Vehicle of the day

[clonelark]

[hi-peral]

Wow...What a potpourri of early 50's Studebaker.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Real interesting profile pic.
Makes you 'see' how design elements are expressed.
And it is interesting to see what elements survived the design choice process.
For example:
The most dramatic thing (to me) is the door window beltine.
In this artist rendering the window 'topline' and 'bottomline' are parallel.
But, in the production version the 'bottomline' was made parallel to the beltline.
That gave the window opening that backwards wedge look.
(Probably why a lot of customizers like the 'gentleman's chop' to bring the window topline down to the 'production' beltline).
and...
The rear wheel well opening is very similar to the earlier production vehicles, but it was 'opened up' on the final design.
I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder, or design board, huh?
Jeff

[BobGlasscock]

I would drive one of those!

[whacker]

Looks like the "Bulletnose" idea wasn't really quite dead in 1951!

[raoul5788]

Look where the front seat is relative to the back of the door. There is a lot more room to get in the back.

[whacker]

The wheel cover design is almost exactly the same as 1955, except the center round depression is a slightly smaller diameter.

[Andy R.]

design study posted by Richard Quinn on an earlier thread).

That neo-classic (retro) design feature was popular in several French marques of the 1930s such as Delage, Delahaye and Talbot Lago (shown here).

[r1lark]

The 'dropped' beltline door window shape was seen in a number of Bob Koto's sketches and clays. If you have Richard Langworth's "Studebaker The Postwar Years" book, look in both chapters 4 and 5 for examples of Koto's designs.

[studegary]

An Exner mystery sketch—did it influence Bob Bourke’s design, or vice-versa? Virgil Jr. doesn’t know.

Exner may have made and/or signed this sketch, but I do not see it as Exner design work.
The front is like Model N work where Bob Bourke did not want a "spinner" nose, but Loewy insisted on it.
Bob Bourke wanted longer doors with one window for the side (no quarter wndow), like the later Camaro/Firebird. Most all of Bob's early designs for the 1953 reflect this, but he was told that Studebaker couldn't/wouldn't manufacture it that way. .
Bob Koto was also working with Bob Bourke on the design. The front and taillight treatment look like Koto's work/design.
Keep in mind that Exner no longer worked for Raymond Loewy/Loewy Designs after the 1947 Studebaker was designed.

[JRoberts]

The proportions of the car in this sketch just seem all wrong to me. The roof line seems to bulge up too high making the body look way too long. I think a lower roof line and longer cabin would look sleeker. Of course I am not an artist or designer.

[COMMANDERPINK1]

Someone needs to fabricate one of these for real. Wouldnt that be cool.
TOM

[clonelark]

I guarantee if someone showed up at a national event with one, they would have to rope it off to keep people from being all over, under, and around it.

[whacker]

Notice the "check mark" on the side actually terminates in the rear fender, not in the door, as the later 1953-54 models did.