Robert E. Bourke of Loewy/Studebaker is credited with the Starliner design.
Beautiful 1953 Starliner, owned by Ian Hendry of Yorba Linda, California.
The american highway of ‘53
was beset with awkward
hulking bulky hunks
ungainly lunks
absent visual integrity
behemoth
style-less
detroit steel
no true soul
no genuine feel
as if gliding to earth
from a burst of stardust
graceful
and sleek
igniting our lust
came Bourke’s vision
of automotive chic
as enticing
and exciting
as a beautiful women
no american car
was minimalisticaly finer
a heavenly body
named for its celestial muse
the alluringly stunning
Starliner
gorgeous from the start
even now
a stainless steel
work of art
it heralded the future
in motor city design
from that point in time
detroit’s awkward design minds
moved steadily to refine
fresh ideas to define
a new era of mobile beauty
the classic Commander
still coveted today
even idolized
restored
rebuilt
and customized
it’s a rolling
sculptural
masterpiece
beauty to outlast history
magnificent simplicity
bravo Robert E!
*
rob kistner © 2021
Poetry at: dVerse
~ comparison below shows dramatic design difference of ‘53 Starliner ~
1953 Studebaker
1952 Studebaker
1953 Ford
1953 Plymoth
1953 Chevrolet
Nice one
Much love
Thanks Gillena.
did you have one of your own, Rob?
-David
Never was able to find one in top condition that I could justify spending the money on. Wife, children, and mortgage took precedence. Now it isn’t realistic for me. A good friend of mine has one in fine shape. Living 3,000 miles apart, I just covet it from afar. I do have a beautiful high-detail metal model of one.
Ha….real passion in those words…you polished it with your poetry and made it gleam…
Thanks Ain. 😉
Cars, you either understand the attraction or you don’t. I fall into the latter category, but I feel your enthusiasm!
I hear you… That’s cool Jane. I chose the Starliner because, automobile or not, a completely unexpected design, that defines a milepost in a part of the American cultural zeitgeist (which the automobile was then, and remains, possibly even more so for environmental reasons) is important and noteworthy historical design. That was my underlying focus of my piece — my intent.
A classic, for sure!
And it will remain so Ingrid. Its sleek minimalist design still exudes grace and profound logic.
Beautiful tribute to Studebaker.
Next came the Hawk, and I believe it ended with the Avanti
Yes, both iconic from a design standpoint Ron — but neither so far a departure from the trends of its time than Robert E Bourke’s Starliner. Go take a reminder look at a 1953 Ford, or Chevy, or Plymouth, or any other affordable American automobile of the time — even the 1952 Studebaker. These are awkward, clunky and ugly in comparison to the ‘53 Starliner — which seemed to emerge from a significantly different place in time and space. That is why I find the Starliner important.
An interesting choice, Rob, thank you! I know nothing about cars, but that one in the photo definitely has a face. ????
And a face, that when it hit the scene, was truly like no other — and sparked an emerging change in a major part of American life and culture… the automobile. Being a designer and artist, as well as a poet, I found this of significance Merril. ????
How well I remember the pimpmobiles of Route 66!
“If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.”
Words written by Bobby Troup, and recorded by Nat King Cole, the Rolling Stones, and others. Those were quite the days I bet Bev. I can see you my friend, good girl, scarf on, rollin in a convertible, top down…. A scoundrel choir boy, I loved dating good catholic girls. Married 3 good girls, well, mostly good — there was, after all, me… and my convertibles… 😉
Great tribute! My mom’s first car was a Studebaker. She still remembers it fondly today.
Mom had good taste Teresa… 🙂
Herein the American love affair with automobiles! Those grand old autos were the best. I swear, these new rides all look alike. Now I’m humming “Baby, you can drive my car….”
Thanks!
The Studebaker Starliner was the most unique car of its era Yvonne. …ibeep beep, beep beep, n’yeah!
I agree that the Starliner was a princess amongst Detroit barges, The Golden Hawk had the same lines. Never owned a Studebaker. It was sad to see them merge with Packard before their demise.
Sadly Glenn, with the Golden Hawk, Studebaker completely ruined the beautiful minimalist design of the Starliner by adding garish “detroit-‘57-fins”, and an “egg crate”, masquerading as a most unfortunate front grill, thus destroying the amazing low profile taper of the car, hood to the trunk — losing the amazing single-stroke design line. I believe the initially tasteful and brilliant Loewy/Studebaker design group, pushed by the newly in-house Packard morons, succumbed to the pressure of the public’s abysmal taste, and lust for “bolt-on shit”, surrendering to “ghastly ornamenting” what was, and in my opinion, is still the most beautiful and graceful automobile ever designed in motor city USA. This decline in design began severely with the ‘55 model, when they abandoned the clean simplicity and sleekness of the Starliner, and added horrendous amounts of chrome strips and doodads to the side, front, and back. They lost their beautiful soul, and eventually their company, because they began to compromise, to satisfy a gaudy and tasteless American public. Studebaker went from having it so very right, to getting it all completely wrong.
She’s a beaut! I like your musical selection to go with the admiring poem.
Just coveting Lisa… 🙂
I rather liked some of the early fifties cars, like boats I thought even as a child riding in them, laying up on the back window ledge of grandpa’s De Soto. No car seats for us, of course, or needed, with everyone driving 35 and ten tons of detroit steel. Your Studebaker is a beautiful machine.
I road in them as well Joy. They were definitely boats, more like barges – but as I matured, I came to realize that none had the amazingly ground-breaking clean, long-before-its-time beauty of the ‘53 Starliner. In the tacky world of ham-fisted Detroit designers, the appearance of the Robert Bourke’s Starliner in 1953 was almost a miracle. I greatly admire his courage to embrace the impeccable, timeless logic that this remarkable break through in automative design represented. Its style is still as fresh as a crisp morning, and in many ways, more minimalisticaly tasteful than many modern cars.
Aye, aye! I can feel your passion, Rob.
Pleased this resonated for you Punam… 🙂
Such an excellent poem about a time, a place, and a thing. Wonderfully done, Rob.
Thank you Bill! 🙂
I cannot say I ever saw a car like that, but I can really see it’s refined lines.
And that was in 1953 Bjorn — incredible design way zhead of its time.