SW ~ Studebaker Week ~ "Loewy/Bourke Coupe Evolution"....

I always wished DM would have done the last in the line... a'63 Hawk Gran Turisimo I thought that was another beautiful design with a lot of European styling cues. Studebaker did so much with a single chassis. To the end, all the body panels were interchangeable which offered some really cool customizations.

Posted by: @rich-sufficool

I always wished DM would have done the last in the line... a'63 Hawk Gran Turisimo I thought that was another beautiful design with a lot of European styling cues. Studebaker did so much with a single chassis. To the end, all the body panels were interchangeable which offered some really cool customizations.

Absolutely, Rich! That would have made an exceptional piece. Hat tip to stylist Brooks Stevens who did the GT Hawk on a shoestring budget that yielded a timeless design.

Posted by: @rich-sufficool

I always wished DM would have done the last in the line... a'63 Hawk Gran Turisimo I thought that was another beautiful design with a lot of European styling cues. Studebaker did so much with a single chassis. To the end, all the body panels were interchangeable which offered some really cool customizations.

Studebaker commissioned a 1963 four door hardtop, styling model - the Lark Cruiser - whose doors were interchangeable: Front LHS to Back RHS and vice versa.

Here area  few more Studebaker concepts that never made it into production

Lark SW concept

The fantastic Sceptre, style by Brooks Stevens. Stevens proposed this as a replacement for the GT Hawk.

Studebaker had Loewy look at further possibilities for the Avanti design, including this 4 door mockup.

A Sceptre station wagon was also briefly contemplated. These are manually retouched photos.

The Sceptre and the Cruiser posed together and the Sceptre showing it's standard Studebaker V-8 and cavernous trunk with huge opening....

What a fascinating design for the hood and trunk. I wonder why no one ever copied them? Perhaps it was just too much sheet metal to lift? 

@jkuvakas Probably something like that, John. In the trunk, I think the design would prove impractical in real world use since things might tend to spill out the sides.