Thursday, October 04, 2012
Primary sources
UK Telegraph has a feature on the Citroen DS, calling it the world's most beautiful car. Tastes are subjective, of course ... but if you're going to consider that basic shape as most beautiful, you need to take the original of that shape. Namely the '53 Studebaker.
I've always been puzzled by the tendency to describe Bob Bourke's perfect design as 'European'. It's reverse causation. Nothing in Europe looked remotely like those lovely Studes at the time when they were designed. Euro cars in 1951 were still mainly prewar designs, because Euro factories were just barely recovering from total devastation. The only major exceptions were the Morris Minor and some Austin models, but they weren't radical or 'style leaders' by any means; they were just keeping up with American postwar designs.
To my eyes exactly one American car was an echo of already existing Euro designs, namely the '34 Hupmobile. Also done by Loewy Studios.
¶ 3:48 AM 
