| In the spring of 1961, Sherwood
Egbert, the new president of Studebaker, hired Raymond
Loewy to revitalize Studebaker’s
public image to attract younger buyers. Loewy
agreed to take on the job, despite the short schedule allowed
to produce a finished design and scale model. Loewy
recruited a design team consisting of experienced designers
and former Loewy employees, John
Ebstein and Robert Andrews, as
well as a young student from Art Center named Tom
Kellogg. The team gathered in Palm
Springs and sequestered themselves in a house leased solely
for the purpose of developing the new car design. Each team
member had a role: Andrews and Kellogg
handled the sketching, Ebstein oversaw
the project, and Loewy served as the
creative director, offering input on the design. His main direction
included: Minimize chrome, avoid decorative moldings, accent
the wedge-shaped silhouette, stress long, down-slanted hood,
abbreviate the rear and tuck it under, above all, think aerodynamics.
His objectives also included: Place instrument panel overhead,
above windshield as in aircraft, install aircraft-type knobs
and levers on the console, pinch the waistline, as Le Mans-type
racing cars, design hoods with an off-center panel, accent spacecraft
“reentry curve” wheel openings, and simple disc wheels.
The team met their tight deadline, and together flew to South
Bend to prepare a full-scale clay mock-up. |
John Epstien, Raymond Loewy, Robert
Andrews, and Tom Kellogg. |
 |
Robert Andrews' signed Avanti drawing. |
