Starlight Studebaker 1947: The Car Shaped Like a Rocket…And Took Off Like One

The Starlight Studebaker from 1947 took advantage of the expansion of consumer demand following World War II to sell a lot of cars, almost 200,000 of them. The car harkened back to the war by being shaped like a rocket. A little-known fact is that in the United States, automotive production stopped for all companies as they sought to provide jeeps, tanks, and trucks for the war effort.

American industrial power won the war, and after it, there was a lot of pent-up demand for American consumers. The 1947 Starlight Studebaker harkened back to the past and was shaped like a rocket. It was very popular. Do you think it is wrong for companies to take advantage of worldwide calamities for marketing?

1947 Starlight Studebaker

The Sudebaker Starlight was available as a coupe. It was a 2-door body style that was offered by the company, which was based in South Bend, Indiana. The company existed from 1947 to 1955. In 1947, the Starlight capitalized on the trend to produce a car with the lines of the ponton style that had just gone mainstream after WWII. The car looked like a rocket. Ready to blast off.

There were two big styles in the car that need to be mentioned. First, the most striking feature was the extremely long hood-like cover over the luggage compartment of the sedan, which was exaggerated. This huge trunk had its critics. Many of them asked the rhetorical question, “Which way is it going?” Comedian Fred Allen quipped: “Next year, Studebaker is coming out with a model that you won’t be able to tell if it is going sideways.” The next element of styling was even more shocking.

Unlike other pillared two-door sedans that use two side windows separated from the rear window by roof supports, the Sudebaker Starlight created a roof rounded at the rear with a wraparound window system. The system created a sort of panoramic effect, similar to a railroad observation car. Earlier cars had hidden the rear seat passengers. Not so with this one.

The curved window had four panels of glass, and the roof was supported by two wide pillars, which were called “B” pillars. Right behind the doors and in front of the wraparound back window. The body style of the Starlight was originally named the “5-passenger coupe”; however, for the 1949 model year, it was renamed Starlight Coupe.

The car had a unique profile that provided the Studebaker marque with an easily recognized body shape, which was copied. This body style was copied by the other US manufacturers in their 1949 models, and appeared to be influenced by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, particularly by the shortened fuselage with wrap-around canopy. All of these things looked like rockets. The Starlight set a trend for multiple industries. Studebaker implemented the styling trend right away as well by adopting fighter aircraft appearances, and Buick and Cadillac vehicles starting in 1948 adopted that style.

Post World War II Automotive Boom In Production

The American Automotive industry stopped production for the Second World War. Instead, they retooled to produce jeeps, tanks, trucks, engines, and munitions. An argument could be made that this shift won the war for the Allies. After the war ended, there were larger production facilities and an exceptional amount of pent-up demand.

Production had taken a gigantic leap forward during the war. There were amphibious vehicles, and ones that traveled near the speed of sound. There were new weapons with unforeseen destructive power. These advances in technology have combined with a large change in the United States. Not only did the American highway system continue to expand, but the family vacation was born, and curbside hamburger stands for hungry travelers.

Conclusion

The change in the post World War Two American automotive industry cannot be overstated. Studebaker took full advantage of this massive change to produce the Starlight. Almost 200,000 of these cars were sold in each post-war year in the 1940s, starting in 1947. Moreover, the car influenced the design of cars and airplanes.