Car of the Week: 1963 Studebaker Avanti

[dodgechargerfan]

Studebaker enthusiasts have a reputation for being among the most brand-loyal car lovers around. Chances are, if you run into a “Studebaker guy,” he’s owned a bunch of them in his life, and odds are good he still has more than one at home.

Studebaker lovers always seem to have cars — and parts — in large quantities, and while they many own cars of other ilks, they generally make no secrets about where their devotion lies.

Ben Dusenbery of Sedalia, Col., is a quintessential “Studebaker guy.” His dad was a Studebaker dealer back in the 1950s and early 1960s. He and his brothers grew up neck-deep in Studebakers from as far back as the remember, and they have always seemed to have at least one in their garages.

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[restoman]

Love it!
With that strong European styling, there's nothing else like them around.
I had a chance to re-spray one around '03-'04 and the owner let me drive it for the weekend. The standard 289 had some zip to it and the four wheel disc brakes were very nice.
You don't pick your nose while driving one, 'cause everyone is looking at you!

 

[68R/T]

Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit to and admire their advanced engineering and styling. They never made what's considered a large engine, but they were always able to compete with the "big boys". :clap:

 

[Dr.Jass]

Aside from having an engine that developed 1 hp per cubic inch, the Avanti was the first full-size American car to be endowed with front caliper disc brakes.

As long as you ignore the 1955 Chrysler Corporation lineup, this is true.

People always talk about Studebaker's engineering prowess, but other than finding interesting ways to share components, I've never understood such talk. Quirky? Yes. Advanced? How? Can't deny their styling was unique--once per decade. Everything they made was either based on, or resembled, the '53 Champion until the Avanti appeared. In an era when every other carmaker's dealer windows were covered in late August to hide "next year's styling", there was little public fawning over a minor grille revision or adding tail fins to an already-ancient design.

Dude complains about the factory battery being a tractor unit and failure-prone. I'm not sure which part of Studebaker's "advanced engineering" makes those batteries problematic, but that group has always been a high-capacity battery. It's very similar to the Mopar Super Stock battery. I can't even get one with less than 850CCA these days, meaning they were at least 450-500CCA back then--much more impressive than the ~300CCA batteries in its contemporaries.

 

[restoman]

The Avanti I painted had four wheel disc brakes... not sure if it was original or an option, but it kinda neat seeing it. Fiberglass body - and not the wavy shit that could be found on Corvettes - in fact, the whole body tub was 'glass. If I recall, the frame was pretty beefy looking too. That was also kinda cool, especially when considering it was, after all, a Studebaker... the same folks who brought you the Conestoga covered wagon a century before, and all the mundane cars that came later.
It's going back quite a bit before '63, but the '49 pick-up trucks were waaaaayyyy ahead of everyone else when it came to ground breaking design, at least when it came to body design. Too bad the designers couldn't hit that kind of genius more often, they might still be around...