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The 1950 Studebaker really caught my eye. It stood out from all its contemporary competitors. GM, Nash Hudson, Packard and Ford Motor Company, in general, shaped their cars in torpedo-like designs. Chrysler Corporation and Kaiser built boxes. The 1950 Studebaker, on the other hand, was designed more like a jet air craft — the F-84 fighter, complete with its nose intake.

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When the beautiful 1953-56 Studebakers appeared, I was in high school and had an interest in "Product Design" as it was called at that time (now called Industrial Design) — designing products that combined functionality and beauty (compliments of modern plastics that allowed shapely forms) — flowing curves as opposed to rigid lines. Raymond Loewy, Studebaker's design "guru", was internationally acclaimed since the 1920s as the world's leading product designer and, for the next 50 years, designed everything from cars to furniture. Loewy was a designer with Studebaker from 1938 to 1962.

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Then came Packard. Studebaker-Packard Corporation was created by a merge of the two companies in 1954. Packard actually acquired Studebaker. The idea envisioned by Packard and Nash was to merge all three companies (plus Hudson) into one. Unfortunately, Studebaker sales continued to slide and Nash backed out of the deal. Packard soon became made-over Studebakers and died in 1958. A sad fate for a great marque that commanded so much respect in its golden pre-World War II years.

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Studebaker developed the Hawk series into the Lark and then the Avanti. Designed by Raymond Loewy, the fiberglass bodied Avanti was built on a chassis dating back to 1953. It was a sensation when introduced in 1962 (as a 1963 model). When Studebaker's South Bend, Indiana, operations ended in 1963 production continued in Canada until 1966. But Avanti has lived on without Studebaker — an outstanding testament to Raymond Loewy's most famous achievement.