Truly a Buck Rogers vision of the future, Studebaker's gamble with aircraft design vocabulary paid off for two glorious years starting in 1950.
Just say the word "Studebaker," and the chances are good that the image that springs immediately to mind is of the 1950-1951 models, a.k.a. the "bullet nose" or "airplane" Studey. Although Studebaker was the first major manufacturer to put a totally new design on the market (using the slogan "First by far with a postwar car") for the '47 model year, it's the face-lifted version of that basic car, which came three years later, that was paradoxically radical and commercially successful. One of the most oft-heard Studebaker clichés - "they were so ahead of their time" - is exemplified by the bullet nose. Truly a Buck Rogers vision of the future, Studebaker's gamble with aircraft design vocabulary paid off for two glorious years starting in 1950.
Photo Gallery: 1950-1951 Studebaker "Bullet Nose" Commander - Classic Studebaker Car - Automobile Magazine