Much credit has (deservedly) been given Harley Earl, the stylist who created GM's Art & Color Section and enjoyed considerable influence over American car design for several decades. And yet the company most willing to put advanced design concepts into production during the postwar years was Studebaker. General Motors was all about flash; Studebaker was about class. What set Studebaker apart from the rest was its willingness to employ outside design consultants (in particular the Raymond Loewy organisation) and thus avoid the politics that ruin the bravest efforts of corporate studios.

Loewy was a dapper Frenchman who emigrated to the US, and after working as a fashion illustrator and display designer, set up an industrial design group that was responsible for the styling of consumer goods ranging from lipsticks to locomotives. He also had a flair for automotive design, creating a sensation with the bullet-nosed Studebakers of 1948. In 1953 Studebaker launched its Starlight coupe, arguably the most beautiful American production car of all time. I should add that the bullet-nose and 1953 coupe were largely the work of American Bill Bourke. Loewy was a leader who encouraged the best from his staff, which is why his name remains associated with these beautiful cars.

Studebaker, and Loewy's, last attempt at leading by design was the Avanti coupe of 1963. It was a co-operative effort by the Loewy studio's designers and was most notable for its "coke bottle" pinched waistline, a styling technique that to this day continues to be emulated. I've chosen to use this close-up of Avanti detailing by Mel Satok who, as an architect, appreciates the architecture of beautiful automobiles.