Raymond Loewy, designer

[MGMcAnick]

Recent news about the Drumpf approved paint scheme for the new Air Force One planes, one of which was a bribe from some Qatari Emir, mentioned that Raymond Loewy was the designer of the of the light blue and white paint scheme of the 707s used from the Kennedy administration up to the 747s in use now. Apparently Loewy had a lot of input from Jackie Kennedy as she is always mentioned as the "designer".

When I heard the Loewy name, my ears did a double take. Could that be the same Raymond Loewy who designed the 1953 Studebaker? Turned out he was one and the same. He also designed SEVERAL other Studebakers over the years. My 2nd grade teacher drove a 1953 or '54 Studebaker commonly referred to as a Loewy coupe. It wasn't new then, but as a 7 year-old car guy I remember Miss Stein's black car with a red top.

Studebaker was originally the builder of wagon wheels, then wagons. When you see a wagon in an old Western movie that is painted green with red wheels, that was something of a Studebaker trade mark. I'm so glad Bonanza was in color...

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/one-of ... seum-talk/

[ex-khobar Andy]

What good looking cars. When I think of the 1960s, I think of the excessive tail fins many American cars had.

[Burning Petard]

Still lust after the Golden Hawk. I think if you have a big enough sack of money, there is an outfit in Texas that will build you an new Avanti. snailgate.

[MGMcAnick]

The local Rambler dealer also sold Mercedes Benz and had sold Studebakers until their demise. He was something of a "car guy" too.

Neat cars I didn't buy from him in the late '60s and early '70s.
1949 Jaguar, once owned by Alf Landon, a Kansas favorite son who was trounced by FDR in the 1936 election. $400. It needed a water pump which required removal of the front fenders to access the radiator. Then the pump. I didn't have that much ambition. I still don't, but I'd be happy to give $400 for it today.
1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk $400. I don't remember if it had the supercharger.
1958 Mercedes 219. $400 Basic model with a SOHC six and a four-speed on the column

Cars I did buy from him:
1964 Corvair. $400. It would do 87 MPH, and I drove it that way whenever I could. I found out very recently that my youngest sister used to drive it into town that way when I wasn't looking.
1962 Mercedes Benz 220sb. $400. Another one with 4-speed on the column. 25 MPG at 80 MPH all day long. 6-cylinder with dual Solex carburetors.
1964 Olds Cutlass 2-door hardtop. $400 again. I drove that one for 2-1/2 years of college and another year after graduation. 13 MPG @ 80 MPG on the interstate. Who cared. Gas was $0.259 to $0.309 a gallon.
I don't know why $400 was so often his base price. Maybe he figured it was mine.
Some of those cars I owned at the same time, always along with the MGA I still have. Yup, always the car guy. I had three cars on campus during a lot of my college years.