The new Loewy-Exner 1947 Studebakers were a sensation. The envelope body, integrated fenders, flat flanks and distinctive trunk outline combined to form what we now call a "three-box" design - it had a clearly delineated hood, cabin and trunk. The Starlight coupe, as it came to be known, was particularly futuristic with a rear window that wrapped all the way around from door to door, making the roof seem to float above it.

Studebakers were so symmetrical front to rear that humourists soon began calling them the "coming or going cars," suggesting they couldn't tell the front from the back. But in spite of ridicule, Studebaker was charting the future direction in automobile styling. A small independent from South Bend, Ind., had stolen a march on Detroit's giants. The Big three would take until 1949 to bring out their full line of postwar, three-box cars. The new 1947 Studebaker Champion, Commander and Land Cruiser were introduced in April, 1946. The Commander and Land Cruiser were essentially Champions with a longer wheelbase and the hood, front fenders and rear doors extended.

The 1947 Studebakers were all about styling, because their technology was carried over from prewar designs. The 2.8-litre, 80-horsepower six-cylinder Champion engine came from the prewar Champion, and the 3.7L Commander/Land Cruiser six dated back to the early 1930s.

Styling remained unchanged except for trim and grille treatments until 1950, when the "bullet nose" models arrived. By this time, the rest of the industry had caught up and Studebaker no longer held the styling advantage.

In spite of some excellent designs such as the Hawk series and the futuristic Avanti, Studebaker suffered the plight of other independent automakers and disappeared from the scene in 1966. It built its last cars in its Canadian plant in Hamilton, Ont.

But for those few years following the Second World War, the audacious little company from South Bend had led the industry in styling.
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