In 1960 the wildest Flaminia prototype was first shown: the Loraymo coupe from the studios of Raymond Loewy and realized in aluminum by carrozzeria Motto in Italy. Loewy was a French-born artist who had established one of the leading industrial design studios in the USA. This studio designed all sorts of things: logos, packaging, office equipment, and cars. These designs were usually attributed to Loewy, while often he was just the promotor and had an elaborate staff of gifted designers to back him up.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Loewy Studios had put their mark on Studebaker design, which was very advanced and influential at the time. In the mid-1950s, Loewy turned away from Studebaker and created several show cars with sport coupe styling. The Loraymo was one of those; it followed a 1957 BMW 507 coupe prototype with excessive "coke-bottle" curves at the sides and preceded the famous 1963 Studebaker Avanti.
Styling-wise, the Loraymo was the intermediate model between Loewy's exuberant BMW 507 special and the elegant and balanced Studebaker Avanti; aspects of both can be found in it without it being much alike. Loewy chose the Flaminia 2.5 liter V6 (tuned by Nardi to produce 140 hp) platform for this special is unclear; perhaps he wanted some Italian flair to rub off on the design.
Coke-bottle style sweeping curves had become a characteristic styling feature in Loewy designs, which is not that strange because the Loewy studios had designed the classic shape of the (small) Coca-Cola bottle. It became trendy and common in American car design in the mid-1960s, but it was still quite unusual when the Loraymo was presented at the Paris Motor Show. Another critical innovation shown on the Loraymo was the roof spoiler above the rear window. This must have been a first at the time, and it was decades ahead of its time.
Additional distinctive features were the jet-like nose flanked by cutaway and recessed fenders and the small air intake placed to one side of the hood. This last detail returned to many other car designs. Later, it came into the possession of Lancia's factory museum, proving its importance, however odd it might look. Loewy has used the Loraymo as his car quite as Pinin Farina did with the Florida II before.
Source: www.ritzsite.nl
Images: carcatalog1.free.fr