Loewy left Studebaker in 1955 and went abroad to build a Jaguar in 1955, a
BMW 507 roadster displayed at the 1957 Paris Auto Show, and a Lancia, unveiled in 1960. The popular Jaguar XK-E, designed by Malcolm Sayer in 1961 must certainly have influenced Studebaker president Sherwood Egbert's mandate for the Avanti. Loewy's proposals to the Avanti design team (in March 1961) to minimize chrome; avoid decorative moldings; stress long, down-slanted hood; abbreviate rear and tuck under, and pinch waistline, as le Mans-type racing cars were more characteristic of the radical new XK-E than his own earlier Jaguar proposal. The Jaguar XK 140 was manufactured by Boana and was first shown at the 1955 Paris Salon. These photographs from the Library of Congress were probrably taken in Central Park, NYC in 1956. This unique and unusual Loewy effort did not survive; it was completely destroyed in 1957 in a fire at Barris Kustoms of California.
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