Roadmaster49: 1953 produced two gorgeous American cars, the Kaiser Manhattan and the Studebaker 2-door hardtops and coupes. No other American cars came close to these two that year. As partial as I am to Kaisers, those two Studies have a bit of an edge. Of course, when it comes to interiors, Kaiser has it all over everyone! Studebaker interiors were just plain boring.
Ah yes, thanks for the correction. Clearly the Studebaker was a great looking car. I was mentally focused on GM, Ford and Chrysler, all dogs compared to the Kaiser (and I am Buick Club member and WP Chrysler Club member). Even the other independents were lagging badly. Take Hudson with a 5th year body and Nash. Packard? eh, OK but not on KF's level.
I think the beauty of the 2nd gen cars which started in 1951 was the ability to add style to the 51 basic body. We have discussed previously 51 versus 53/54 but I can easily look at either and find them attractive variants on a good theme.
53 Buicks were nice looking cars but lacked integrity front to back, meaning they had styling flaws. Chrysler styling before Virgil Exner, well, it was a styling by committee car and even their President finally admitted defeat.
But Studes were fresh - in the 2 door variant. I have never seen a Starlight 4 door I cared for. They were clearly designed as a 2 door coupe. So, KF still was the best overall designed car in 1953, with a nod to Studebaker for coupes.
