Studebaker Avanti R2, serial number 5512, owned by Julian Poupard of Broadstirs, Kent, England was exhibited at the Design Museum at Tower Bridge in London, England in 1997. The show celebrated Raymond Loewy's
Coke bottle curve and other Coca-Cola related design themes.
From the Exhibit: Raymond Loewy, the colbratura genius of US consultancy design, had long admired Coca-Cola. In a famous magazine interview he recognized the erotic symbolism of the bottle comparing it to Aphrodites' bottom. When Loewy designed the artistically influencial (but commercially diastircal) Avanti for his long term client, Studebaker, he made the famous contour into a styling motif that influenced the motor industry for more than a decade. The kicked-up rear haunches of this astonishing car became known as the "Coke bottle curve" and were most famously seen on the 1964 Ford Mustang and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, arriving in England with the 1971 Ford Cortina.
