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  • Serial number and Body number for Avanti

    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?

  • #2
    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.

    Guido Salvage - "Where rust is beautiful" and real Studebaker horsepower lives

    See pictures here: http://community.webshots.com/user/GuidoSalvage

    Hiding and preserving Studebakers in Richmond, Goochland & Louisa, Va.

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    • #3
      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 1963
      sigpicSee you in the future as I write about our past

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      • #4
        My serial # is R-4457B. My body # is RQ3496.

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        • #5
          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

          R2Andy
          R2Andrea

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          • #6
            quote:Originally posted by fstst56

            My serial # is R-4457B. My body # is RQ3496.

            Your Avanti was, or is in California. The added "B" on the title tells the tale.

            JDP/Maryland
            JDP Maryland

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            • #7
              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 State
              63 Avanti R1 2788
              1914 Stutz Bearcat
              (George Barris replica)

              Washington State

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              • #8
                Mines R-2208, Body 63-RQ1261. I believe it was built Dec 17th, 1962



                New Jersey & Studes Perfect Together

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                • #9
                  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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                  • #10
                    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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                    • #11
                      Does 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.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Doug Fuller View Post
                        Does 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.
                        Welcome to the SDC and to the SDC Forum Doug!

                        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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                        • #13
                          All of what Rich said, plus 63R2140 was assembled in December 1962.
                          Gary L.
                          Wappinger, NY

                          SDC member since 1968
                          Studebaker enthusiast much longer

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