The Brass Lamp the Brass Lamp
December 2016 The Brass Lamp Studebaker: First in Muscle Cars? Glenn Arlt Historical Vehicle Association Blog October 2016 A conventional view of automo- when they redesigned the Styled by Raymond Loewy’s tive history remembers that the Thunderbird for 1958. And it team in 1952, the Starlight and muscle/pony car era pretty much was this “new” style of Thunder- Starliner started out as a couple began with the debut of GTO bird that begat the smaller and of concept cars. Going from the and Mustang, respectively, in less expensive Ford Mustang drawing board to the clay- 1964½. Not according to Hager- and its competitors, which be- model phase, the cars were ty Historian, Glenn Arlt, who gat cars like the Trans Am and considered so gorgeous that looks back a decade prior to the Camaro. they were ultimately given the evolution of Studebaker’s line go-ahead for full production in screaming “family sports cars.” After digging into the history of 1952 and debuted the follow- Starliner, Studebaker’s largely ing model year. The other day, I was rearranging unrecognized place in muscle a few 1/18 models I keep on my car history becomes even im- One look at the long hood, desk at the Hagerty Institute portant when you consider the short deck and low profile of and something caught my eye. automotive missing link that the Starliner, and even the cas- Two of the models—a 1977 really connects all these cars ual observer would agree, this black Trans Am and a 1953 Stu- together—another, ground- Studebaker classic satisfies the debaker Commander Starliner— breaking Studebaker known as modern definition of “pony car” were curiously similar.
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