Avanti Stories From Owners, Drivers and Fans?

My high school art teacher had a white '64 R1 Automatic.
To this day I still lust for an Avanti, bucket list car #4, I already have 1-3!
KK

 

Yep, that was a real travesty....

 

had a chance to buy one about 20 years ago, would have if it had been stude or mopar powered but it had a chevy in it so i didn't.

 

I hate to be the buzzkill haha...When I was a kid I was in a model building club. Most the members were middle aged and I was one of the only kids. One guy in the club, Paul, was not very nice to me. He was grumpy, short with me and just kind of an asshole. He drove an Avanti, and also had a mini van with a decal that said" My other car is an AVANTI". He raved how that Avanti was the best car ever built. I've hated those cars ever since hahaha.

 

Hey Chris, I bet you're glad he didn't drive a 34 Ford roadster!

 

My dad bought a '62 Rambler Ambassador wagon from the NYC Stude dealer. It was a loaded car with everything but a/c.The previous owner bought it to go hunting. He traded it for a '63 Avanti. I wished my dad had bought the Avanti instead! I guess a 14 year old could dream!
Up until a year ago there was an Avanti parked for about a year down the street from me in an apartment house parking lot. I do not think it ever moved until one day it disappeared!

 

Hello,

We were now in our 2nd year of being out of drag racing. The feeling was still there as hot rodders, but the urge to build something else was waning, due to the recovery and its effects on my brother. We still liked hot rods, but drag racing? Not so much. Sure the technology was getting better and the race cars were looking faster by the minute. But, it was not in the cards for us. I was driving the 58 Impala as a daily driver, my brother was now into surfing that had helped in his recovery. So, all things were good or at least getting better.

The only time we reminisced was when we talked about building another gas coupe for the class and being the fastest on the street. The factory backed 409s were ripping, but we liked hot rod builds. One thing kept popping up was do we need a supercharged motor to keep up with those 409s? We had seen plenty of T-Birds with factory McCulloch/Paxton style Superchargers. That was the ticket. But, we were satisfied with the power in our Impala for the time being.

During this time period, our dad always liked the Chevy Impala, but had his thing for those big Buicks. He was a die-hard Buick fanatic, ever since his first 1941 Buick fastback, “sedanette” he bought in 1946. But, somewhere along the time of our high school/college years, he wanted some luxury inside of his Buicks. He wanted leather upholstery and A/C for our mom. Well, the latest car on the market had both, but it was not a Buick, but an Avanti. It also had a Paxton supercharger on the motor. Now, he would have a car that met the luxury mode and the performance added that helped the go fast image.

Jnaki

“In February 1961, Studebaker proposed a new sports car that could boost the company’s image and attract younger buyers. Designed on a 40-day crash program, the Avanti featured a head-turning body design, riding on a modified Lark Daytona chassis, powered by a modified 289 Hawk engine. To get the car to market quickly, fiberglass body panels were chosen over sheet metal, and MFG was selected to produce them.

The Avanti debuted in April 1962, with a base price of $4,445 — as much as a Ford Thunderbird coupe and slightly more than a Buick Riviera. To Studebaker’s delight, the public loved it!”

To our surprise, he took the family to see the Avanti and we were all impressed. My mom wanted it immediately because it had A/C. My brother and I like it because it had a Paxton Supercharger, with its devilish whine and power. My dad discussed the car with his friend, the expert mechanic in Los Angeles. They both liked the car, but after careful scrutiny, he did not buy that advanced design of a luxury car.

Why? It was made of fiberglass like the Corvettes of the time. It was a new car/design that was not proven for reliability, yet. It certainly looked weird as my mom pointed out. Finally, it was not a Buick. So, he kept the blue, 57 Buick Roadmaster until the luxury Buick Riviera came out a year later as a 1963 model. (including our first A/C and leather!)

 

Jnaki, a great story as usual. Bruce, my high school pal, had an Uncle Gus who lived with his family. Gussy (as we called him) was a confirmed batchelor and had a good paying construction job. Well, as soon as the Avantis came out, Gus laid down the money for The R-2 model. Neither of us a driver's license at time, but Gus would take us for the occasional ride. I still have a place in my heart for those early Avantis!

 

Pictures don't do this car justice. It's as nice an Avanti as you will ever see.