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| In 1956 Raymond
Loewy designed a sports car for Jaguar. Loewy had left Studebaker
in 1955 and gone abroad to build a series of sport coupes. Among
these were the Jaguar in 1956, a BMW 507
roadster displayed at the 1957 Paris Auto Show, and a Lancia,
unveiled in 1960. These rare photos of the Loewy Jaguar are
from the Gottscho-Schleisner Collection in the Library of Congress.
The fate of this unique Loewy treasure is unknown. The popular
Jaguar XK-E, designed by Malcolm Sayer only a few years later
in 1961, was a radical interpretation of Jaguar traditions.
In 1961 Sayer's XK-E could only be thought of as revolutionary
and must certainly have influenced Studebaker president Sherwood
Egbert's mandate for the Avanti. Loewy's proposals to the Avanti
design team (in March 1961) to minimize chrome; avoid decorative
moldings; stress long, down-slanted hood; abbreviate rear and
tuck under, and pinch waistline, as le Mans-type racing cars
were more characteristic of the radical new XK-E than his own
earlier Jaguar proposal. |
Avanti design team member John Ebstein
in Loewy Jaguar in January 1956. |
Rear view highlighting large rear window. |
The cluttered front end. |
Rear 3/4 view. |
Side view shows the long silhouette. |
Rear view showing framed tail light lenses. |
Front 3/4 view shows nice proportions. |
The Jaguar E-type or XK-E designed by
Malcolm Sayer. It was manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and
1974. The E-type revolutionized sports car design, with performance,
handling and looks ahead of its time. In excess of 70,000 E-types
were sold over 14 years. |
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