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Fake Design
Was the 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti a fatal mistake?
(EXPANDED FROM 4/22/2022) The 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti has been described by historian Patrick Foster as “one of the most beautiful automobiles ever to grace the road” (2008, p. 138). Even so, the premium-priced sporty coupe […]
Quotes
Imagine the 1951 Studebaker with a lighted nose
“. . . We (started facelifting) the ’51, which was a terrible looking spinner job. It had a transparent, plastic spinner inside, and, God, they were terrible looking cars. . . . I remember how that […]
Design Notes
1956 Ugly Car of the Year Award: Indies get desperate
(EXPANDED FROM 11/25/2022) For 1956 the Big Three were on relatively good behavior. Only two of their products was outrageous enough to be nominated for Indie Auto’s Ugly Car of the Year Award. All the […]
History
How often did renaming a car fail to help it sell better?
(EXPANDED FROM 6/8/2022) A few years ago Karl Ludvigsen (2022) wondered whether some cars that were renamed should not have been. For example, he noted that Ford might have benefitted by keeping the Cortina name […]
Gallery
1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk: A match made in hell
(EXPANDED FROM 4/2/2021) After Studebaker and Packard combined in 1954, Motor Trend anticipated the possibilities of the two automakers sharing resources. For example, the magazine imagined Studebaker’s lightweight cars getting Packard’s “monstrous new V8 engine, […]
History
Could Studebaker have come out of the 1970s as successful as Jeep?
(EXPANDED FROM 4/23/2021) A few years ago our story on Brooks Stevens’s redesign of the 1964 Studebaker generated enough debate that I decided to further flesh out an alternative scenario. To wit, Studebaker would have […]
Design Notes
1941 Studebaker Commander: Ending its big cars on a high note
(EXPANDED FROM 4/16/2021) The 1941 Studebaker Commander is noteworthy partly because of its lovely art deco styling, but also because it represents close to the last of the automaker’s big premium-priced cars. In 1939 Studebaker […]
Design Notes
Styling comparison: C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray versus the original
(UPDATED FROM 10/19/2022) When I finally saw a new mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette Stingray in the wild a few years ago I wondered why General Motors called it a Corvette. The so-called C8 generation is simply […]
History
Should Nash have combined with Studebaker rather than Hudson in 1954?
Curbside Classic commentator Steve (2018) has argued that Nash-Kelvinator should have combined with Studebaker rather than Hudson for an interesting set of reasons. He effectively follows the advice of Aaron Severson (2024), who recently suggested that […]