Studebaker Champion Regal Deluxe Starlight Coupe
‘Where is the front?’ people asked themselves in 1950 when the new Studebaker Champion was introduced.
The rather futuristic design was by Raymond Loewy, and compared to its predecessor the new car had a bold, redesigned front end which became known as the ‘bullet nose’. Note the panoramic rear window, which is sub-divided; back then it was not possible to manufacture a window like this in one piece.
Parisian-born Raymond Loewy (1893-1986) was one of the greatest industrial designers of the 20th century. In 1919 he emigrated to New York and was amazed by the large gap between the high quality of American products and their poor design. In 1929 he set up his own design studio, and was responsible for the restyling of the Coca-Cola bottle and for the Lucky Strike logo (cigarettes), as well as the design of the Frigidaire refrigerator, the Dutch Sprinter train and Concorde’s initial interior. In the 1950s and 1960s Loewy was chief stylist at Studebaker, where he designed the Champion, the Hawk and the Avanti.