Studebaker Avanti

See also Avanti cars (non-Studebaker)
Studebaker Avanti

1963 Studebaker Avanti
Overview
Manufacturer Studebaker Corporation
Also called Avanti
Production 1962: 1,200;[1]
1963: fewer than 4,600[2]
Assembly South Bend, Indiana
Designer Raymond Loewy and Associates
Body and chassis
Class Personal luxury car
Body style 2-door coupe[3]
Layout FR layout
Related Studebaker Lark
Powertrain
Engine 289 cu in (4.7 L) 240 hp (179 kW) V8 (1963)[4]
Transmission 3-speed manual
4-speed manual
3-speed automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase 109 in (2,769 mm)[5]
Length 192.4 in (4,887 mm)[6]
Width 70.3 in (1,786 mm)[6]
Height 53.8 in (1,367 mm)[6]
Curb weight 3,095 lb (1,404 kg)[6]
Chronology
Predecessor Studebaker Hawk

The Studebaker Avanti is a personal luxury coupe[7] that was built by the Studebaker Corporation between June 1962 and December 1963. The automaker referred to the Avanti as "America's Only 4 Passenger High-Performance Personal Car" in its sales literature.[8]

Design

The Avanti was developed at the direction of the automaker's president, Sherwood Egbert. "The car's design theme is the result of sketches Egbert "doodled" on a jet-plane flight west from Chicago 37 days after becoming president of Studebaker in February 1961."[9] Designed by Raymond Loewy's team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews, and John Ebstein on a 40-day crash program, the Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body design mounted on a modified Studebaker Lark Daytona 109-inch convertible chassis powered by a modified 289 Hawk engine.

The designers worked feverishly and in just eight days finished a "clay scale model with two different sides: one a two-place sports car, the other a four-seat GT coupe."[10] Tom Kellogg, a young California stylist hired for this project by Loewy, "felt it should be a four-seat coupe."[10] "Loewy envisioned a low-slung, long-hood/short-deck semi-fastback coupe with a grilleless nose and a wasp-waisted curvature to the rear fenders, suggesting a supersonic aircraft."[11]

The Avanti's complex body shape "would have been both challenging and prohibitively expensive to build in steel."[11] Instead, Studebaker selected to mold the exterior panels in glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass) and outsourced the work to Molded Fibreglass Body (MPG) in Ashtabula, Ohio, the same company that built the fibreglass panels for the Chevrolet Corvette in 1953.[12]

The Avanti came standard with front disc-brakes that were British Dunlop designed units, made under license by Bendix,[13] "the first American production model to offer them." It was one of the first bottom breather designs where instead of a conventional grille, air for the front mounted engine enters from under the front of the vehicle, a design feature much more common after the 1980s. A Paxton supercharger was offered as an option.[14]

Launch

Rear view of an Avanti

The Avanti was publicly introduced on April 26, 1962,[15] "simultaneously at the New York International Automobile Show and at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting."[16] Rodger Ward, winner of the 1962 Indianapolis 500, received a Studebaker Avanti as part of his prize package,[17] "thus becoming the first private owner of an Avanti."[18] A Studebaker Lark convertible was the Indianapolis pace car that year and the Avanti was named the honorary pace car.

In December 1962 the Los Angeles Times reported: "Launching of operations at Studebaker's own fiber-glass body works to increase production of Avantis."[19] Many production problems concerning the supplier, fit, and finish resulted in delays and cancelled orders.

Egbert planned to sell 20,000 Avantis in 1962, but could build only 1,200.[1]:p257

Closing

After the closure of Studebaker's factory on December 20, 1963, Competition Press reported: "Avantis will no longer be manufactured and contrary to the report that there are thousands gathering dust in South Bend warehouses, Studebaker has only five Avantis left. Dealers have about 2,500, and 1600 have been sold since its introduction."[20] This contrasted with Chevrolet which produced 23,631 Corvette sports cars in 1963.[21] According to the book My Father The Car written about Stu Chapman, Studebaker Corporation's Advertising & Public Relations Department head in Canada, Studebaker seriously considered re-introducing the Avanti into Studebaker showrooms in 1965/66 after production resumed in 1965 via Studebaker-Packard dealership owners Newman & Altman.

Legacy

The Avanti name, tooling and plant space were sold to two South Bend, Indiana, Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman,[22] the first of a succession of entrepreneurs to manufacture small numbers of Avanti replica and new design cars through 2006.

The car offered combined safety and high-speed performance. The Avanti broke 29 records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.[23]

The original Studebaker Avanti has been described as "one of the more significant milestones of the postwar industry".[1]:p257

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hendry, Maurice M. (1972). "Studebaker: One Can Do a Lot of Remembering in South Bend". Automobile Quarterly 10 (3): 228–275.
  2. ↑ Auto Editors at Consumer Guide (December 17, 2007). "1963–1964 Studebaker Avanti 1". HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ Foster, Patrick (2015). Studebaker: The Complete History. Crestline Books. p. 140. ISBN 9780785832614. Retrieved March 7, 2016. The exiting 1963 Avanti was one of the most beautiful sports coupes ever produced.
  4. ↑ Auto Editors at Consumer Guide (December 17, 2007). "1963–1964 Studebaker Avanti". HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ Melissen, Wouter (January 2, 2005). "Studebaker Avanti". ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Auto Editors at Consumer Guide (October 9, 2007). "The Production of the Studebaker Avanti". HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ Langworth, Richard M. (1986). Complete book of collectible cars, 1930-1980. Random House. p. 235. ISBN 9780517479346. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Studebaker: Different by Design". oldcarbrochures.org (Sales brochure). 1963. p. 10. P.D.-64-11. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  9. ↑ Seattle Daily Times. May 6, 1962. p. 178. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. 1 2 Foster, Pat (January 2006). "Designing the Fabulous Avanti". Hemmings Classic Car. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Severson, Aaron (June 10, 2008). "The Unlikely Studebaker: The Birth (and Rebirth) of the Avanti". Ate Up With Motor. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  12. ↑ Meikle, Jeffrey L. (1995). American Plastic: A Cultural History. Rutgers University Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 9780813522357.
  13. ↑ Road & Track Road Test Annual 1963. p. 98.
  14. ↑ Automobile Year, No. 10, 1962–1963. p. 117.
  15. ↑ Chicago Daily Tribune. June 19, 1962. p. B9. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ Studebaker Corporation Annual Report, 1962 (Report). p. 4.
  17. ↑ Los Angeles Times. June 1, 1962. p. B1. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ Motor Sport: 321. May 1963. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ↑ Los Angeles Times. December 16, 1962. p. L7. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ Competition Press. January 11–24, 1964. p. 10. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ Competition Press. February 22 – March 6, 1964. p. 5. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ Chicago Tribune. August 28, 1964. p. C7. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ Jedlicka, Dan. "1963–64 Studebaker Avanti". Road Tests and Classic Cars. Retrieved October 4, 2013.

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