Lancia Loraymo

Lancia Loraymo - And the Loewy Logic of Industrial Design 

Sebastopol, CA -- The new book Lancia Loraymo from Fetherston Publishing LLC can best be described as an automotive mystery. Researched and written by journalist Brandes Elitch, it follows the development of the Lancia Loraymo, which was designed by the Father of Industrial Design, Raymond Loewy, as a personal project to advertise the Loewy brand. Built for the 1960 Paris Motor Show, where it was the hit of the show, the Loramyo was reminiscent of the fabulous cars that graced the Concours d’Elegance circuit in pre-war France. The chassis was specially prepared by the Lancia factory to showcase the new Flaminia series with a handmade aluminum body by Carrozzeria Moto. It garnered enormous publicity for a few short years, and then disappeared. Like the intrigue that surrounds the fabled Chrysler Norseman dream car, the missing Loramyo came back to life when it was found 20 years later in a scrap yard in Sacramento, CA, missing its original drive train and scheduled to be crushed. This is the story of the birth, near-death, discovery and restoration of Loewy’s Loraymo. Elitch follows the trail, recalling the history of the car, its illustrious designer, and the Lancia marque, as it pertained to Loewy’s perspective on automobile and industrial design of the time. This historical journey wraps up with the design of the Studebaker Avanti, which utilized many of the design cues from the Loraymo. This is a fascinating story of one of the most mysterious show cars of the post-war period. It is set in large type to accommodate the baby boomer readers and is well documented in 128 pages with a 100 photos and illustrations. It is only available in a limited hardback edition of 500 copies at $59.95, exclusively at http://www.loewylancia.com