The Starlight coupe was a unique 2-door body style offered by Studebaker

Studebaker

Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...

 Corporation of South Bend, Indiana

South Bend, Indiana

The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...

 (USA) from 1947-1952 in its Champion

Studebaker Champion

The Studebaker Champion is an automobile which was produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana from the beginning of the 1939 model year until 1958....

 and Commander

Studebaker Commander

The Studebaker Commander is the model-name of a long succession of automobiles produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana and Studebaker of Canada Ltd of Walkerville and, later, Hamilton, Ontario . Studebaker began using the Commander name in 1927 and continued to use it until...

 model series. The Starlight body style was considered a halo model and was designated 5P (presumably 'five-passenger', to distinguish it from the three-passenger Businessman's coupe).

Unlike other pillared two-door sedans which use two side windows separated from the rear window by roof supports, designer Robert E Bourke created a rounded (at the rear) roof with a wraparound window system that provided a panoramic effect, similar to a railroad observation car. The curved window was achieved with four fixed panels of glass. The roof was supported by two wide pillars (sometimes referred to as "B" pillars) immediately behind the doors and in front of the wraparound back window. The body style was originally named, simply, "5-passenger coupe" however, for the 1949 model year, it was re-named Starlight Coupe.

Critics of the radically styled models commented by asking the rhetorical question, "Which way is it going?" (Fred Allen

Fred Allen

Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...

 quipped: 'Next year Studebaker is coming out with a model that you won't be able to tell if it is going sideways'.) However, the car's unique profile provided the Studebaker marque with an easily recognized model. While considered revolutionary, other U.S. automobile manufacturers failed to follow with other similarly styled cars and instead focused their attentions on developing pillarless hardtop

Hardtop

A hardtop is a term for a rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof. It has been used in several contexts: detachable hardtops, retractable hardtop roofs, and the so-called pillarless hardtop body style....

 models.

Engine	Transmission	HP	Wheelbase	Length
245.6 CID 1-bbl. 6-cylinder	3-speed manual, Overdrive, automatic	102	119"	204.4"

For 1950 and 1951, all Studebakers received a freshening of the 1947 design with the addition of the "bullet nose" (sometimes referred to as the "spinner" front) front sheet metal; when combined with the Starlight body style, Studebakers looked comparatively futuristic at the time. This version of the Starlight body style continued until the end of the 1952 model year when it was sold side by side with a hardtop ("Starliner") version of the same models.

In 1953 Studebaker radically redesigned all of its models and discontinued the 1947–1952 panoramic "5-passenger" ("Starlight") coupe. Studebaker sedans rode on an 116 in (2,946.4 mm) wheelbase, although emphasis was placed on the sports car

Sports car

A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....

-like "Loewy" 2-door coupes that rode on Studebaker's longer 120 in (3,048 mm) wheelbase. Offered in both Champion and Commander model ranges, the coupes were available as pillared and hardtop body styles. Hardtop coupes were designated Starliners while the Starlight designation was applied to the five window pillared coupes. The styling on both these later cars copied on the Hillman Minx

Hillman Minx

The Hillman Minx was a series of middle-sized family cars produced under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1932 and 1970...

 of the late 50's and 60's, which was also designed by Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...

.

The '55 model name of the previous Starlight reverted back to "5-passenger coupe", "Starliner" became "5-passenger hardtop."

For 1956, these coupes were heavily modified and reborn as the Studebaker Hawk series.

In 1958, Studebaker again applied the Starlight name to a body style, this time on its first full-sized hardtop models since 1952. With lackluster sales and a switch to the compact Lark

Studebaker Lark

The Studebaker Lark is a "compact car" which was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" from its name and reverted to its pre-1954 name, the...

, the company no longer was in need of the Starlight moniker and it was permanently retired at the end of the model year. However, good names die hard. In 1960, Ford named its 2-door hardtop "Starliner".

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 would attempt an effect similar to the Starlight in 1977 with its Toronado XS

Oldsmobile Toronado

The original Toronado began as a design painting by Oldsmobile stylist David North in 1962. His design, dubbed the "Flame Red Car," was for a compact sports/personal car never intended for production...

model. Unlike the Studebaker, however, advances in auto glass production allowed the Toronado wrap around window to be manufactured in one sheet of glass that was bent using "hot wire" technology.