Studebaker Avanti

Studebaker
Avanti
Production period:	1962-1963
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Coupe
Engines:	Petrol engines : ; 4.7 liters ; (179–216 kW)
Length:	4888 mm
Width:	1788 mm
Height:	1368 mm
Wheelbase :	2770 mm
Empty weight :	1428-1500 kg
Previous model	Studebaker Hawk
successor	Avanti II

A Loewy design that anticipates the lines of the Avanti

The Studebaker Avanti was a sports coupe . It was originally manufactured by the American automobile manufacturer Studebaker Corporation from June 1962 to December 1963 . The production of the Avanti Motor Corporation, which was released from the group as its own brand, with occasional revisions, was continued into 2008.

The body line, which was very advanced for the time, was drawn by a team of designers led by French industrial designer Raymond Loewy . Avanti means something like forward or progress in Italian . In fact, the Avanti turned out to be very progressive with the disc brakes at the front, a smooth front without a radiator grille, optionally available seat belts, safety door locks and integrated roll bars as well as the great attention paid to good aerodynamics by the designers, which were standard in a US car.

Origins

The Avanti was designed in a five-week working session in a Palm Springs home, near Raymond Loewy's chief designer. The design made the Avanti so many friends that the model survived the sinking of Studebaker and was further produced by hand by successor companies as the Avanti II for decades .

Due to the tight financial situation, Studebaker was able to invest little money in the Avanti development. This is why the modern Avanti had the frame of the Studebaker Lark convertible under the fiberglass cover, which originally dates back to 1953. For the engines, the factory used the existing in-house 4.7-l V8, which was available in several power levels.

Loewy further developed the design of the Avanti. In 1963 he designed a four-door sedan and a two-door hatchback coupe with design elements from the Avanti. The French bodywork manufacturer Pichon-Parat built a prototype of each design; However, there was no series production.

Engines

In the basic version called R-1, the 4.7-liter V8 used in the Avanti developed 179 kW (240 gross SAE PS ), the R-2 version, available on request, had 216 kW (289 PS) with a Paxton compressor ). For comparison, the same-displacement Ford V8 in the Mustang developed 147 kW (210 PS), or 156 kW (220 PS) with quadruple carburetors or 199 kW (271 PS) in the high-performance version called Hi-Po.

With the help of racing pilot Andy Granatelli, Studebaker also developed an R-3 engine for the Avanti. For this purpose, the 4.7-liter engine was initially drilled to 4.9 liters, later to 5.0 liters. In the R-3, special cylinder heads with significantly larger intake ports and valves, an aluminum intake manifold, sports exhaust manifold, sharper camshaft, Paxton compressor and Carter AFB quadruple carburetor were used. This officially gave the R-3 an output of 250 kW (335 hp), and measurements on the test bench should have resulted in values of around 295 kW.

The most powerful version of the Studebaker V8, however, was the R-5, which was only developed for test purposes. With one compressor per cylinder bank, this engine produced no less than 429 kW (575 hp). The engine was used in Granatelli's special car called Avanti Duecento, with which he wanted to break the limit of 200 miles per hour (323 km / h). However, Granatelli only achieved 316.36 km / h in the record drives in Bonneville.

In the summer and autumn of 1963 Granatelli carried out record runs with a standard Avanti with an R-3 engine on the salt lake near Bonneville. It reached a top speed of almost 275 km / h and set 34 US records, which at the time enabled Studebaker to advertise the Avanti as the "fastest production car in the world".

The Avanti's engine was used in the first models of the neo-classic Excalibur Series I in 1965 .

Manufactured by Studebaker

Studebaker Avanti, late series with square headlight surrounds

Studebaker advertised the Avanti at an early stage and many interested parties placed advance orders. However, there were delays in development, which had a negative impact on sales figures. The main cause of the delays were problems with the fit of some fiberglass body panels; In addition, the opening for the rear window turned out to be too large for the window. That came as a bit of a surprise, as the production of the body panels had been outsourced to the same company that had been making the bodies of the Chevrolet Corvette since 1953 . In the end, Studebaker was forced to make the panels itself - but by that point many customers had already canceled their orders.

With the Avanti, Studebaker did not label different model years, but instead incorporated necessary changes into the current series. The easiest way to differentiate between early and late Studebaker Avantis is based on the headlight covers. All Avantis between June 1962 and July 1963 had round panels. From August 1963, square panels were used.

In December 1963, Studebaker announced that it would stop car production at its headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, and only produce it in Hamilton, Canada. At the same time, the Avanti, the Studebaker Hawk and all pickups and trucks were dropped from the range; Sedans, coupes and station wagons were still being built in Canada for a while.

Until the Avanti was discontinued, Studebaker produced 4643 copies. Studebaker employees enclosed a letter with the last Avanti, a white R-3 with all the extras, in which they informed the future owner about the historical significance of the car.

Studebaker survived another two years and manufactured the Commander, Daytona and Cruiser models with General Motors units in Canada .

Avanti II

Narrow taillights: the rear of an Avanti II from the 1970s

A late Avanti II convertible

After production at the Studebaker plant in South Bend was discontinued , two Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman, acquired the rights to the Avanti name, as well as all tools, molds, Avanti parts, etc., and part of the former Studebaker -Factory to continue manufacturing the Avanti. Altman and Newman first turned to the Checker company , known for building Checker taxis, to clarify the possibilities of producing the Avanti there; Company owner David Markin is said to have replied that he was not interested in an "ugly car" like the Avanti. As a result, Altman and Newman took matters into their own hands and hired numerous former Studebaker employees who from then on built the Avanti II by hand; up to the early 1980s, around 150–250 copies were produced annually.

However, the Studebaker V8 was no longer used, but an eight-cylinder from the Chevrolet Corvette , first the 5.4-liter, later the 5.7-liter, the 6.6-liter and finally the five-liter V8.

After Altman and Newman passed away, real estate agent and Avanti client Stephen Blake took over the company. Blake went bankrupt in 1986 and the company was taken over by Michael Kelly. In 1987 production was relocated to Ohio. The new model was now based on the platform of the Chevrolet Camaro / Pontiac Firebird , which also made four-door and convertible versions possible. There were a number of design changes that included wide and body-colored bumpers.

A new avanti and end

Tom Kellogg, who once belonged to Raymond Loewy's group and had helped design the original Studebaker Avanti, was commissioned to redesign the Avanti in the late 1990s. The new design called AVX has been built by Avanti Motor Corporation since 2001, and Ford has been delivering the platform since 2004 and apparently also the 4.6 l V8 with 227 kW (304 PS). For 2006, the company also announced an Avanti with a four-liter V6 (210 hp) and a supercharged version of the 4.6-liter with 348 kW (467 hp). Prices started at $ 62,000. In 2006 production was relocated to Cancun , Mexico . Production ended in 2006 or early 2007. In 2008 the company was dissolved.