The Avanti – aimed at rescuing Studebaker from bankruptcy – failed in its primary mission. But it succeeded in a way no one expected: such was the passion for its quirky styling and permissive customization, that it outlasted its parent by decades. The Avanti was conceived in Palm Springs, where Raymond Loewy – called to task by CEO Sherwood Egbert – had installed his design team in a rental house. The four men conjured a clay model in just 40 days. The use of fiberglass panels and Studebaker’s existing 289 cu. in V8 further slashed development time while imbuing the new car with impressive performance. The Avanti was unveiled just 14 months after the first sketch, at the 1962 New York International Automobile Show. Here on eBay is a beautifully restored and mildly upgraded 1963 Avanti R1, priced at $25,000 and located in Emory, Texas. Curvette found this wonderful Studebaker for us – thanks!
While the Avanti was under development, Egbert was busy buying other companies, namely Paxton Corporation (run by Andy Granatelli), which made superchargers. The acquisition allowed him to offer both a normally aspirated engine (the R1) and a supercharged version, the R2. The R1 was plenty powerful with 240 hp on tap, but the R2 was another thing altogether, notching 290 hp. Both cars received big ventilated rear drum brakes and Bendix front discs. The Lark’s three-speed manual was standard, but buyers could opt for a T-10 four-speed or a Borg Warner automatic. On this example, most of the mechanicals underhood were rebuilt; the transmission and differential were serviced; and the front brakes were replaced; everything is said to work well.
The factory gauges have been changed out for AutoMeters, and the radio is a Retro Classic vintage-look unit. The AC components have been replaced and recharged with 13A refrigerant. The trunk was painted with spray-on bed liner, and the lights were upgraded to LED bulbs. The Avanti was a sports car, but it was also a luxury car, so leather upholstery, wood, and chrome trim were par for the course. Even the headliner was given special treatment. The car rides on new tires.
The Avanti’s styling was mildly controversial at first, restraining sales to a few thousand units. The slack volume wasn’t enough to keep Studebaker afloat, and the company closed its South Bend plant in 1963. Fascination with the odd-looking car persisted, however, and two dealers bought the rights to the car’s tooling and name. In fact, Nate Altman and Leo Newman rented space in a pair of South Bend factories to make the car, with new-issue Avantis gliding onto roads starting in 1965. The Avanti II was produced with various engines until the early 1980s. The car’s design and manufacturing rights passed through several more owners, with variants emerging in fits and starts until 2006, when the last Avanti was made in Mexico. It’s been twenty years since then – what do you think, will someone find a way to bring the Avanti back once again?
Is the fad of putty-like, desaturated paint colors coming for our classics now?
Ugh! The color looks like clear coated primer!
Not a fan of Battleship grey. Yes they put that color on the new Dodge challengers, yuck ! And school bus yeller on Ford Mustangs yuck yuck ! Some peoples taste ….. I don’t think you could restore one for the price asking . Then figure in a full color change $$$$. adding up !
I don’t believe the low sales volume was not a lack of interest. It had alot to do with supply chain issues from what I have read. My Dad had a new one on order that he never got due to them pulling the plug when the first model year’s total was not enough to continue the production. (So Dad and I then restored a couple of C1 Corvettes and he kept the second one for himself.) Dad was a dyed in the wool fiberglass guy. After he passed I found a completed order form for a Fiberglass kit car and he had built a Henry J chassis with a hot Oldsmobile engine. But I think the move to a house without a garage killed that project. Dad would have loved to have one of these.
Correct – funny the body style did last into the next decade or two…..
Two pedal car. Overspray on all the rubber trim around the windows, does not bode well for what’s under the paint.
I had to go back to check what you saw about some imperfect masking where paint got on rubber. That said, I would call this a good #3 driver with a nice interior. I could accept the conservative gray better than some choices if in the market. Needs inspection but appears good to me.
All the comments are spot on!! The color sucks!!
Several years ago, a realtor friend connected me with an elderly client named Walter that was trying to sell a nearby farm with barns full of Studebakers and Packards. Walter had initially tried to sell the farm and cars together, but got no offers.
Walter was a prolific “collector “(hoarder), who bought the farm just to store his acquisitions. There was a mix of classics, projects, parts, and junk. Most were in varying states of disrepair, disassembly, incomplete, or unrestored with parts scattered between the buildings. The cars that were nice when bought had been neglected for years, and all required extensive work.
I always liked Avantis, and there were several. including a low mileage original R1. Walter had started “restoration” on the R1 a decade(or two) earlier, and it was partially stripped for paint. The blower had been removed from the engine and Walter said it was “somewhere” in one of the cluttered buildings. Walter was fighting a losing battle with cancer and told me he was anxious to sell. Unfortunately, Walter was like many “car hoarders”, and when we started talking numbers, he became increasingly reluctant to sell anything.
About a year later, Walter passed away, and his family indicated they were ready to sell. In the mean time, the old farm house had burned, destroying a treasure trove of parts, literature, and all the documentation for the cars. I was still interested in the R1, but the family was very difficult to deal with. It was challenging to even look at the cars as they all wanted to be present, but usually couldn’t agree on a schedule. Some family members also had wildly unrealistic value expectations. I gave up. Over 2 years later (last summer), a more patient friend was able to finally negotiate a somewhat reasonable deal on the R1 and several other cars. He was willing to sell the R1, so I took a more careful look. Many of the missing parts were believed to have burned in the fire, and it turned out to be rustier than expected. I passed.
If I ever do go for a R1, I will look for a nicer one like the car listed here.
I agree. Good story that may be familiar. This Avanti appears to have cost way more to restore, though the less desirable paint. Price seems okay and open to offers.
Great read, the comments too. You learn something new everyday
Knowing that everyone loves MR and her write up or down – as always the case with the Studebakers…..nothing about the years they did survive as a business – some 100yrs in 1953….yep before her time….or the records the Avanti held from 1962/64 for decades into the 1990’s…..oh well stay with the failure lines that will attract more folks…..we all love dirty laundry…..
Wow. I shined up the survivorship of Avanti, mentioned the R2 even when it had nothing to do with this car, and strayed outside my 400 word limit to do so and you’re concerned that I didn’t write a treatise on Studebaker’s successes. Sorry but that’s just not warranted.
And no, I am not 100 years old.
This looks, at least to me, like a really nice restoration. The interior looks great, and I think we can all agree that a good interior restoration is not cheap. I’m going to have to say about the color, I looked up 1963 Studebaker colors and at least to my eyes, it appears they had a color that looks a lot like this. If you look at the Ebay ad theres over 40 pictures and some of them when the sun hits it , I think theres a bit of a metallic flake in it. I could be wrong about the color, but it sure looks close to me. The color that I think it may be is code 31817 GSA Grey, again I may be wrong, I’m looking with my cel phone, but it sure looks close to me. I’m sure that there were a LOT of hours put into this restoration. I think its a fair price for all the work that went into it. Personally, I think Curvette found another great car. And Michelle, thank you for the great write up and all your time and research you put into every one you do. Whether its a piece of construction equipment a farm tracor, an MG, a rare Alfa, or a Studebaker like this, I always seem to lesrn something new from you. Please keep them coming!!!
It is impossible to make every person happy so…
IIRC from my commercial vehicles selling days. All American manufacturers had a GSA (GOVERNMENT SERVICES ADMINISTRATION) Grey. Although I doubt that government purchase was on the mind of the Avanti team!(lol) This color (although I tend to like a dove Grey) does absolutely nothing for the car. It is definitely a negative on the value.
The color was actually called Seabeach Sand, code P6327. It’s as awful now as it was in 1963. I’d take a hard pass because of it, and I’m an Avanti nut.