The Studebaker Avanti is one of the most talked about automotive failures of the 1960s. Not because it was a bad car, but because Studebaker’s financial woes practically doomed it from the start. They were only in production for a year and a half before the company stopped all U.S. assemblies, leaving just 4,640 Avanti’s finished and sold. The seller has not only one but two of the rare 1963 models, though the second is a parts car and may be too far gone to be a viable restoration of its own. Both are available together at the same price. And great tip from T.J.!
Conceived on a paper napkin in 1961 (that’s the story), the Avanti went into production in late 1962 for the 1963 model year. Studebaker had high hopes of selling 20,000 copies a year (competing with the Ford Thunderbird), but production delays and financial shortfalls at the company resulted in the plug being pulled just before Christmas 1963. Studebaker did go on to build cars in Canada into 1966, but the Avanti wasn’t one of them.
It’s pretty rare when you find one of these cars for sale. But you seldom see two in one place. The white car was partially restored in the 1980s and hasn’t been driven in about 20 years. It seems to be mostly intact, and if anything’s missing, maybe it’s left on the other car. It has 289 cubic inch VB which we assume doesn’t run. It’s the one without the factory supercharger, so the number that has survived may be a little larger.
The blue Avanti is strictly a parts car or donor, having already been picked clean. It does have an engine, but it’s been removed and will come along separately. No title on this one, though the white car does have one. The seller had intended on restoring the white Avanti but has too much else going on to devote any time to. So, they’re both available as a package deal in Yarnhill, Oregon, and here on craigslist for $14,000. The seller may be able to bring them to you for an additional charge.
Not many made but I think all have been on BarnFinds.
Funny….but two just went up for sale in Houston and are not on here yet – one a true R2 car with engine and the other is Avanti # 003 which has been missing but now found….note #0001 and #0002 were destroyed.
I will risk going a little off topic here. Any Avanti has turned my head. Fascinating car, maybe just because it was not mainstream. The sides and tail are truly timeless. The front is a little too “batmobile” in styling IMHO. For me, that was addressed albeit in the race prototype 1983/1984 version. Call me crazy, but I would love to build a conversion of a large Tesla rear drive with Avanti body.
Becasue of space limitations you could not have both the supercharger and A/C, same on Hawk and Lark. Which would you choose? Me, where it is in the 90’s almost every day from now to Labor Day, cool beats acceleration. And, as I have noted before, “What kind of electric car is that?” will be asked, due to the lack of an obvious grill. But I still want one.
A/C systems have become more modular and compact. I would go for the supercharger and then find a way to retro-fit a modern A/C system if climate demands it.
I would love to see what Dave Kindig could do with these.
Are those the cars that had a land speed record years ago?? Or am I thinking something different
I’m far from an expert on Avanti’s, but this seems like a very good deal to me. I don’t know how long the seller has had these cars, but if he or she had them in the 80s, I’m surprised that I don’t know about them. I grew up in the Yamhill area and I’m pretty sure that I know just about every old hot rodder in the area. To be honest, if I wasn’t 75 and living 1500 miles away, I would be tempted to have my ex-brother in law go take a peek at them.
Opinions vary, some claim that a stock Avanti with an R2-supercharged engine-will do 170 MPH, depending on the gearing. Experts I have spoken to say not possible. The land speed records set at Bonneville were done by Andy Granatelli and others in a modified R3 Avanti. R3 engines were not stock Avanti engines.
With the amount work needed (a lot) to make one nice car, 14K is pretty high. Most nice ones don`t go for the big bucks many expect. My opinion.
Boris, like I said, I’m pretty far from being Studebaker savvy, so I have no idea about pricing. Just seemed to me like given how few of them one sees, that the price seemed fair. Perhaps I am mistaken.