Coke bottle styling

Coke bottle styling is an automotive body design with a narrow center surrounded by flaring fenders. This design element bears a general resemblance to a Coca-Cola classic glass contour bottle design. Industrial designer Raymond Loewy introduced it on the radical 1962 Studebaker Avanti gran turismo.

The design was pioneered in fighter jets to significantly reduce the sharp drag rise at transonic speed and supersonic speeds. Using this design often results in a pinch-waisted fuselage shape that National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) labeled the design principle 'area rule' and variously identified as a coke bottle, wasp waist, or Marilyn Monroe shape. The area rule design technique is most effective between Mach 0.75 and 1.2, or at speeds over 575 mph (925 km/h). The design technique on automobiles provides a visual attraction, but negligible performance improvement.