For 1952, Studebaker ditched its radical Aero Nose design and adopted a more conventional front end for its entire product line.

Champion Deluxe Two-Door Sedan

For 1950, Studebaker refreshed its unconventionally styled 1947 models with an even bolder front end the automaker called Aero Nose, predicting it was “the next look in cars.” Well, it wasn’t. The next look in cars lasted just two years, so it’s more of an interesting footnote in the annals of automotive styling. (See our feature on the ’50-51 Studebakers here.) For 1952, chief designer Raymond Loewy and his two lead stylists, Bob Bourke and Bob Kyoto, created a far more conventional front end for the ’47 design, with no nose bullet in sight.

Bob Bourke, Raymond Loewy, and Bob Kyoto

Evidently, even Loewy had changed his mind about the Aero Nose, telling Studebaker historian Richard Langworth years later (1979) that the ’52 facelift was “most welcome, as it made it possible to lower the bonnet. I always objected to a high hood.” With Loewy off in Europe attending to his other clients, Bourke was given a free hand to develop the new front end. As we can see, it foreshadows the nose on his groundbreaking ’53 Studebaker.

Commander State Starliner

Another welcome change for ’52 was the addition of a pillarless hardtop, the Starliner, available in both the Champion and Commander model lines.  It came three years after General Motors introduced the body style, and reportedly, there was no particular reason for the delay; Studebaker simply placed it on low priority. A prototype was developed in 1951 but never executed.

The Starliner greenhouse has more than a passing resemblance to the GM hardtop, too, with a three-piece backlite and inverted-triangle C-pillar. The ingenious design disguises the small, more easily stowable rear side glass, creating the illusion of a larger window. Meanwhile, the Starlight Coupe with its distinctive wraparound rear backlight was continued as well.

Automatic Drive 

In other ways, Studebaker had done a better job than the rest of the independent carmakers in keeping up with industry trends. In 1950 the company introduced its own fully automatic transmission in partnership with Borg-Warner, calling it Automatic Drive. And in 1951 came Studebaker’s first overhead-valve V8. Designed more for economy than performance according to the company, the 232 CID V8 was rated at just 120 hp in its initial state of tune. (See our Studebaker V8 feature here.)

Commander Regal Convertible Indy 500 pace car 

In 1952, the South Bend automaker was celebrating its 100th birthday, so the year’s production was presented as the Centennial Studebakers. As part of the ambitious marketing campaign, Studebakers served as pace cars and official vehicles at both the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the Indianapolis 500. Actually, there were two Commander Regal Convertible pace cars at Indy, a primary and a backup. One of them (it’s not clear which) was awarded to that year’s race winner, Troy Ruttman. At 22, he was the youngest 500 winner in history.

The ’52 Studebakers were reasonably well received with more than 186,000 produced (including almost 27,000 Starliner hardtops.) But it was a significant drop from the company’s best year in 1950—around 45 percent. Worse yet, Studebaker’s break-even point was estimated at 200,000 cars. The automaker’s sales were now in a state of permanent decline. But not its styling: For 1953, Studebaker introduced one of the most beautiful cars in U.S. history.

Champion Regal Starlight Coupe