Studebaker Garage

Avanti History

Mr. Raymond Loewy along with Studebaker Corporation President Sherwood Egbert presenting the 1963 Studebaker Avanti

                  Back in November 1963 when the South Bend Plant of the Studebaker Corporation closed it doors it was not known what the future of the Avanti was, the revolutionary model brought out in 1962 to help put Studebaker back on the map as a US automaker.  Mr. Raymond Loewy and his team of engineers designed the most modern American sports coupe of the day with many standard options that were still on the drawing boards of many of the other US automakers. Although it was taken from concept to final design in record time, Studebaker had some initial problems with getting the fiberglass body produced which cost them some eager customers that couldn't wait for the 1963 models to hit the showrooms.  Even then many persons had to wait for their Avanti to be produced which cost them more sales and eventually helped to see the Avanti only produce 4647 cars in 1963-64 model years.  Although Studebaker continued to produce only "Lark" based cars for just over 2 more years in Hamilton Ontario Canada, The Avanti, Hawk, Challenger & Convertible Models along with the truck & military vehicle Divisions ceased production by the end of 1963. In early 1964 Kaiser-Jeep purchased the Defense Product unit of Studebaker where they continued to build Military pattern trucks for the US Forces and other countries around the world. The Avanti and the Civilian truck model rights were sold to the local South Bend Studebaker dealer, Newman & Altman who took on the huge task of starting a new, independent company (The Avanti Motor Corporation) and restart the production of the new Avanti model known as the Avanti II. The Studebaker truck models (Champ or Transtar) unfortunately were never produced past 1964 as they were kept busy just producing the Avanti

 

  1969 Avanti II

1969 Avanti - Fresh out of the paint shop & ready to drive

           As a Studebaker owner for the past 22 years I never initially though much about looking for or owning an Avanti, I have always had great admiration for these cars that Studebaker brought out in 1962 as a Hail-Mary attempt to remain in the Automotive Manufacturing Business but due to high prices for some of these cars and having limited resources I was generally happy with our two Studebakers that got us reliably to the many car events and functions we enjoy as Studebaker Driver Club members. When I was told that someone was interested in our 1963 Champ truck that I was working on and that they had a 1969 Avanti II that they wished to sell. We were able to arrange a deal that both parties were satisfied with and I soon found myself an owner of a 1969 Avanti II in the spring of 2015. Although it was mechanically sound it needed new wheels (Magnum 500) and tires (BF Goodrich Radial TA) and other odds & ends which I purchased over the summer at Summit Racing. I was also able to acquire a set of rechromed bumpers which are extremely hard to get but greatly improved the overall appearance of car.

          Although some Vintage Car experts will say it's not really a Studebaker, I tend to somewhat disagree as the RQA models of the Avanti still used the same body and chassis parts that were leftover from Studebaker when they were sold to Newman & Altman. The only other real difference was the engine under the hood which was the 300 HP Chevrolet Corvette 327 cu.in. engine. All of the persons that hand-assembled these cars were former Studebaker employees who took great pride in producing these rare beauties and being one of 92 produced for the 1969 model year makes it a rare car indeed.

 

The 300+ HP Chevrolet Corvette 327 CU. IN engine (L79 Crane Camshaft) provides the Avanti II with lots of get up and go.

This is what many drivers see after this beauty leaves them in the dust

                 Next on the agenda is getting to work on some other things such as the AC but as it sits it's ready for the road. Just got back from South Bend where we attended the 53rd SDC Meet.  Drove over 1500 miles getting 22 MPG Imp on the highway while having no problems. As we all know in the SDC this is the best part of vintage car ownership which is to drive them like they were meant to be. No trailer queens in our garage as they all have to earn their keep.

 

Read all about our recent trip to South Bend while attending the 53rd SDC Meet

Avanti Maintenance Projects/upgrades

Installing Stainless Steel Exhaust

Installing a Fuel sending Unit

1964 Studebaker Avanti at the 2018 Targa Tasmania

1969 Avanti II Specifications

Avanti II with optional 327 Supercharged engine Road Test

For the complete story on the Avanti check out these links

- Studebaker Avanti

- Classic car History

- The Avanti

- Avanti Car

 - 1965-69 Avanti II

Studebaker Avanti - The World's Fastest Production Car

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