Raymond Loewy

• Born in France but making his professional impact in the United States, Raymond Loewy was perhaps the most famous industrial designer of the twentieth century. His designs of transportation technology, from the Pennsylvania Railroad's GG1 locomotive to the Greyhound bus, radiated modernity and a readiness for the future. In 1961, Studebaker hired Loewy to design a new automobile for the company, a car that would give the venerable automaker a new image that would appeal to younger buyers. The result was the Avanti.
  
  

Studebaker

• Founded in 1852 in South Bend, Indiana, the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company began by making wagons and entered the automobile market just after the turn of the twentieth century. By the 1920s, Studebaker was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in the world. Economic difficulties plagued the company in the post-war years, and by the 1960s, Studebaker was desperate to find a commercial success. Its new Lark model, introduced in 1959, was an attempt to enter the compact car market, and the introduction of the Avanti in 1962 was a hopeful foray into the world of sports cars.
  
  

The Original Avanti

• The 1962 Avanti looked to the future. Loewy's design for the car was typically sleek and aerodynamic, constructed of fiberglass and free of chrome, moldings and ornamentation. Its distinctive front end traded in the Studebaker quad headlamps for a simple pair of lights set in a body panel with no grille. Powered by a 289 cubic inch V-8 engine, the Avanti featured disc brakes and power steering. Later supercharged versions of the Avanti's engine produced up to 400 horsepower.
  
  

Later Production

• The end of Studebaker production at its South Bend plant in 1963 meant the end of the Avanti as a Studebaker product. The car had already gained an enthusiastic following, however, and a pair of entrepreneurial Studebaker dealers bought the rights to manufacture the car. Their company would produce the Avanti in limited numbers until 1985. New owners and a company with a new name, the New Avanti Motor Corporation, manufactured new Avanti models in the last half of the 1980s, moving production from South Bend to Ohio. Avanti Motors, the last company to manufacture the car, ceased production in 2007.