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March 22: Raymond Loewy sketched the Studebaker Avanti on this date in 1961

Fifty-two years ago today (March 22, 1961), Raymond Loewy -- industrial designer, illustrator, and all-around creative genius -- put fluid pen to paper and designed what would become the 1963 Studebaker Avanti. Commissioned by Studebaker president Sherwood Egbert, Loewy drew nearly a dozen sketches in all, each of which was more attractive than the eventual production car seen in the video below, if slow sales are any indication. By 1964, Egbert was out, and the company was defunct within two years, proving once again Edison's aphorism: "Vision without execution is hallucination."