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1966 Jaguar 4.2-Liter Series 1 XKE Coupe Coachwork by Pichon-Parat. Custom one-off designed by Raymond Loewy. Raymond Loewy is a legend in design history. Still, the man who helped shape such iconic works as the Greyhound bus, spectacular streamlined Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives, Coke bottle, Lucky Strike cigarette packet, and one of the most beautiful American cars – the Studebaker Starliner – had strange aesthetic judgments when it came to restyling his cars.
It takes a bold personality to think you can improve on such all-time beautiful sports cars as the Lancia Flaminia, BMW 507, and XK Jaguar. Still, the extrovert French-born industrial designer had different ideas.
For a man who criticized American car design as "jukeboxes on wheels," his range of gold-painted custom road cars contradicted his studio's pure design philosophy.
Loewy's bizarre Lancia Loraymo has hints of the Avanti in its overall profile, but there are some odd ideas about lights, spoiler, and unsightly extended grille. The car debuted at the 1960 Paris Motor Show and, like all his personal cars, was then driven around Europe.
The detailed design contrasts dramatically with the Starliner, which is now largely attributed to Robert E Bourke, while the Avanti was possibly more influenced by young team member Tom Kellogg, an ex-student from the LA Art Center. But Loewy always had a knack for spotting gifted designers.
The startling E-Type coupe is one of only two Jaguars restyled and customized by Raymond Loewy (it is the only one remaining; the other was created from a 1955 XK-140 and was demolished in a fire in 1957). Pichon-Parat of Sens, France, accomplished the substantial redesign coachwork on this E-Type, and the car was owned and driven by Mr. Loewy while he lived in France and Monaco.
Mr. Loewy's E-Type was left mechanically stock; his redesign work was restricted to the body panels, side window openings, and glass. The car was shortened fore (25cm) and aft (12cm); the new nose encompassing a dual headlight treatment, with the quad lights mounted behind plastic covers. The car's original radiator opening was also dispensed with the favor of a large oval-shaped metal grille, which likely improved the E-Type's marginal cooling capacity. The factory taillights were replaced with Chevrolet Corvair units frenched into the quarter panels. The dual exhaust pipes, which usually exit just below the rear license plate, are splayed outward, exiting the car's tail at approximately 45-degree angles. A unique glass "spoiler" was mounted at the roof's trailing edge.
Mr. Loewy anticipated today's Center High-Mounted Stoplight regulations by placing a large, red taillight in the aft cabin, visible through the 25% larger stock rear window, activated by the brake pedal. The interior remains otherwise stock.
Source: Mick Walsh - www.classicandsportscar.com; www.bonhams.com
Images: www.bonhams.com
