of such radical cars as the ʻback to frontʼ 1950 Champion or the super-sleek 1953 Starliner coupé, Studebaker strongly marketed his inspired direction.
Like so many style gurus, Loewy was the figurehead of a talented team and giving credit to the likes of Virgil Exner or Bob Burke only complicated business.

The Studebaker Avanti’s stylish nose script; the name was chosen by design agency D’Arcy
Be it Lucky Strike graphics, a Coldspot fridge, a Greyhound bus or the awesome 6000bhp S1 locomotive, the product had to be directly associated with Loewy in the publicʼs consciousness.
You just didnʼt pose the design crew with the finished product.