As the Gran Turismo Hawk was in its waning days, Raymond Loewy was hard at work designing another car that Studebaker hoped would save its bacon in the marketplace. The company was spiraling toward bankruptcy and the Avanti was its Hail Mary. Never had a car been conceived, designed, and put into production so quickly: just six weeks from “We need a new model” to a clay facsimile, and an even shorter time frame to board approval and production. To move the Avanti along, it was built of fiberglass on a modified Lark frame (plenty of those lying about). As it turns out, the Avanti was made for barely two years from June 1962 to December 1963. Production and quality problems plagued its introduction, and Studebaker finally succumbed to its financial distress, one more American automaker down for the count. Here on eBay is a 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2, with the supercharged 289 cu. in. motor, bid to $7,600, reserve not met. The car is located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
The magic in this formula is the R2 engine. Based on a 289 cu. in. V8, the R2 version used a Paxton supercharger (Andy Granatelli was heading Paxton when Studebaker bought the division from McCulloch) and a four-barrel carburetor to generate 280 bhp. With the relatively lightweight fiberglass body as a cradle for this monster, the Avanti rocketed from zero to sixty in 8 seconds. That was good enough to interest Granatelli in Salt Flats competition, and his team of supercharged Larks and Avantis broke any number of speed records at Bonneville. This car slumbered with only the occasional start for twenty years but now is said to run well after a carburetor rebuild. It has a three-speed console-shift automatic.
The interior looks very good for the age of this car. The seller has a sheaf of documents that he will hand over to the new owner, including the window sticker. The seller also notes some “paint patina” and a stuck trunk lock. The listing itself includes a link to many more pictures, thoroughly documenting the car’s condition. The car comes with a clean title in the seller’s name.
The underside is evidence of dry storage; even the leaf springs are still black. This photo shows the V8’s twin tailpipes. This car was meant to be a luxury coupe and while some disliked the styling, it was unlike anything on the market at the time and certainly gathered some fans. If I had a yen for an Avanti, I would seriously consider this very decent example.
Up to 9200 and this is a good looking example, so should bring a lot more. This was Studebaker’s last big swing at the fence. Shame is wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat. Garage is full or I might consider this beauty.
Avantis came from the factory with full wheel covers. The red stripe tires and dog-dish Lark hub caps on this one do it no favors.
Those are Studebaker hub caps.
The only Studebakers after 58 were Larks, Hawks or Avantis. These caps
would’ve been off a Lark (99% positivity).
I kinda like the poverty caps, gives it a no nonsense attitude. Detail the under carriage a little and drive ‘er.
For this old duck they were a dream that never came true
Studebaker never went bankrupt. The Company funneled its short-lived profits from the Lark into diversification and became a mini-conglomerate. As we know the money-losing automotive division was shut down in 1966 but Studebaker otherwise stayed in business. The Studebaker name eventually disappearing into multiple mergers and acquisitions over the ensuing decades.
Actually I should have said something more like “Studebaker did not go bankrupt at the end of car production.” They did enter receivership in 1933 but emerged in 1935 reorganized with new financing.
There is a salt flats Avanti at the Studebaker Museum…very cool. I live in Noblesville, Indiana. The local lion’s club sponsors an annual Father’s Day car show.
At said car was a “62 Avanti that was absolutely PERFECT. It had all the glove box ladies accessory stuff. I wish I could upload pictures but I’m not a member. It should have won best of show but lost to an equally perfect “69 Olds Cutlass w30 Hurst Olds…white and gold of course
AMCGuy – correct – but they will never stop saying Studebaker went under in 1966 after 116 years of producing transportation vehicles.
Kind of like the Corvairs flipped over…
The Corvair was completely exonerated by the NHTSA 50 years ago. After a thorough investigation, they determined that the Corvair was no more likely to roll over than any other compact of the day, and much less likely than some, such as the VW Beetle and Renault Dauphine. This must have been a hard pill for the founder and president of the NHTSA to swallow… that would have been none other than Ralph Nader! Imagine, your own agency coming right out and PROVING BEYOND A DOUBT that you’re a LIAR!!!
This is a sarcastic comment… I have owned over a dozen Corvairs and have two in my collection, including a mid-engine conversion.
Watched a video a couple weeks ago of one of these amazing cars in stock form breaking 200 mph on the salt flats back in around 63 broke a bunch of world records and was the fastest car you could buy at the time IIRC. This looks like a great deal so far .
Sure is a beauty. Kudos to the genius of Raymond Loewy, who invented everything from the Coke Bottle, to Locomotives, to the Avanti. BTW, somewhere in the mix- STP motor additive was short for Studebaker Test Products, another product of Granatelli. Strong Tiger Pi$$. Looking back at it, did it do any good. I figured anything that would thicken motor oil was a good thing. Snake oil?? Good luck and happy motoring.
Cheers
GPC
Loewy didn’t “invent” anything. He designed all those things and many more.
Good old STP. We had a customer at the service station I worked at as a kid in the late 60’s that did a home oil change and thought that if some STP was good, more will be much better. He filled the crankcase with it. It ran and drove, but this was fall, and with the cold weather approaching in the Chicago area, one morning it wouldn’t turn over. It was towed in and we put it on the lift. I remember waiting for the first drop to finally drip out after the drain plug was removed. It sat in another bay for close to a week before most of it drained out. Remember the STP stickers? A buddy had one on his car, same graphic but read LSD, underneath in small letters “Limited Slip Differential”
Back in the day dad and I changed our own oil every 1000 or so miles. We never changed oil without a can of STP. Never lost an engine.
It was advertised as “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”–STP.
Horsepower was rated at 289 not 280.
My God, that interior is stunning!
One of Stufebaker’s biggest problems was it paid assembly line workers too much. Result, go broke and close South Bend. Sales dropped. Production sent to Canada til 1966.
Studebaker was so poorly run, and ran 2 sets of accounting books. That it pulled down Packard as well. Also was instrumental in the end of Nash & Hudson.
This car in 1963 America was way too European looking to ever be a big seller. So while the car designers thought it looked cool, and it does….they were out of touch with the American market. The Hawk had the same problem. And with their limited finances, you couldn’t produce a car that didn’t have wide appeal.
It wasn’t the styling ,and I sure wouldn’t say it was European styling. It was the fact that they were both two door “sports” cars” , so they had a limited market. This was the baby boomer era , and a coupe like this wouldn’t be a huge seller in an era of families looking for big sedans and station wagons, both of which Studebaker didnt have . The Lark was good for people looking for a “second” family car, but with all automakers building compacts and imports making their mark sales were bound to drop. That , and rumors of them going out of business kept people away. Had the Avanti been put out by one the big three, many of the production bugs would have been worked out beforehand and it could have been a big seller
One of the dream collection I have sought for…
“Runs and Drives good, but needs restoration”
Ended:July 26, 2022 Winning bid:US $22,856.00 [64 bids ]
Good thing it sold, because “The Wife Won’t Like It” if I get another car!
I’m definitely not an expert on a avanti s but I will repeat what I heard a fella who seemed to know quite a bit said about the popularity and sales of the avanti… according to him they had so many orders for the car in around 62 /63 like thousands that the company just couldn’t keep up with demand and most people just got tired of waiting and bought something else and the company went under shortly thereafter and never delivered on many of the sales they could have made if had been able to build them.