I've a 1963 Avanti, serial# 2866 but body# 1971. Why is there a difference, and why so large, almost 900 less bodies than serialnumbers?
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Serial number and Body number for Avanti
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I think the serial numbers started at 1001, but the body number may have started at 001 or 101. My '64 (and reference materials) are not readily accessible right now so I am going off of memory. If this is true, the numbers aren't that far off. Studebaker never made any effort to match the numbers, the body shells were pulled from inventory as needed.
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Avanti serial numbers started at R1001 and went from there. Body numbers were totally different and no where near a match as the bodies were placed on cars as they came down the line in a different sequence. Your serial indicates your car was built in early 1963sigpicSee you in the future as I write about our past
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Body numbers started with 101. There is no order as to which body was mated to which chassis. The only thing that really mattered was color. The Ashtabula built bodies were delivered already painted and it's logical to assume that except for being selected for color, they were used on a first in/last out basis. That could also be true for the South Bend built bodies but I would expect that production scheduling would be more tightly controlled. For what it's worth, I have 63R1016/RQ 116. 63R1005 has body RQ 104, 63R1007 has body RQ 107. As things progressed the relationship started to get way out there. For example, 63R1842 has body RQ 1005 and R3822 has RQ 2801
R2AndyR2Andrea
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Here are the production statistics by month.
Avantidon is correct, you car was made in late January 1963.
My car is R-2788 and it was finished on Jan. 23, and as the graph shows, the final Avanti produced in the month was 2981...so yours was produced about halfway between my car and the final Avanti assembled that month.
I believe the build sheet available from the SDC museum will give you the date.
Also you may want to add your car to the "theavanti.com com" register (above) and to Bob Johnstones' at: http://www.studebaker-info.org/
According to that site, #2863-2864-2865 all survive, so your's would make it four survivors in a row.
That's very rare for a nearly 50 year old car!
By the way, my car's body number is 1904 so there is a 116 unit between the body number and the serial number which would indicate it was the 1788th Avanti built.
63 Avanti R1 2788
1914 Stutz Bearcat
(George Barris replica)
Washington State63 Avanti R1 2788
1914 Stutz Bearcat
(George Barris replica)
Washington State
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JDP,
You are correct. R-4457 was sold thru Milton Motors
in Oakland, CA. It actually does not have a B following
the serial number on the title, but there is some sort of a
letter after the R-4457 on the serial # plate on the frame.
I'm guessing it to be a B, since I read somewhere that some
had a suffix of the letter B and am assuming that is what mine
has.
Someone told me it ended up in Wisconsin, I believe sometime
in the seventies. It was recently for sale in the Chicago
area and I ended up buying it from a dealer this past June in
St Charles, Missouri. (Not St Charles, Illinois)
Even though it was sold by Milton Motors in Oakland, the P/O
is marked "99 TAG Las Vegas Driveaway". I'm assuming the
original owners had it delivered to Vegas. The plate on the
console says it was built for the "Carlile Family"
Interesting stuff.
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Maybe your "99 Tag Las Vegas Driveaway" is just the trucking service used to get it to the dealership.
For my Avanti: 63R-3565, body 63RQ2612. Order written 02/11/63. Body Inspection Report 02/27/63. Chassis inspection report 02/28/63. Invoiced to dealer 3/07/63. Original owner delivery July 18, 1963 in San Diego out of "Sunset Imports."
I've always understood there to be a difference between chassis and body numbers of ~ 1,000+/- Like has been said there was not a specific relationship between the two numbers, some of it had to be random chance of which body color got pulled out of the body lineup row.
What is interesting to me is that my production chart indicates that March 1963 started with 63R-3563 - yet my body and chassis reports indicate a very late February build. I guess the factory didn't count it as produced until it went out the door with all fixes and corrections - and if my inspection reports are any indicator, Studebaker spent a significant amount of post assembly line time on each Avanti.
Thomas
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Originally posted by Doug Fuller View PostDoes anyone know where there is a cross reference showing what engine number went with what serial number? I am trying to determine if
engine number 63RQ1813 is the original engine in Avanti serial number 63R2140.
63RQ-1813 is your BODY Number! if you order the Production Order you can find out if it has it's Original Engine, but you need to find THAT "R" or "RS" Number Stamped into the Engine Block here:
http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/V8EngineID.asp
Scan all the way to the bottom of the Page.
The production Orders are available for purchase at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana
Here:
https://www.studebakermuseum.org/sto...duction-orders
Looks like your's is a very Early '63, quite close to poster #8's Avanti Serial and Body Numbers.Last edited by StudeRich; 06-06-2020, 09:43 PM.StudeRich
Second Generation Stude Driver,
Proud '54 Starliner Owner
SDC Member Since 1967
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