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While I was researching the Steve Jobs May Be The Raymond Loewy Of Computer Design, But that Doesn't Make Apple The Studebaker Of PC Makers article, which has proved to be one of my more popular Moore's Views & Reviews columns, I ran across a reference to Raymond Loewy Having toured Europe with his wife and daughter in the early 60s in a customized 1959 Cadillac.

So when Loewy's daughter, Lawrence Loewy, contacted me on the weekend with some kind comments about the article, I just had to ask her about that '59 Caddy. Ms. Loewy has filled in some of the details about the car, and graciously forwarded a couple of photographs with permission for me to share them with Applelinks readers.

The 1959 Cadillac marked the zenith, so to speak, of Detroit's tailfins era. I guess some people think that it is beautiful. I find it excessive and exaggeratedly overdone, but so much so, and so brazenly, that it has a certain charm and integral coherence within the context of its time.

However, like me, Raymond Loewy was underwhelmed by the 59 Cadillac's styling, but presumably impressed with the solid engineering underneath, and so, set about remedying the Cadillac's aesthetic deficiencies.

Laurence Loewy writes:

"Dad would have enjoyed your kind words concerning his custom '59. He hated monstrous fins and grilles...

"Pichon and Parat of Sens, France were the coach-builders for Dad's '59 Caddy. In '57 they built the famous BMW 507. It was a small shop. Dad enjoyed doing some hands-on work to get his point across. I remember visiting the shop with Mom and watching Dad... taking a cutting torch to neuter the chrome-plated barge. He started with the giant fins and didn't stop until he cut off 150 lbs. of bulky chrome-plated extras."

"The Caddy was a light, grey-blue-green with a metallic luster and the roof was bone white. The design demonstrates that simplicity and elegance can be combined in a big car."

As for the European tour in the custom Cadillac, Ms. Loewy recalls:

"The large, air-conditioned, chauffeur-driven car was a comfortable, excellent machine for touring Europe with Mom and Dad. As with many of Dad's creations, people would stop and nod at our car with smiles of approval. I welcomed the over-sized Caddy after being stuffed in the back of Dad's custom BMW 507. My father sold the '59 Caddy to a friend in Southern California who still owns it."

As for Ms. Loewy's current activities with Loewy Design she notes:

"I reopened Loewy Design in 1998 to introduce a new generation to my father's body of good work. My first job was to design some modern area rugs for one of my father's old clients, Edward Fields Rugs. I had every intention of spending most of my days at the drawing board. However, since TIME Magazine's issue of 3-20-00, devoted to Modern Design and my father, I have had to devote the majority of my time to Raymond Loewy related projects such as exhibitions, books, screen projects, product endorsements and the Raymond Loewy Foundation..

"Current projects at Loewy Design include: Supporting the Raymond Loewy Foundation, http://www.RaymondLoewyFoundation.com. A major Loewy exhibition at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware (Palm Springs held a Loewy exhibition in 2001.) Two Loewy inspired screenplays, "Streamlined" and a French documentary Two new Loewy books, a biography and a children's book The re issuing of "Never Leave Well Enough Alone" and "Locomotive" in 2002, ("Industrial Design was re issued in 2000".) The issuing of four new Raymond Loewy lithographs from his "Antipainting" series."

I also asked Laurence Loewy what sort of computer equipment she uses, and she replied:

"In our office I use an IBM Pentium III with Windows 98 and a fat 19" monitor. I have never been exposed to the Apple computer format. I must admit Steve Job's new flat-panel iMacs caught my attention."

As I said in the article, I think the flat-panel iMac is a design Raymond Loewy would have approved of.

Raymond Loewy

From Jake Gorst

Hi Charles,

Thank you for that great article about Steve Jobs and Raymond Loewy. Thanks also for linking to my article about the MAYA Stage. Laurence Loewy pointed me in your direction. Fantastic!

Will the article remain online for a while? I would like to make mention of it in my newsletter for February.

Best regards,

Jake Gorst
Exploded View
http://www.explodedview.tv

Charles

Raymond Loewy

From Michelle Witt

Mr. Moore,

I loved your article comparing Jobs and Loewy -- I've only recently become aquainted with Loewy's work and find myself quite an admirer. I work for a non-profit cultural complex in Roanoke, VA and head up a campaign to restore Roanoke's 1905 N&W Railway Passenger Station. Thus my new found interest in Loewy -- the N&W Railway commissioned Loewy to redesign the Station in the 1940s -- it is one of the few buildings that Loewy ever designed and it is quite an honor to be involved in the project. I found your article insightful and educational.

Best regards,

Michelle Witt
Director of Capital Gifts
Center in the Square
Roanoke, VA

Charles

Re: Loewy

From Bob Kapteyn

Please , read page 202 of "Studebaker the complete story by Cannon and Fox. Bill Cannon and Fred Fox are "THE" experts on Studebaker. The same story was in Richard Langworth and Asa Hall's book. It states that Virgil Exner left Loewy studios in 1944 and was hired by Cole to design the 1947 Studebaker.

The Loewy studios had an competing design but the Exner design won out. Exner was not connected to Loewy studios anymore.

Bob

Hi again Bob;

I haven't seen the reference you cite, but a vast number of references give Loewy and Exner joint credit for the '47 Stude design.

100 Years of Design--A Chronology 1895-1995, by Carroll Gantz, FIDSA notes that:

"In 1944 [Robert Bourke] moved to Loewy's independant group in South Bend, and worked with Virgil Exner (1909-1973) on Loewy's famous 1947 post-war Studebaker design which astounded the market. Bourke replaced Exner as head of the Loewy group at Studebaker, after Loewy fired Exner for conspiring with Studebaker Engineering VP Roy E. Cole to by-pass Loewy in the design of the 1947 models."

Gantz also says of Exner:

"In 1937 he went to the office of Raymond Loewy, and in 1939 was assigned by Loewy to head the Studebaker account in South Bend, with the major role in design of the postwar Studebaker (introduced in 1947). But in 1944, he was fired by Loewy and hired directly by Studebaker."

AutoMuseum of Dublin, Ohio says:

"Working at Studebaker with Virgil M. Exner, later design vice president at Chrysler, Loewy spent a part of the war years developing design executions for the post-war Studebaker cars. Launched in mid-1946, these Studebaker designs were the product of a less than happy collaboration between Virgil Exner and Loewy, (Exner resigned before the project's completion) but the cars were stunning."

Studebaker enthusiast Michael Bostedt says of the '47 Studebaker:

"Costing $11 million to develop these new Studebakers were presented in the spring of 1946. This was the work of Robert E Bourke and Virgil M Exner at Loewy Associates. Exner, who by the time it was released had set up its own design studio, was actually the person responsible for the details of the car."

says in a footnote that:

"While Raymond Loewy is credited with the overall design of the pace setting '47s, some of the detail design of the new Studebakers was actually accomplished by Virgil Exner. Exner had worked for Loewy but was fired when their egos clashed.  Chief Engineer Roy E. Cole, who disliked Loewy, hired Exner on the sly having him work from his home.  To ensure Exners success, Cole then fed bogus specifications to Loewy.  When it was discovered that much of Loewy’s design had incorrect measurements it was too late to do anything but use Exners covert design. To appease Loewy, Studebaker gave him full credit. Some sources suggest that from the cowl forward is Exners design."

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