The “coming-going” Studebaker coupes left a deep impression on my from the first time I saw one as a kid. I longed for one for ages, although in bullet-nose form. This splendid rendering of two young chaste couples (so far) enjoying the sights from within and without the Starlight coupe was irresistible.
I did a post of a design analysis on these coupes here.
I always liked the accessory Venetian blinds that Studebaker sold for these.
Without the blinds, I’d imagine it would get pretty toasty in the backseat.
The windows don’t open, factory A/C wasn’t available, and the glass isn’t tinted, so the blinds were crucial. What a great view though; feels more like riding in an RV than a back seat of a coupe.
That and the Nash:
It seems that there was an impact on some auto interiors to replicate the cross-country look of the Sky-Deck people traveled nationally. When we see how luxurious post WWII train interiors could be, and the popularity of train travel due to the War, I can see a few car designers looking at those vehicles for inspiration for these rear seat interiors.
The U-boat was more of an inspiration for the Nash Airflyte. That’s what my dad called his ’51 Ambassador, that he inherited from his uncle. Earlier models had a “Uniscope” gauge cluster. Dad always said he needed a periscope for better visibility.
The immediate postwar period was one of those times when “what a car is supposed to look like” was up for grabs. Exner/Lowey/Studebaker jumped out front with a new design unlike anything else, guided only by their own vision and some of the wacky futuristic ideas of other designers.
My take is that the 1948 GM C body cars had a similar vibe with the soft rounded shape, vestigial rear fenders and the sloping rear deck, but design took a sharply different direction with the 1949 Ford and the 1950 GM C body. The Studebaker was groundbreaking in 1947 but had a shape that was looking increasingly odd by 1952.
I still think this Commander with the long front had the best proportions – the Champion looked stubby.
Again with the bright yellow Studebaker that existed only in brochures and advertisements (all of the actual available colors were dull and dark, save for “tulip cream” which is dull but light; notably absent were white, silver, and a real red).
Also, that couple outside the car doesn’t look all that chaste to me; inside couple hard to tell…
The couple inside the car are naked below the waist.
Only Studebaker could visualize a situation like this, and the couples still have their clothes on.
I never saw these as a 1950s-60s child, but think it cool that Studebaker was trying something different. Here’s two-page version from the middle of the Saturday Evening Post (thanks, eBay!):