* Retractable roof: The Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon had a unique retractable rear roof section as well as a conventional rear tailgate which folded down.

The Envoy XUV's retractable roof was reminiscent of the Studebaker Wagonaire of the 1960s, while other features such as the ' MidGate ' were similar to those of the GMC Terracross concept SUV.

" One feature that GMC did adopt that Studebaker never did was power operation of the roof section.

Early promotional materials referred to the Challenger and Commander as Larks, but aside from Lark emblems on the roof sail panels on Challengers, there was no Lark identification on the cars, as Studebaker replaced the Lark emblems elsewhere on the car with the company's " circle-S " logo.

The design was physically large and entirely conventional, copying many of the first generation Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Studebaker Kettering features.

Other Edsel design innovations included ergonomically designed controls for the driver and self-adjusting brakes ( which Edsel claimed as a first for the industry, even though Studebaker had pioneered them earlier in the decade ).

1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner, showing the streamlined design of the 1950s Studebaker

Exner's concepts were spread through a line of models like the 1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe The new trunk design prompted a running joke that one could not tell if the car was coming or going.

E-M-F produced several models of its own design and contracted to sell them through Studebaker wagon dealerships.

Studebaker stylist Raymond Loewy was a design consultant to Rootes ; evidence of his influence is most readily seen in the 1956 Audax range of cars, which included the contemporary Hillman Minx, a model also produced under licence by Isuzu of Japan.

The Audax body was designed by the Rootes Group, but helped by the Raymond Loewy design organisation, who were involved in the design of Studebaker coupés in 1953.

" The car's design theme is the result of sketches Sherwood Egbert " doodled " on a jet-plane flight west from Chicago 37 days after becoming president of Studebaker in February, 1961.

" Designed by Raymond Loewy's team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews and John Ebstein on a 40-day crash program, the Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body design mounted on a modified Studebaker Lark Daytona 109-inch convertible chassis with a modified 289 Hawk engine.

The Avanti name, tooling and plant space were sold to two South Bend, Indiana, Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman, the first of a succession of entrepreneurs to manufacture small numbers of Avanti replica and new design cars through 2006.

Some of these designs were bell-shaped ( Buick, Chevrolet, and Pontiac ), split and slightly folded ( Silver Arrow, Mercury, 1946 Oldsmobile ), cross-shaped ( pre-war Studebaker Champion models, 1941 Cadillac, 1942 Ford ), while some including Packard, Rolls-Royce, and MG-TC models still followed the older arch-shaped design.

Following the introduction of the 1947 Buick, Studebaker, and Kaiser, grilles became shorter and wider to accommodate for the change in design.

The body style followed by the Gazelle between 1956 and 1967 came to be known as the " Audax " body, with significant input from the US based Loewy design organisation, highly regarded at the time partly on account of Loewy's input to several iconic Studebaker designs.

Although designed " in house " by the Rootes Group, it was inspired, via the Raymond Loewy design organisation, by the new-generation Studebaker coupés of 1953.

Since it was a seller ’ s market after WWII, Studebaker felt no need to change the basic design of the car, even though they knew that other makers would have “ new ” cars in 1949.

The car's ponton styling was authored by industrial designer Raymond Loewy who had been under contract with Studebaker for the design of their automobiles.

In 1946, Studebaker built a limited number of cars based on their 1942 body shell in preparation for its new body and design roll out in 1947.

In 1953, Studebaker was redesigned by Robert Bourke, from Raymond Loewy's design studio.

Erskine bought the design that day and both Vail and Cole would be brought in to the Studebaker organization.

Vehicles manufactured from 1936 also showed the influence of industrial designer Raymond Loewy, who was hired as Studebaker ’ s design consultant, and Helen Dryden who specialised in interior styling.

1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner, showing the streamlined design of the 1950s Studebaker.

On the ground and in the air it was powered by a Studebaker engine.

The cross-country performance of the Studebaker US6 2½ ton truck was so good that it became the GAU's standard mounting in 1943, designated BM-13N ( normalizovanniy, ' standardized '), and more than 1, 800 of this model were manufactured by the end of World War II.

He was very successful as an advertising pitchman, for South Bend-based Studebaker and other products.

It was a separate product line of Studebaker and priced in the low cost market segment.

Although it was only fractionally longer than the contemporary Volkswagen Beetle, Time said the length of its hood over the front-mounted engine made " the difference seem considerably more ", adding that the car " resembles a sawed-off station wagon, with a long, low hood and swept-up rear, and is faintly reminiscent of the original Studebaker Avanti.

The next American production automobile equipped with caliper-type disc brakes was the 1963 model year Studebaker Avanti ( the Bendix system optional on some of the other Studebaker models ).

In the Muppet Movie Fozzie makes reference to his uncle, whose Studebaker he traded in while his uncle was hibernating.

In the late 1980s, the Avanti, an automobile with a fiberglass body originally designed by Studebaker to compete with the Corvette, was manufactured in an industrial complex located on Youngstown's Albert Street.

Raymond Loewy was a prolific American designer who is responsible for the Royal Dutch Shell corporate logo, the original BP logo ( in use until 2000 ), the PRR S1 steam locomotive, the Studebaker Starlight ( including the later iconic bulletnose ), as well as Schick electric razors, Electrolux refrigerators, short-wave radios, Le Creuset French ovens, and a complete line of modern furniture, among many other items.

The revolutionary new model Nance hoped for was delayed until 1955, partially because of Packard's merger with Studebaker.

Although Packard was still in fair financial shape, Studebaker was not, struggling with high overhead and production costs and needing the impossible figure of 250, 000 cars a year to break even.

While the 1957 Packard Clipper was less Packard, it was a very good Studebaker.

More styles were added, a 2-door hardtop and 4-door sedan, and as the premier model, a Packard Hawk that was a Studebaker Golden Hawk with a new front, a spare wheel moulded in the trunk lid reminiscent of the concurrent Imperial, and Packard styling cues.

The Studebaker factory was older than Packard's Detroit plant, with higher production requirements, which added to dipping sales.

There was also a general decline in demand for large cars which heralded an industry switch to compact cars like the Studebaker Lark.

It was put on show at various Studebaker dealerships before being put into storage.

Rediscovered 30 years later by George Hamlin, the car was restored and put on display by the Studebaker museum.

Ironically, it was considered that the Packard name might be used for the new fiberglass sports car, as well as Pierce-Arrow, the make Studebaker controlled in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana.

Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the military.

In April 1858, he quit and moved out to apply this to financing the vehicle manufacturing of H & C Studebaker, which was already booming because of a big order to build wagons for the US Army.