An Avanti, especially one of the early round-headlight models, is a car I’ve often wanted to own. This particular car seems to have some fairly straightforward items to work on, unlike many cars I’ve seen where a solid fiberglass body is hiding horrors in the metal underneath, despite having been stored for 35 years. It’s listed for sale in a no reserve auction here on eBay, where bidding is just under $8,000 as I write. The clean looking Loewy & Associates designed car is located in Bellingham, Washington.
I find this angle of the Avanti particularly attractive, as it shows how the design even carries from the outside hood bulge and chrome trim to the inside instrument binnacle. The paint is certainly serviceable for a driver classic as is, and while the chrome has some pits that are visible in close up pictures, I wouldn’t be in any particular hurry to re-chrome it, either.
The good looks of an Avanti continue to the rear (in my opinion; I’ve heard it’s a very polarizing design). I’m guessing with the amount of overspray in places the repaint isn’t the best quality, but to still look as nice as it does after 35 years is saying something.
Here’s where my examination of many an Avanti has stopped me dead in my tracks. Look up Avanti “hog troughs” or torque boxes and you’ll see what I’m talking about. This car appears very solid, but if you are curious, this blog post does a nice job of showing what you have to do to replace one. Something you won’t be doing to this car–although there is some surface rust, so some cleaning, priming and painting wouldn’t hurt you.
The interior even looks pretty nice, with some wear on the driver’s seat bolsters and some worn carpet the only real issue I can see or that the seller mentions. Of course, I’m sure the weatherstripping is pretty tired after that amount of time, so I’d plan on doing something there too, especially if you are in a cold or wet climate.
The R1 289 cubic inch V8 is currently frozen despite soaking the cylinders. I’d let them soak a while longer to try things before I broke down and disassembled it, but be aware you may be going down that road. I like this one; it’s probably good for me that it isn’t closer! Do you?
I like Avantis as well…have liked them since the night the first ones arrived at the local Studebaker dealer and my father and I waited in line for a test drive. Much, much later I drove one, and still liked them; met the designer, Tom Kellogg and, after learning a fair amount of backstory on their creation, liked Avantis even better.
If this one stays near the price Jamie mentions — no link to the ad, bro, so can’t tell if it’s going up! — I’d be tempted. If it were closer, anyway. Doesn’t look like it would need too much to get it functioning, and overall it seems to be in much better shape than any Avanti I’ve seen in the past ten years. Tempting!
BTW: I’m no expert, but I can’t ever remember seeing a red Studebaker Avanti. Saw a few later cars in that color, but most of the originals I remember were in metallic (usually gold or blue) finishes. Anyone know if this is an original color?
Link taken care of, Ray, sorry about that. It’s still down there (price wise).
Nope- not an original color. Avanti Red was a metallic color- more of a mahogany. Much richer than this, IMO.
Per the E-Bay listing it was Avanti gold.
I love the 1963 Avanti. And also remember going down to the Studebaker dealer just to sit in one! (Metallic tourquoise.)
I do like the Studebaker ones but the ones after that are like factory kit cars our something like that with 305s and 350s 👌
I never thought I’d ever say this, but this is one car that actually looks better with whitewalls. Like the Javelin was the best for AMC, the Avanti was for Studebaker. Too much stacked against it. Had it been a different time, or different manufacturer, who knows. The only thing I didn’t care for was the front end styling. Seemed to convey a “droopy” image, that Studebaker was known for. South Bend sure went out with a bang with this car, for sure. Again, I must be getting numb to the prices, but this seems like a pretty good deal for something like this.
An Avanti was a luxury car. Back in the day, “luxury” included higher priced ww tires, as designs called for them. Blackwalls meant you bought the lower spec (cheaper) versions! And you are right, white walls would improve the visual “pop” of this car so much! (IMHO) Most big luxury cars of the ’60’s, early ’70’s look better w/ ww tires. :-)
Maybe some red lines our not 🚫
Always liked the uniqueness of this style. Truly a car that would stand out in most crowds. And, the high performance capabilities were available to make it run with the best of the time. A great American classic car.
I’ve always loved the Avanti ( well not always, I had a ’63 Fuel Injected Stingray back in the day and laughed at this design)… I bought a gorgeous turquoise ’63 R2 Supercharged car at Barrett – Jackson back in early 2000’s…. it was treated to a frame off restoration, had all matching number engine and 4-Speed Trans… I paid under $30,000 including fees and shipping home to Florida… in the ten years I owned it I never received an offer approaching $30K…. and this was a car which needed absolutely nothing!!
The frozen engine would scare me away but if you’re buying for a labor of love with no thought of value or potential profit, have at it.
These are nice looking cars. I can understand the continuing interest for all these years. However, I prefer the Hawks. But, that is just me.
The car that Killed Studebaker, they should have stuck with the Hawk.
Hi Mike, perhaps, but Studebaker was gasping for breath when this came out anyway. I prefer the Hawk as well, however, the Hawk was an outdated design going back to ’56, and the Commander before that. Compared to Corvette and T-Bird, clearly the market intended, we laughed at this too. I remember some pretty haggered Avanti’s in the 70’s nobody wanted.
Mike, the Avanti and the Hawk were both produced until the Southbend factory closed Dec, 1963. Neither was made in Canada.
Body Style Design of Studebaker Avanti is by Raimond Loewy, the one who boosted the Lucky Strike cigarettes sales by just chaging the colors in the pack, author of many top rated industrial design marvels, but the engine and transmission in Avanti are Chevy, so, no difficulty at all in keeping it alive from the spare parts point of view.
With the generalization of Powder Metallurgy, Metal Additive Manufacturing, Metal 3D printing, and custom-made parts, as by protolabs.com this type of uniquecar can be kept alive many, many years
The R-1 289 is no Chevy motor!
And the transmission is from Borg-Warner.
Hi Mike, I believe Urguiola is referring to the Avanti ll, that used a Corvette 327 and auto trans.
The wheel wells don’t fit right and make it look like a kit car.
I like this era of Avanti. This would be a great start, and its only about 200 miles away. I will stay away and hope it gets a better home than I could provide.
There was mention of a designer named tom Kellogg. My x-wife had a uncle that was head of the Studebaker club in the pacifc n.w. His name is don Kellogg. I wonder if there is any relation? He never mention that in any conversations. He was a well knowledged guy. We went to a few club showing with him. Very well known
I don’t remember Avanti’s having chev. engines. I believe they where ford like this 289,or the mopar big block.
Avanti’s 289 V8 was a Studebaker engine which is a lager displacement version of the 233 V8 first introduced in 1951. They are not a Ford V8 anymore than a Rambler 327 v8 is a Chevrolet. BTW Rambler’s 327 V8 came out 5 years before Chevrolet’s 327.
Studebaker closed US operations and moved to Canada in December 1963. Rights to, plant and equipment for the Avanti were sold to Nate Altman and Leo Newman who produced the Avanti for many years from 1965 until 1982 using Studebaker frames(used until 1985), Chevrolet engines and new built bodies named Avanti II.
Avanti was sold to Stephen Blake in 1982.
Avantis through the brief ’64 model year had Studebaker V8s, not Chevy. Later Avanti IIs had Chevy engines. Almost all the Studebakers were 289s and there were I think a very few 304s — which I’ve read were basically hand built from carefully bored-out 289s. (I’m not the expert on 304s and all that.) The wheel covers here are original — and in another case of Studebaker cash-starved desperation, they are “spoke-style” over-stampings on the 1953-55 wheel covers! So they should certainly stay. 1963-style narrower white walls look best for sure; see the photo I’ve posted here. The deep metallic red was a 1963 Avanti factory color and I saw one in a dealer showroom in this color, another on the street when I was a kid, and a third which belonged to a professor at my college. I thought this was the coolest car I had seen from any American maker when it came out. It may have been born in a Palm Beach rented house and rushed into production on a Lark convertible frame, but still, one element after another in the design is uniquely wonderful and well thought out. I always said to myself I’d own one, never have and probably never will. But this was one fabulous design in my opinion. As for the comments on the 1962-64 GT Hawk, the last version with the Brooks Stevens update, it was the most purely elegant U.S. car on the road of its time, as far as I’m concerned. It may have cribbed ideas from the T-Bird, Lincoln Continental and Lancia, but it did so beautifully on the wonderful Bob Bourke lines from 1953. Everything worked and it was gorgeous. I thought it beat the new Riviera by a mile. Sales, however, were far from what Studebaker needed, so it was no salvation. The GT Hawk is another car I’ve loved but will probably never own.
Newbie here with what is no doubt a dumb question: How does air get to the radiator to cool? Did these have a history of running hot? Just curious, thanks!
Hi Tom, welcome aboard. This has been asked before, and a good question.( there are no “dumb” questions, not here anyway) If you look below the front bumper, there is a mesh grill. I do believe these ran hot regardless.
Loco – Studes were sold by Studebaker Corp until and through 1966 – N&A came later….
locomikado, Thanks for the correction on the 289. I always thought it was a ford! And I do remember when the Avanti II came along it did have a chev.in it.
Always am the first to admit I don’t know it all. I also realize I,m probley wrong about the mopar. That was the Jensen interceptor.Opps
Studebaker came out with their 289 cu in engine 10 years ahead of Fords. Because of the relationship of bore vs stroke there are many different engines with the same displacement but not the same bore and stroke. Look at the Ford and Dodge 360’s and the previously mentioned 327’s.
Its looks to be in excellent cond in and out imho its a steal at 8k.
Looks like someone is going to get a great deal. Even if the engine needs to be rebuilt it’s worth it, parts aren’t hard to get for the Studebaker V8 and they are TOUGH engines.
Avanti’s are cool.
25 years ago My neighbor I moved in next door to had restored a couple of these. He took me for a test slide in one. I really moved out! Later he moved to Oregon, took the cars with him.
Absolutely stunning design for a 55 year old American car. Polarizing, yes…but the Avanti is guaranteed to always be one of those cars that gets people to stop and stare.
To paraphrase that old EF Hutton ad…when an Avanti rolls by, everyone stops talking
When the supercharged Avanti first appeared my friend’s dad took us along for a test drive. His dad was a macinist, car nut and great guy. That ride was a young teen’s first experience of a road-burning ride! He drove it like a race driver and we had a ball! I will never forget it.
Looks like I “stole” this for $9077, but I have no place to keep it! It’s soon on it’s way to San Jose (“Do you know the way?”).I will tinker with it a bit, then find it a better home, possibly by selling it here. (Does anybody want it now, as-is? I’ll give BF their usual fee…)
Sold for $9,077.00 with 24 bids.
The car is now in Silicon Valley. Buyer’s remorse. Bring Ben Franklin with you and take it away for $10,500 (before Monday)
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?100475-Buy-me-please!-63-Avanti-R1-near-San-Jose