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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:44:44 PM EST
Studebaker Avanti
I'm not a car guy but this isn't what comes to mind when I think "Studebaker". It caught my attention so I walked over to check it out. Good thing too, as it was gone when I came back.  Attached File Attached File |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:46:55 PM EST
[#1]
Yep, neat cars and very unsual. Worked with a guy back in the 80's who had one.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:47:14 PM EST
[#2]
Neat!
I love classic cars. 
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:48:24 PM EST
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yep, neat cars and very unsual. Worked with a guy back in the 80's who had one. The front end has a bit of "the car we all drew in kindergarten" vibes. |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:50:22 PM EST
[#4]
There's a sweet white one around where I live, and we see it at a local restaurant every now and then. Super cool IMO.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:51:45 PM EST
[#5]
shagwagon ?
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:55:36 PM EST
[#6]
A friend's dad had one, not too many of them made.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:55:37 PM EST
[#7]
I’ve seen one around here. Has a 289 V8 with a Paxton supercharger.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 3:58:17 PM EST
[#8]
My best friends dad had one growing up. Fairly rare car and the had a issue of catching on fire.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:17:32 PM EST
[#9]
cool!
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:18:59 PM EST
[#10]
Avanti
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:19:41 PM EST
[#11]
I always loved the Avantis. Way ahead of their time designwise.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:20:39 PM EST
[#12]
Years ago the company I worked for stored stuff inside a cave at High Bridge Spring water in Kentucky. There were a bunch of old classics stored inside including a black Avanti like that. Always thought it was a cool design.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:22:02 PM EST
[#13]
Basically their answer to the Corvette, I understand that they lived on for awhile after their namesake died up to the early 80's.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:35:18 PM EST
[#14]
I remember a dealer right outside Charlottesville back in late 1988
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:38:57 PM EST
[#15]
Alice Cooper has a white one. (I saw it on Counting Cars).
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:42:03 PM EST
[#16]
I remember those. One of the neighbors had one back in the day. |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:48:59 PM EST
[#17]
West Chester area?
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:52:00 PM EST
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I remember a dealer right outside Charlottesville back in late 1988 My uncle's dealership, Durham NC, probably mid-60s. Mercedes, and Studebakers. Kind of an odd combination. At some point in his dealership history he also sold Packards, Edsels, and Sunbeams - Alpines and Tigers. When he eventually moved out to 15-501 it morphed into Old Hickory Mercedes and Toyota, neither of which had hit their stride in the US. He died very wealthy. Interesting guy, left school in the eighth grade to help support his widowed mother and seven siblings. WWII, he served with distinction as a soldier with the 30th Division, which was known as the "Old Hickory". His personal decorations included the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. Avanti sitting to the back right.  Attached File |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:53:31 PM EST
[#19]
When I was a kid..a guy down my street had two of the real Avanti's..(Studebaker) and 6 Jensen Interceptor's. Guy next door to him had two Bricklins and a Pantera...S fla in the late 70's..
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:54:27 PM EST
[#20]
They were pretty cool cars. You could also get an an R4 engine (supercharged) in the Lark models for a nice sleeper car.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:54:28 PM EST
[#21]
Alice Cooper is a big Avanti collector
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Posted: 9/15/2024 4:58:09 PM EST
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: West Chester area? Sorta. Lititz, Lancaster county. |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 5:01:36 PM EST
[#23]
Neat, thanks for sharing!
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Posted: 9/15/2024 5:24:55 PM EST
[#24]
My buddy has 2 Studabakers he’s completely redone from the frame up,he goes to meets with them all the time!
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Posted: 9/15/2024 5:28:04 PM EST
[#25]
Those are cool. I've only seen one, a white one on the road in Mississippi about 10 years ago.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 5:32:18 PM EST
[#26]
Saw this old Rolls yesterday on the way home from work.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 5:50:01 PM EST
[#27]
They reproduced them in Youngstown for a few years back in the late ‘80’s. I think they only made around 400. I believe it was built on a Caprice chassis with a 305.
https://jalopnik.com/still-waiting-for-a-savior-before-gm-left-avanti-sold-1833122040 ~snip~ “When the first Avanti finished in Youngstown, Ohio, rolled off the line on Sept. 30, 1987, it was touted as a rebirth for both a once-revolutionary car and for a region ravaged by the closure of its steel mills. Introduced two decades earlier as Studebaker’s last gasp, the Avanti wasn’t enough to save the venerable automaker in the 1960s, but the unique vehicle acquired a cult following and lived on in limited numbers.” 
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Posted: 9/15/2024 6:10:35 PM EST
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They reproduced them in Youngstown for a few years back in the late ‘80’s. I think they only made around 400. I believe it was built on a Caprice chassis with a 305. https://jalopnik.com/still-waiting-for-a-savior-before-gm-left-avanti-sold-1833122040 ~snip~ “When the first Avanti finished in Youngstown, Ohio, rolled off the line on Sept. 30, 1987, it was touted as a rebirth for both a once-revolutionary car and for a region ravaged by the closure of its steel mills. Introduced two decades earlier as Studebaker’s last gasp, the Avanti wasn’t enough to save the venerable automaker in the 1960s, but the unique vehicle acquired a cult following and lived on in limited numbers.” https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/474231/IMG_5841-3323454.jpg Hm. It actually looks better from the 60's. That's sad and sort of impressive in a bad way. |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 6:18:28 PM EST
[#29]
My granddad was working through his "midlife crisis/more money than sense" phase and test-drove an Avanti. He'd only owned pickup trucks his entire life but wanted to look like a prosperous contractor. I don't know what variant he drove, but the test drive lasted less than ten miles on I-17 before he headed back to the barn. "Too much car for me, I was scared of it from second the salesman told me to put my foot down." He settled for a Coupe DeVille.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 6:20:42 PM EST
[#30]
Interesting. I saw a red Avanti today too, but in Carlisle.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 6:22:32 PM EST
[#31]
One of my sister's gal pals had a 70s Avanti II (made by Avanti after the death of Studebaker in 1965).
I think the one in the OP is a Stude. |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:04:27 PM EST
[#32]
Where's the radiator go?
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:14:41 PM EST
[#33]
The R-2 had a supercharged 289. I read of a guy that did minor upgrades such as ignition and good tires and the car ran low 13's. Pretty damn fast for a small block car built in 1963.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:18:04 PM EST
[#34]
Back in the late 80's I used to see them on used dealer lots on Scottsdale Rd. I always thought they were weird looking.
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:20:04 PM EST
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Interesting. I saw a red Avanti today too, but in Carlisle. Heck, could have been the same one. This one had antique tags and was parked with a Toyota mr-2 that also had antique tags. Could have been out with an antique car group? |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:26:31 PM EST
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They were pretty cool cars. You could also get an an R4 engine (supercharged) in the Lark models for a nice sleeper car. I dated a girl in high school who drove a Lark (not supercharged though). Her dad had all kind of unusual cars. My favorite was his Stutz Bearcat. I never got to drive that one, but did get to drive his TR-1 and one of his 48 Cadillacs (he had two). |
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Posted: 9/15/2024 7:37:42 PM EST
[#37]
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Posted: 9/16/2024 1:31:10 AM EST
[#38]
Studebaker made some beautiful cars.
Fun fact about the original Avanti. Designer first went to the president of Checker Motors trying to get him to make them, but was turned down because they were too ugly. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 1:40:46 AM EST
[#39]
There’s a car lot/glass replacement place here that has an old Baker on their lot. Used to say $14k or so on it when it still looked nice about 9 years ago.
 They used to pull it inside every night but I don’t think they even bother doing that anymore. I’m guessing they gave way to much for it and at this point are just being stubborn instead of just cutting their losses and putting that money back to work with something people want because apparently no one wants that car for what they are asking. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 3:49:53 AM EST
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just helped my parents move today including Dad’s 1963 Studebaker Hawk. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/486084/IMG_8987_jpeg-3323549.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/486084/IMG_8988_jpeg-3323551.JPG Great looking car. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 4:58:36 AM EST
[#41]
I have an older cousin who has had one on a trailer, under a tarp and sitting in a shed for at least 5 decades. Can't recall if he bought it new or almost so.
He used to drive it, but I remember his dad relating how it ended up being a PITA to try and source replacement fiberglass for the door dings and similar that were more than a chipped paint fix. I suppose that by now, there's a thriving aftermarket for sourcing that stuff, but back then, it was probably trying to hunt down new old stock OEM parts without being able to search online. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 5:23:00 AM EST
[#42]
I once saw a guy driving a replica(I assume) original batmobile on the highway somewhere in the northeast on my way to Woodstock '99. I gave him a thumbs up. He smiled and floored it, then looked like he hit a switch and flames started coming out of the exhaust. I also saw a dodge viper on the highway a few months ago.
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Posted: 9/16/2024 5:33:02 AM EST
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just helped my parents move today including Dad’s 1963 Studebaker Hawk. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/486084/IMG_8987_jpeg-3323549.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/486084/IMG_8988_jpeg-3323551.JPG My neighbors growing up had a light green Hawk. Cool design. My dad always liked cool cars so he would point out cars like Avanti’s. He said they were hand built in the 60’s. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 6:04:29 AM EST
[#44]
My Dad had one, he bought it in July of 1963 right after I was born.
Then he decided he didn't like the 289 or whatever they had in it so he bought a brand new 1966 325hp 327 SBC. After that he decided he didn't like the cast iron case trans which he said was from the Studebaker pickup truck. He bought the Warner T-10 case from a Chevy dealer and swapped the guts right in it, no shims or anything, somehow it all worked. The worst part for me was the rotten brake line that decided to take a shit when I was driving it and it only had a single circuit master cylinder. He sold it after one of the front calipers froze and broke the unvented disc right off the hub panic stopping to avoid a deer, the new rotor took forever to show up and he figured the writing was on the wall. Sold it for what he bought it for 40 years later.  PS: Naugahyde! lol |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 6:23:15 AM EST
[#45]
My late friend who was in his 80's had his 1963 Studebaker Hawk GT that he bought new in '63.
It was originally an automatic with a two barrel, but he went back to the dealer and bought the parts to convert it over to a four barrel and manual transmission. I went through it before his widow sold it last November. If I had the cash, I would have bought it because of the long history of a one-owner car and the stories he had told me about it. He went on his honeymoon in that car, brought his kids home from the hospital in it, etc. I did save some of the insignias that he had replaced in the early 90's. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 6:34:23 AM EST
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Where's the radiator go? In front of the engine. Cooling air was drawn in under the front bumper. |
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Posted: 9/16/2024 6:40:04 AM EST
[#47]
My dad had one for a short while maybe 15 or 20 years ago. He always had some fascination with Studebakers. They were ahead of their time.
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Posted: 9/16/2024 6:56:13 AM EST
[#48]
I hunted deer with this guy and he once worked for Stuedabaker and loved his Avanti.
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Posted: 9/16/2024 8:42:24 AM EST
[#49]
Friend of my Dad's when I was growing up had an Avanti with the Paxton supercharger. Neat car, and unusual for our area for sure.
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Posted: 9/16/2024 9:30:52 AM EST
[#50]
I’m amazed so many here know about Avantis.
I owned three very average early 1960s Studebakers. Lost the last one, a restored 1960 Champ in the divorce. |
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