An Avanti is really special to drive and ride in. Even today, they are very unusual and strangely modern. You feel like everyone is looking, and that your in something gold plated. It's a nice, very special feeling. It's a car to be proud of.

The Avanti is a timeless beauty. I fell in love with it when it debuted. I was 5 or 6 years old at the time. I hope you are still driving and enjoying your car, Bill Magnusson! I always felt that Jensen Motors of England must have liked the styling of the Avanti, because there seemed to be a little bit of design similarity in the rear roof section on the Jensen Interceptor. Thank you TFLCars for this video, even though it is almost 7 years old!

My family had Starliners & Commanders when I was little. The "Lunitic Fringe" comment finially allowed me to understand my fascination with "Studie's".

Another styling feature that isn't immediately obvious is if you look at that asymmetrical bulge in the hood and follow it to the cabin the instrument surround matches it, so the bulge really starts at the Studebaker logo at the front of the hood and carries all the way past the instruments in the passenger compartment.

@ZachGRocketBossZach

6 жыл бұрын

Jeff DeWitt That’s a great point. That asymmetrical bulge was supposed to visually blend into the road as it went off into the horizon, giving the driver a sense of being one with the car and the road. It’s little stuff like that that makes me love the thought and heart put into the design of this car.

@trainliker100

4 жыл бұрын

Even the bottom of the windshield is notched up to carry the bulge them from the exterior to interior.

if gas is leaking out, either the floats are set too high - or - you have bad gaskets/warped carb sections.....

I saw my first Avanti at about 10 years old and it was love at first sight

That is the very first time I have heard someone say that the Studebaker was not reliable. Maybe he means because it stood for so long, but then he should say so! In my lifetime I owned no less than five Studebakers, that last a 63 Hawk GT. For me they were the most reliable.

It'd be awesome to own one, but with the supercharged 289 motor :)

@Valor_73737

4 жыл бұрын

That is known as the R-2 engine. Want really awesome, find one with the R-3 supercharged engine! I owned a Studebaker GT Hawk so equipped! As I recall one of less than 100 built! A 304 CID engine that would easily peg the 160 MPH speedometer in a car that weighted about a 1000 pounds more than the Avanti!

@winstonelston5743

4 жыл бұрын

@@Valor_73737 Actually, I'd go for an early '63 with a three-speed floor shift (about sixty built), preferably one with the dealer overdrive conversion. There are a few out there. You couldn't get air with the supercharger, and the climate where I live, air is a necessity.

@Valor_73737

4 жыл бұрын

@@winstonelston5743 My Hawk didn't have air either.

@Hibernicus1968

3 жыл бұрын

It is awesome. It really, really is. :)

If you think the front end or any other part of this car is ugly just keep moving and don't even consider one because you just don't get the whole Avanti "thing".

@5610winston

3 жыл бұрын

Perfection in fiberglass and steel.

It's such an absolutely beautiful car. I think it's the "WHITE" color that highlights it's shape even more. Beautiful interior too. I just absolutely ache to own It!❤ Jeff

Excellent car.

It's on my ten favorite list.

Most beautiful skin on a Lark chassis ever!

@trainliker100

3 жыл бұрын

That chassis was changed quite a bit regarding spring rates and beefiness of torsion bars. They STARTED with a Lark convertible chassis (with the X member to add some more strength) but improved as much as they could on a small budget. And if you are including the engine as part of the chassis, Studebaker improved its 289 substantially that had already had the moniker "Jet Thrust" in Hawks. When Studebaker bought Paxton, one big reason was to get Andy Granatelli who was president of Paxton at the time. Granatelli did the power improvements to the 289. The R1 was 4 barrel carb with 10.25:1 compression ratio. The R2 was supercharged with 9:1 compression ratio. The R3 (rare) was bored out to 304.5, different intake manifold, pistons, everything, and an air box around the carburetor for the higher boost. (This is the engine that made the Avanti the world's fastest production car in 1963.) The R4 was so rare that none was ever put into and Avanti, although I believe a Lark was ordered with one. It, like the R3, was bored out to 304.5 and all the rest but had dual 4 barrel carbs and no supercharger. The R5 was a single factory car for Bonneville with dual superchargers. Andy Granatelli drove it himself to a 196 mph average two-way run. (Since then, people starting with an Avanti with the Studebaker 289 have gotten to 213 mph.) Avantis also had dual exhausts with a cross over pipe and had glasspack mufflers standard with the "silent muffler" (regular muffler) as an option. They also had a built in roll bar, which, is arguably part of the chassis. Not exactly just a Lark chassis when they were done with it.

"That's not reliable" the interviewer said.....Uh, the car at the point of this video was FIFTY YEARS OLD!!!

@Valor_73737

4 жыл бұрын

There are lot of current models that aren't reliable either. Any guesses about their reliability at age 50?

@brucegillies1694

4 жыл бұрын

Reliable and needing attention are two different things !

Once had a rich, eccentric neighbor who collected masses of Studes on his property. He brought me a stripped-out Avanti rolling shell for me to work on in my body shop. It was a blown one, but the motor was out. Someone had stripped the entire body with either a grinder or heavy grit on a sander, leaving every panel of the fiberglass gouged and wavy. Had to fill and block every square inch of the car by hand to bring back the shape. Then he was so cheap that instead of spending money to buy the original paint color, he asked me to use some burnt-orange Centari he had lying around from another job, and he was such a scrooge he wouldn't spend 20 bucks on catalyst! I got it straight but never painted it, probably out of disgust, and I don't remember him even paying me. I thought the car was cool, especially the aircraft cockpit style, but didn't really know the car was a legend. I'd love to have all the dozens of kinds of Studebaker that were on his property.

Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews, John Ebstein, Raymond Loewy. Who was the fifth?

Thanks.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

I'd like to have one. but I would cover the ugly front with a bra.