It has been said that no matter what you accomplish, someone helped you dot it. Automotive design is no exception. The results are almost always a collaborative effort, and it becomes difficult to credit any one person with a particular innovation. But if you ask architects, designers, and engineers Who helped you?, more of their fingers would probably point toward Raymond Loewy than any other single person in the history of industrial design.
The 1934 Hupmobile, utilized Loewy’s patented design, which combined the body with the hood and built-in headlights, (a patent he had applied for as early as 1928) and a three-piece, wrap around windshield that was years ahead of its time. Later, Loewy’s 1947 Studebaker Champion used a four-section rear window to provide its driver with unprecedented visibility. And his art-deco 1938 Studebaker President featured a waterfall grille similar to those seen later on Lincolns and Fords.
Take a look at any 1953 automobile, and then observe his Studebaker Starliner. Arguably his best automotive effort, the sleek Loewy Coupes, represent an uncompromising design, and predate the original, 2-seat Ford Thunderbirds.
Nearly ten years later, Raymond Loewy’s design for the Avanti convinced a lot of us that cars truly are works of art. Years after finishing it, he was quoted as saying, If I were to redesign Avanti today, I would keep it much the same.
Raymond Loewy loved the idea of simplifying design. He intended to make material items more pleasant for people who used them regularly, so that we would no longer feel like we need a vacation to find peace of mind. His successful and far-reaching designs encompassed graphic art and architecture, furniture and flatware, tractors and trains, cameras and copiers, soap and spacecraft. But he loved cars.