1964 Studebaker Avanti with 7K Miles Review and Test Drive by - Bill Auto Europa Naples
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2018
- Offered for sale is this incredible 1964 Avanti from Studebaker, an R1 Coupe in excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition, and with only 7K original miles. Finished in Avanti Black outside with Claret Red Regal interior, this car is an absolute time machine, and runs and drives like new. The front disc brakes have been given the important dual-stage master cylinder and rotor/caliper update, which cost the current owner almost $4k to do. The interior is all original, with everything from illumination to air conditioning working as it should. Outside is immaculate, and there is no rust or corrosion underneath. This is a top level Avanti, and increasingly collectible. Do not miss this one!
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I owned a 1964 red one in 1968. My favorite car. Sold it to get married, biggest mistake ever. ( both selling the car and the marriage )
If we could only go back and undo life mistakes...
I OWNED IN 1963 A SPLIT WINDOW COUPE ,PURCHASE PRICE OUT THE DOOR WAS $4800.00 LIST WAS $5700.00 NOW DEPENDING ON CONDITION AS MUCH AS $ 300,000 OR MORE IT HAD THE 327 FUELY ; 4 SPEED ;RACING PKG.
Know what you mean, my regret is letting go my 69 Grand Prix. Ran almost flawlessly.
Plastic car....
Bahahah
The upside down air cleaner cover made me chuckle. I did the same when driving Pop's 300 HP, 62 Olds..
It was a quiet car, but with that lid upside down, when those Qadrajet seconaries opened....Oh My! Yes, I was 17 once. Nothing to do with Avanti....just an old man reminiscing.
4647 Avantis were built by the Studebaker Corporation from June 1962-
December 1963. 1389 models were manufactured in 1962. 3258 units were
manufactured in 1963. Of these, 2418 were 1963 models, 30 were transitional,
54 were 1964 models with round headlights and 764 were 1964 models
throughout....
This car was at least 25 years ahead of its time. Amazing vehicle.
Beautiful. My grandfather and my father worked in the Studebaker plant for 38 years and 20 years respectively.
rob jordan I can only imagine how great it was to work for this company.
Wish the company could have survived. We would have an american manufacturer that we could be proud of. My wife and I went to the Studebaker museum last year. Beautiful cars.
Well done Bill I love the Avanti. The designer was Ray Loewy ...not Lowery. Keep up the good work.
The first views of the car in the driveway shows that it fits right in . perfect style even today for the location . I as a 12 year old kid worked as a weekend landscaper for a wealthy family who had a green Avanti, still remember sitting in it all these years later, very good quality in the interior. 8 gauges , cool.
Fascinating vehicle. And a tip of the hat to the amount of knowledge you have on it.
Wow, wow, wow. This 1964 Studebaker Avanti is absolutely mint! I was 10 years old when this car was introduced in 1963, and have lusted after it ever since. Thank you Bill, and Auto Europa - Naples for reminding me why I have always been certifibly "car crazy"!
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I have had a passion for this car since my teens years. I did build a model then which was the closest to owning the real thing. Love the sleek and sporty unique design. This car was very advance for its time and many features and specs were and are built-in to other manufacturers' cars.
It's such a fine example of a non molested Avanti, I would be afraid to drive it on a roadway with the non attentive drivers we have to contend with today. The styling on these is timeless and modern and puts to shame all the cookie cutter SUV's we have to look at today. It will always be one of my favorite cars.
Yes, be afraid! Be very afraid! 😄
So pristine! Somebody spent a great deal of time and care on this car. Best cars on this channel.
Absolutely fabulous! So timeless. The last Avanti was built in 2007. Studebaker made far more than farm wagons. They made the Conestoga which moved America West. The made carriages, including Presidential carriages. Lincoln's last carriage he took to Ford Theatre the nite he was shot, was a Studebaker. The fastest production car of it's time. You'd get a lot of attention in this baby!
The spare tire can be nicely stored out of the way under the round door in the trunk because it stores in the area where the gas tank resides in most cars. The gas tank in an Avanti is a rectangular box directly behind the rear seat. The filler behind the filler door just goes straight into it. This was another safety aspect so that if the car is hit in the rear, it isn't a gas tank getting hit first. It is pretty large at 21 gallons. But Avantis use a lot of gas (maybe 12 to 14 mpg), so you will still fill up often.
The best looking Avanti I have ever seen .
Thanks for the post!
I agree.
Way ahead of its time.
@@Remembering-rq6si Only thing ahead of its time was the styling but even that is debatable.
Beautiful car! So far ahead of time. Great attention to detail and very high quality.
I own a 1963 Studebaker Avanti with a supercharger. Great vehicle. Excellent review, Bill. One surefire way to tell a 1963 and 1964 is the wood grain instrument panel. 1963 Studebaker Avanti's did not have wood grain instrument panels.
Nice video with just a few incorrect facts... R-3 engines used a single supercharger but placed the carburetor inside a pressurized airbox allowing higher boost levels. The R-4 was a naturally aspirated dual-quad setup. There were a single digit number of R-5 engines built that did feature twin superchargers as well as being bored out to 304 ci. The hood support has no relation to a Corvette. Finally, the distinction on the Avanti's use of disc brakes is that they were the first disc brakes as standard equipment on an American car. The Chrysler you mentioned (as well as a handfull of others) had disc brakes as optional equipment. Beautiful car! And yes, I owned one for 13 years...
Avanti
If I recall what I'd read correctly, the R-5 was for their attempts at record runs at Bonneville. In keeping the the Italian theme, the car was called "Due Cento", meaning two hundred. That was pretty much what it did, too.
yup.could kick myself just finishing divorce.and had money 1984..dealership had one of those made in.canada..they wanted eighteen thousand for it brand new....dam
Per the Studebaker marketing materials that my grandfather, a Studebaker dealer, had AND excerpts from Andy Granatelli's autobiography, the R3 and R4 were both bored out to 304.5 cubic inches. The R5 did indeed have twin superchargers.
The R5 indeed was purpose-built to break 200 mph at Bonneville, again as detailed in Granatelli's autobiography. They attempted the run at the end of the week after the salt was all chewed up and were only able to get it to 198mph, while throwing up twenty foot rooster tails. Granatelli actually believes that the car was spinning the rear tires and if it could have gotten better traction, would have easily broke 200mph.
As it was, the R3 was capable of speeds in excess of 170 mph.
sweet car...the best. I think this is the best I've seen. most people prefer the '63 with the round headlights, but I like the '64 with the square headlights...fits the body lines better and doesn't look so bug-eyed like the '63. The thing about Stude's is that they didn't have the resources to make big plastic injection molds and vinyl stamping machines and the other infrastructure that the big 3 was moving to, where you could contain costs based on volume...so you got real metal and glass and stitching in the Avanti (and Hawks) because of their existing infrastructure was already geared up for that old-school manufacturing...which has the by-product of a much classier automobile.
Remember riding by in the backseat of my parents car , by the local gas station that was also a studebaker dealer . It was awesome to look at and ahead of it’s time .
I'm a member of the "Freeman Family" which extended into the Studebaker Family. At one point there was a Studebaker Museum and my Grandmother donated a spinning wheel to the collection. I don't know if that museum exists I do sort of remember going to it but I was about 11-12 and it must have been in Ohio. The Avanti cars are so cool!
Excellent video, what a treat it was to have such a well guided tour of this unique vehicle. Thank you.
Avanti, forward in Italian hence the wheel cutouts. Raymond Lowey, designed the coke bottle. Hence the shape of the body. And for aero dynamics. GM threatened the company that made the Corvette ! If they continued with the Avanti they would pull the business!
Studebaker then did a heroic effort to do something they had never done. To make fiberglass cars. Studebaker also owned Gravely Tractor. That’s where I was introduced to them. It was the 1st year for the
Avanti. Most all of what I read on comments were good. There was too many to filter through. Nice video and like many, wish they could have one.
Well done 👍🏼
Truly one of the best American cars of all time. I so miss Studebaker
Man you've had some amazing cars over the years. Some true miracle survivors. Thanks for sharing them.
I worked for a Toyota dealer who was also a car collector. Whenever I was on break from college he would pull out a car from his collection that needed paint. The last car I ever painted for him was a 63 Avanti. I remember the fiberglass used to always crack at the top of the wheel arches.
I remember this car when I was a kid. It was unique, an instant sensation and ahead of its time. I called it the “Disneyland car.” The engine sounds cool ! It was introduced before the Ford Mustang ! 👍
Todos recuerdan al gloriodo Mustang, y es cierto ¡ primero diseñaron el Avanti !
Beautiful Avanti example. Thanks for the post.
Black paint was a later production addition. Studebaker pulled the black option until it could fix / smooth out the bodies in production.
Yes fairly accurate report. A few corrections & comments.
Noticed a comment already about the R3 not having 2 Paxton's. That was prototype R5 with dual superchargers. R3 & R4 were higher performance, almost race only engines. Bored to 304.5 cu in vs. 289 as found in R1 R2. R3 had the Paxton, but with a carb box. R4 was not supercharged. It added dual 4 barrel Carter Carbs. Yes, 8 barrels in total.
The hood support strut was a Studebaker design. It is not from an '84 Corvette.
STP logo on breather caps was because Chemical Compounds (STP) was a Studebaker Division. Self promotion of their products. Also Paxon Products (Superchargers) were a Studebaker Division as well.
The door locks were about the only parts feature Studebaker ever used, from it's association with Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes called them "Safety Cone Door Locks"
Auto Transmission was a Borg-Warner design, called Power Shift. This transmission allowed the Driver to hold a gear in 1 & 2 with no automatic upshift. Think of its use, similar as Hurst' later His & Her shifter but without the lock-out feature. The 2nd Gear Start began with Borg-Warner designed 1956 Flight-o-matic transmission , long before their Mercedes association, which began in 1957. So Studebaker did not get the idea from Mercedes. It was really added because they were having jerky shifts from 1st to 2nd. It was model year "fix", to start in 2nd gear. 2nd to 3rd was a smooth upshift.
The Beauty Vanity glove box as Studebaker called it was known to have the loose mirror issue. Wasn't a problem when new. But today, it's all due to the 2 sided tape drying out with age.
Regal interior is a high quality vinyl material, not real leather. The seat design came from some European seats someone at the Factory owned during Avanti development. I can't remember 100%, but I think maybe it was a Alfa Romeo copy, not Cobra. These '64 seats are the later design, where Studebaker added extra seat padding material. These proved to be more comfortable. The first generation seats were painful, after seating for a short drive. While they looked great, they were back breakers. I know because as a kid, I would ride in my Grandfather's early '63 round headlight design Avanti. This was when the interior's were two tone. Fawn and a contrasting color. This was before the instrument cluster & console had the fake wood as found in this Avanti. Very pretty addition. These later Avanti's had more upscale interiors, than the earlier versions.
Thanks again for the post.
Yeah, 1984 Corvette hinge was a misstatement anyway because that would be ten years later. Also not a hinge.
I believe black was one of the colors originally offered right from the beginning until dropped. However, after it was dropped it was still offered as a special order.
Kenneth Jones Thanks,for informations: I am relocated from WARSAW IN, to MONTANA ,AND biG Avant/Golden Hawk/ Lark R1, etc. FAN.... In any case my first Studebaker was an INDIANA TRI-County Game Preserve 1963(?) Studebaker Green Pick-Up trucks(3 on Tree EXTREMELY StIFFshifting) , no OPTIONS as State Trucks, Rough riding, sort of poor quality ( MUST check engine Oil daily) at age 16 TO USE AT WORK.....my CLASSMATE’S Brother had the Lark R1 supercharged( ??) 1963(?), 4 SPEED ,Manuel a real fast car!! “ as best as memories serve me”. PS: Studebaker Museum And Holdings in SOUTH BEND INDIANA ARE worth a a trip.....
@@opera93 A supercharged Lark would have had the R2 option, not the R1.
gloria london thanks, I going by my Memory, and rumours in the day circa1963.....interestingly i not want Studebakers ( mainly because we could not afford my cars to be newer,etc,) when younger... some Golden Hawks, Packards, Avanti, Presidents are amazing **& desirable now,....My great Aunt in SOUTH BEND had a beautiful Hawk , they tradeD FOR A PORT hole THUNDEBIRD I THE 60’s........etc.
This automobile is more impressive than I first thought!
It was Raymond Loewy Bill. I still love your content. Canadians, birds, chickens, cats, goats and children in the crosshairs. What’s not to love?
Extremely well articulated and filmed homage to a fantastic vehicle. Sadly, Avanti will remain on my lifetime wish list. Cheers
Wow, this may be the most amazing car I've ever seen. I love the interior - I feel like it was inspiration for the first gen Audi TT interior.
Great Video, An Avanti Owner of almost 40 years here. Just one thing which is almost right. it's Raymond Loewy who designed the Avanti, BUT, you're correct that "Lawry", was an Avanti Designer but it was Greg Lawry and it was the 1990 Avanti 4 door Sedan design he's responsible for., he worked for Avanti in the Cafaro years as head of design.
Thanks for a fantastic report.
The epitome of "timelessness"... it's 2023, and it's time has STILL not come. Thank you, Raymond Loewy, designer of the Coke bottle, for your remarkable vision.
I love this car!!! Thanks Bill.
Most beautiful car Ive ever seen,hope it finds a worthy keeper.
I remember seeing one in Bolton Ontario in 1973 or 4. I thought is was so sophisticated looking. I was all of 18. I like the interior console, similar to the 1963 Buick Riviera.
Thanks for the super ride, just EXCELLENT !
This model and color scheme are my top dream car. C’mon Powerball!
Powerball? All your money from the hijacking gone! Lol😆
got to see one in the mid 60s as a teenager...the guy backed out acroos the street from our hangout and lit it up...fantastic car ...fell in love with it on first glance
Thank you so much this was a great videoI've been a car guy my whole life I'm 60 now I've never delve into the avanti's before. Impressive car very impressive I am very impressed
Car is Absolutely Gorgeous! I love everything about it!!
We had a red 1964 Avanti (we had several over the years) with black interior in the 70s. It had a little plate engraved to say “Do not lower windows in speeds in excess of 120 mph”. Wire wheels, supercharged with glass packed mufflers. Zoom! Took Best of Show at most of the car shows we took it to. Such a fun car! Ahead of its time. Definitely preferred the square headlights to the round and loved the fiberglass. (We had a Lark and Golden Hawk as well.) rI emember the roll bar. Thanks for showcasing this classic!
What a joy to watch this, Bill. Stunning car! I really enjoy the history and backround story you give. My Dad drove a Studebaker sports coupe in the 50's before he married my Mom (and he was an Irish lothario in the Bronx LOL). He always spoke so highly of that car and the impact it had on him (and I guess all the chicks). Now I can see why. :)
Nice video and an undoubtedly rare remaining example.
really enjoyed this tour of the Avanti. As a boy in the 1960s, I used to see one of these driving around my small town. It was eye-catching! Your tour points to the many design elements that are so interesting and advanced for that time. Good video, loaded with nice detail and very good narration.
Absolutely great car and video. My uncle had one of these Avantis and also a Golden Hawk.....remarkable cars. Good narration but it made me realize that my using "damn" and "hell" doesn't do much for MY speech patterns. This is not a criticism but rather a reflection on how bad my language is getting. The fellow was very excited about his ride and well should he be. My uncles Avanti had the supercharger on it and I loved riding in it. Sad that Studebaker went under.
Absolutely beautiful automobile!! A tribute to the men involved in it's design!! Long live the Avanti!!
I wanted that car badly…the sound, the styling, absolute rocket
Great "review" on this classic. I love your sense of humor!
Thanks for the memories. Just started watching your channel and it's nice seeing all the cars I peeked into when I was a kid. These cars were among the large handful of attention grabbing off beat designs that only lasted a few years and somehow they all end up in Naples. Red interiors were very popular for quite a while, and for no known reason
While watching this I noticed the NOT electric windows. That brought back memories of leaning over in my 1964 Falcon Futura to roll down the passenger window while driving. And then I thought of all the people who will never understand the workout you got driving a NO power steering vehicle while sweating even with the all the windows set to the "cooling" position. Maybe that's one of the reasons people were thinner back then. That and running for the one phone in the house.
And getting up to change the channel on the TV! 😆
Studebaker made the finest automobiles ever made in the US. I owned two of them -- a Champion, and a President.
Stunning design. Great car
Cousin had one when she was a teenager, loved the car then ,the style unique, what's not to like, enjoyed riding in it , the interior was very stylish!
Oh man i love this car! One of my all time faves. Im a huge fan of the quasi-futuristic stuff from the 50s and 60s. In my home town of New Orleans there is a lot of architecture in that style as well as residential homes in that late 50s style. My dream is to get a house like that and to have an Avanti parked in front of it.
Life Goals
I have driven Studebakers for years...and I just noticed something...Of course, a lot of the interior parts are from the 'parts bin'...but a surprise (I have seen them before but it just went 'click') is the turn signal lights...they are the same light used in the early Larks...but you only got one it blinked ...regardless of which one was on.
LOVE this car...wow.
Outstanding vid. The Avanti is s one of my most favorite cars. My Dad had a Starliner back in the day. My mom was born in South Bend, Indiana too. Raymond Loewy.....one of the greats....
OMG! The vintage compass! My parents had one in their 1959 Impala. I haven't seen one in over fifty years.
Ive always loved the Avanti...nice classic ride..Enjoyed the show Bill..
What a beautiful car!
Wow what a beautiful car- the interior is perfect, really quality made 👍
Wow! I so miss my 1964 round headlight Avanti!
I bet you DO miss your AVANTI! Some of are still waiting to get one TO miss!
Didn't know about that beautiful care before. Thanks a lot, Bill.
I see several other aspects of other cars: Something avantgardistic and french, a BMW E9 around the back, Jensen Interceptor, 70ies Aston Martin Vantage (backbumper), the silhouette of an AMC Pacer (Don't kill me for that). All in all an incredible interesting design which I never got to know without your review! So again: Thanks!
Love the video. Two corrections.
Raymond loewy not lowry. Also penned the 53 starlight coupe.
The bezels are square not the headlamps.
Lowry is the quirky English artist, who painted everyone like "stickmen"
There’s quite a few corrections in all his videos Let’s discuss the vacuum gauge . . . If he’s successful imagine how successful he’d be if he was good at this
I have never ever seen one of these in person. Looks like a car ahead of its time
Absolutely a magnificent creation to this day!
Love this video. I grew up in the South Bend area. Studebakers were, a dime a dozen in that area, but those were all Larks. In 63 a man my dad was acquainted with traded in his 1960 Ford Falcon on an Avanti. I remember walking with my dad a block over to his house to look at it. It was quite impressive. If I were a car collector aside from all the Ford Products and Plymouths I would have in my collection there would be at least three Studebakers, a Lark, a Hawk, and an Avanti. Unfortunately I am not a rich man, so no collection.
This is a great video of a car I fell in love with when I was around 12 yrs old, back in the 60's 👍
14:00 mark - I'm so glad you mentioned the door latch. My '71 M-Benz had the same setup. I loved the solid sound when the door was opened & closed.
Edit: 16:25 - I'm looking for a compass like that. My dad had one in his 54 Buick.
Excellent review, Bill.
Fantastic exposition of this vehicle.
Ultimate classic!
I always really enjoy your excellent videos.
One of the most beautiful designs, imo.
That's a birthyear car and would be a dream to own.
Purchased New R4110 Feb 64. Blk (SAME) ours was a R2 Supercharged BLK Burg/Tan interior. Hurts to think about selling it. Loved it. This 64 has the square headlights, ours were round. Great great driving car. GC Surprise ILL. Last i knew ours was in No Fla. Thanks
Yes. Square headlights came a bit after the model year changeover so there are 1964 model year with round. Also, you could special order round after they switched to square. And some cars that for some reason or other hanging around a long time at the factory were sold as 1964 models although they were 1963 model year vintage. But many out there view the headlight bezels as the line of demarcation for model year such as the Palmer Plastics model kits the scream "1964 Avanti" on the box art with square bezels. Except the very first kit issue had box art with round bezels on the box art even though the kits themselves all had square bezels. These kits were re-made many times with somewhat different art and even a "gold plated" version and motorized version. Interestingly, the instruction sheets for all showed round bezels as that is what people no doubt observed when first written.
I had a karate teacher in the 80s that owned one of these. The only way I can describe this car is oddly-beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous car!
I toured the Studebaker factory which is now a museum. Amazing hand crafted body panels shaped on wooden forms. Quality was put before quantity.
I remember building a model car of one of these in the sixties and I truly believe this is possibly the coolest American car ever built! Bar none. Would love to have an R3 version with the factory Borg Warner 4 speed. Fantastic example.
Mostly extensive knowledge of the car. Escalates quickly by taking it to 11 and sharing extensive knowledge about resolving a botched murder. A true car salesman, bravo!
Excellent video and very, very informative. I do disagree, however, that the second gear start was taken from Mercedes. That was typical of the Borg Warner automatic used by Studebaker for many years even before the Mercedes distributorship.
Sorry Ford done second gear starts with the old cruisomatics If I remember right in 1956 you had to use kickdown to get first gear,but fords "2" or top pos in select shift was always second gear start. My 2000 merc marquis
Od trans will sec gear start in 2
I just checked the Cruisomatics WERE PUT IN STUDEBAKER GOLDEN HAWK,So what year did Mercedes beat us with second gear starts those old cruisos came out in Fords in 1951....and Mercedes???
I JUST checked M Benz FIRST Automatic transmission was in 1961...ok Ford was doing second gear starts in 1951 Fords w cruisomatic transmission just WHAT Mercedes did they copy that from?. BTW I'm a retired Automatic Transmission expert.Built transmissions for about 35 years...and the year Ford copied MB??.THANK YOU
It's worth a note from someone with a good grasp of the history here, but my recollection is that Studebaker's Automatic Drive circa 1951 and the Ford - O - Matic and Merc - O - Matic transmissions were all variants of the Borg Warner unit which did, indeed, start in 2nd gear in those early days.
Some people don’t believe me when I say this but my grandmother’s sister and her husband owned a Studebaker dealership, Idem Studebaker in Hazleton Pennsylvania from the 1930’s until Studebaker’s demise. I have a box filled with promotional materials from the dealership and dealership photos. Studebaker was a special American car and truck company that really was before their time in many ways. This Avanti is a real beautiful find.
One of the most beautiful cars ever made, IMHO.
That's a classy looking car...ahead of its time.
What a great car. I hope Bill talks about it.
Best square-lamp I've ever seen. Somebody scored when they bought this!
When I started driving in 1963 we had a black 1962 Studebaker Lark Daytona 2 door with the 289 engine and bucket seats. I thought it was a bit sluggish away from a stop for a V-8, until I discovered that the Borg Warner 3 speed automatic started in second gear unless you manually selected "L". My Dad didn't believe me and he never tried it himself because he had never had another car that worked that way and never paid any attention to anything I told him anyway LOL! I remember how cool these Avantis were in their day, so different from everything else on the road. But Studebakers were always different and ahead of their time in styling.
Nicely done video of a great car. One quibble, another poster went into a lot more detail but the R3 engine only had a single supercharger like the R2. The big difference is the R3 was bored out to 304.5 cubic inches. (Oh, and there is no "r" in Lowey).
This car needs to start being included in motor sports racing games, this is such a beautiful & quick sports car of its day!
That is a really cool old car , As a young bloke (In Australia ) many many years ago , i had a mate who was a Studebaker enthusiast , he had a bunch of Studeˋs , but no Avantiˋs unfortunately :) .
They did seem to be a pretty solid motor car in their day ,( i was a Ford boy in those days ) and with some cool features ,
one of the things that stuck in my mind if i remember correctly , the 47 model had an over drive selectable via a knob on the dash .
A great pity Studebaker did not kick on as a car company , they did seem to have some ahead of their time features .
"Avanti Avanti' ... inside it looks like your Riva for the road and sounds the part . a very very interesting car . and beautifully explained :)
The Designer of Record of the Avanti is pronounced "low-ee", not "Lowery" (when you own the firm, Raymond Loewy Associates, you get the credit). It was actually designed by John Ebstein, Tom Kellogg, and Bob Andrews in a rented house in Palm Springs in a little over a month. Loewy based the overall design direction on discussions with Egbert, using some details from his personal customized BMW 507, which he had himself designed earlier.
Considering you are probably not a "Studebaker" guy, you did a pretty good job of relating the background. Studebaker didn't start building wagons commercially until the mid-1800s, but they became the largest wagon-maker in the world. They were significant as they were the only substantial company that made wagons that successfully transitioned to automobiles.
This is a spectacular Avanti, rare indeed. I own one of these, myself, but it has a lot more miles on it than this beauty!
You must also have read the Collectible Automobile article where Tom Kellogg described how he got to work on the Avanti design. The article itself is prefaced with the idea of what it'd be like to do a concert jam with your favorite rock star. But in this case, it involved being with Loewy while he judged a Concours d'Elegance, and the sinking feeling as he was leaving that he didn't get the job, only for Loewy to reopen the door...
As a baby boomer of 1951 I became familiar with these makes as I gut older I remember my dad owned a 1952 Studebaker Commander. v8 engine .i remember that is was a very fast car and he kept it till 1959. The msn who bought it wrecked it a littler later. As a sideline my first car was a 1950 studebaker champion. I saw a Avanti years ago and fell in love with it. Unfortunately a lot of car companies have went under for various reasons. Seeing this car, is a car I would buy today if Studebaker was going today.
great car for it's time and a classic now
Also I forgot to mention the 1962 FORD AC COBRA HAD A TOP SPEED OF 145 mph I think but this Avanti was a Family Car too LOL. AGAIN GREAT BEAUTIFUL VIDEO OF ONE OF THE GREATEST CARS EVER
Stunning. I always thought they were European made. With the name I thought Italian...learned something today
Always loved the Avanti
The outside rear view mirror location is unusual on this car. When production first started, this is where they were located, but they pretty quickly got moved to the doors next to the vent windows. This is because they were harder to reach to adjust way out on the fenders. (Even though that position does give it a "race car" flavor.) This car definitely seems to have other running changes such that it was probably delivered with the mirrors mounted to the doors.
Great review! I have a 1960 Lark
What a stunning vehicle.
For anybody interested in owning an Avanti, they are usually very affordable. They have very low collector value. Many Avanti owners are puzzled by this but it is because most collector car purchases involve emotion and nostalgia and a yearning for something they couldn't have back in the day. There were millions of Tri-Five Chevys everywhere to covet, but the Avanti wasn't on the radar of most. People are more inclined to want the car that the high school quarterback who dated all the cheerleaders drove. Or perhaps a car they grew up with. Either way, not an Avanti. So there just isn't hardly any passionate demand except for a few odd souls (like myself). You can get one in near number one condition for maybe 20K to 25K and all manner of operable ones from 10K to 15K. For later Avantis, using Beach Boy Al Jardine's perfect 1989 Avanti II red convertible as an example, it sold at Barrett-Jackson for $29,700. Al Jardine was there riding in the car throwing a beach ball around and the hype was at maximum level. And the car just didn't sell for all that much. There are some exceptions such as an original R3 version or a perfect survivor with crazy low mileage. But most are rather affordable.
@William Mulvaney That may be true perhaps for certain high end cars. I don't know. But I do know that the vast number of Avantis sold are person to person. With the sale usually driven by just wanting to get something else, get a different, perhaps better one, or because the individual's age or financial situation or downsizing forces the sale. The average age of Avanti owners is likely not particularly young. I would suspect that in the next 20 years or so, the vast majority of them will change hands (the cars, not the owners).