I had the privilege of touring the Avanti Motor Corp. in South Bend back in 1984. I was able to see the Avanti production methods (hand built), the craftsmanship and even a prototype of an Avanti convertible. Very educational . . . it was something else to see not only the cars, but the actual Studebaker facility that once was producing more vehicles than just the Avanti model.

The Avanti is one of a few Stude models I've never owned, but at old car events, it's the most recognized model, after the bullet nose of course. Hawks are the highest level of Stude that I've owned, and I have deep affection for them. Really got into wagons as well. Enjoyed the talk very much!

Andy thanks for a great presentation. Glad it was recorded!

A Studebaker Lark convertible chassis, based upon a 1953 Champion with king pin steering, well, there were elements of the Avanti that were less than cutting edge. The 289 was a nice motor but it was heavy, dating back to 1951. Live axle when Corvette was IRS. But Avanti did have disc brakes...

@Hibernicus1968

Жыл бұрын

Studebaker (and more particularly, Sherwood Egbert) wanted to give the car a more advanced suspension, and a better, lighter, more modern, higher-displacement V8, but there was simply no money available to design those things and put them into production. They had to make the car as inexpensively as possible, and that meant using components that Studebaker already had in production. GM did the same with the first generation Corvette too, remember, and so did Ford with the Mustang when it was first introduced. In at least one case though, that need to do things cheaply may have made the car better. The original plan was for the Avanti to have unique Royalite moldings (similar to fiberglass) throughout the interior, but when the car went $1 million over budget, Egbert deleted the Royalite interior and they went with regular carpet and vinyl. In the opinion of John Ebstein, who was a member of the team Raymond Loewy assembled to design the car, this saved the interior from appearing "alarmingly over-designed."

@scootergeorge7089

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@@Hibernicus1968 - Money was the issue. Brooks Stevens performed a styling miracle with the GT Hawk. I wonder why Curtiss Wright didn't invest more money in the company. Fear of the car becoming an orphan must have hurt sales. Is it true that Loewy was not happy with the GT Hawk? If nothing else, he should have been happy that the fins were dispensed with. Maybe it was the prominent grill? Car companies try to use existing components whenever possible. The first generation Mustang is often cited as being a reskinned Falcon and to a certain extent, that is true. But the Falcon was also upgraded starting in 1964 and the V8 cars shared some with the mid size Fairlane.

@Hibernicus1968

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@@scootergeorge7089 I've read that Loewy was not happy with the GT Hawk, and I think it was because it had been restyled by Brooks Stevens, and Loewy, like a lot of very successful men, had a bit of an ego. I don't think he liked the idea of another designer putting his fingerprints all over a vehicle that Loewy had originally designed. Pity, as I thought the GT Hawk, especially in '63 and '64, when they more successfully blended the original grill opening in with the "tombstone" center grill, was the best looking iteration of the car since the original '53 and '54 versions.

@trainliker100

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@@Hibernicus1968 I think Raymond Loewy's ego was considerably north of "a bit of an ego." Brooke Stevens, based in Milwaukee, once commented in an interview about industrial designers Raymond Loewy and Henry Dreyfus based in New York, (I paraphrase) "If they were walking toward each other on a sidewalk, you could expect one or the other to cross to the other side to avoid meeting."

@Greatdome99

Жыл бұрын

@@trainliker100 Loewy designed Pennsylvania's Broadway Limited (NY-CHI) while Dreyfuss designed the competing New York Central 20th Century Limited.

14:05 Weren’t all the Indy 500 pace cars convertibles at the time? That would explain why the official pace car used for the 1962 race was the Lark convertible, while the Avanti was the honorary pace car.

Informative, and very well presented.

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed!

Always been fascinated by this car and am only 24. A bucket list car that I aspire to own one day despite the fact ony 4,647 units were made. Great video btw! Definitely have to travel to yalls museum in South Bend someday, thank you for sharing and keeping the Studebaker dream alive.

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

Happy to share!

Nowadays, a great many people respond to my Studebaker Avanti with "What is that?" And often, "Is it Italian?" To give them no help at all, my license plate says, "A 64 WHAT". But others, usually older others, remember it well.

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

It's certainly unlike anything else. I do think they are starting to get some recognition again though.

Enjoyed the video. Visited in 1982👍🙂

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

I think you might be due for another visit!

Nice work Andy!

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

I'll pass your feedback along!

On Avanti myths: I get that "it is a Ford 289" all the time. And one fellow swore that his uncle had a steel-bodied Avanti. A few have claimed GM paid Molded Fiberglass Co. (or threatened to take the Corvette business elsewhere) to deliberately mess up the Avanti bodies. I recall that even Jay Leno on one of his "Jay Leno's Garage" show mentioned Avantis being made in Canada. I think people just conflate "Studebaker made some cars in Canada" with "Studebaker made the Avanti" to come up with "Studebaker Avantis must have been made in Canada."

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

A log of myths certainly seem to attach themselves to the Avanti.

Thanks Andrew, we'll done !

The Ford Thunderbird was another competitive player at the time besides the Riviera and Corvette mentioned in the video. There are Ford sales training videos on KZread comparing the Thunderbird with the Riviera and Avanti.. They are titled, "1963 Thunderbird vs Riviera and Avanti Sales Film Pt 1" and "1963 Thunderbird vs Riviera and Avanti Sales Film Pt 2". They probably didn't consider the Corvette as competition because, being a 2-seater, it was a different class of car.

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing I have to check it out!

Audio is too low and cannot hear anything ! Too bad as it visually looks great.

Nice historic video - what a shame you don't know how to control the sound in a video ...

@StudebakerMuseum

Жыл бұрын

Thankfully, we've learned a lot since this video and have been given funding to purchase additional audio equipment that has helped out a bunch! let us know if you have any further comments.

Avanti actually did sell well Studebaker just could not supply them ! 🤔

@American-Motors-Corporation

Жыл бұрын

Not really many people was scared off thinking Studebaker was going to go bust and they didn't want a orphan car. That had hurt them even back in the 50's.

Uh, it was based on a 10-year-old chassis AND basic engine design, guys....