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1963 Studebaker Avanti displayed at Kenosha History Center Snap-on tools exhibit

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  • 1963 Studebaker Avanti displayed at Kenosha History Center Snap-on tools exhibit

    I stumbled across this tonight, I don't know if someone has eluded to it another post but perhaps a local SDC forum member could fill us in on the exhibit and details about the car and its owner.

    Click image for larger version

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ID:	1733141 http://www.kenoshahistorycenter.org/exhibit1.htm

    Now through September 25, 2011

    Now featured at the Kenosha History Center is a special collaborative exhibit between the History Center and Snap-on Incorporated. Snap-on is featuring 90 years of history of its tools, equipment, rare signage, advertising and product evolution kiosks. The central feature of the Snap-on portion of the exhibit is a fully restored 1950's Snap-on Dealer van.

    The gallery also features 1960's era automobiles, including a 1962 American Motor's Rambler convertible used in the television show, "Third Rock from the Sun." Also featured are a 1966 Mustang, 1963 Studebaker Avanti and 1964 Chevelle Malibu convertible. The Rambler Legacy Gallery also debuts a 1930's era Texaco gas station with a 1917 Jeffery Rambler Parked out front. The exhibit also looks at AMC in the 1960's and its change from production of small economy cars to the muscle car boom of the 60's.



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    John
    63R-2386
    Resto-Mod by Michael Myer

  • #2
    I don't think anyone has alluded to that from Kenosha yet. That's great that our marque got in on that one and is well represented. I hope the member is on the Forum and can tell us more. Thanks for the link & pic, John.

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    • #3
      Gee, I hope no one gets the idea that Avanti's were Ramblers....
      The only difference between death and taxes is that death does not grow worse every time Congress convenes. - Will Rogers

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Chris Pile View Post
        Gee, I hope no one gets the idea that Avanti's were Ramblers....
        Apparently at one time AMC prosposed a merger with Studebaker but Studebaker rejected the proposal .... I'm sure one of our Forum historians can enlighten us.
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        John
        63R-2386
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        • #5
          Originally posted by okc63avanti View Post
          Apparently at one time AMC prosposed a merger with Studebaker but Studebaker rejected the proposal .... I'm sure one of our Forum historians can enlighten us.
          Not sure of the accuracy, but part of this article referenced Pat Foster as a source.

          This by Mike Sealey concerning the production of the V/8 engine and Fifties competition:


          "The early 1950s were difficult years for America's independent auto manufacturers. While the biggest problem was most likely Henry Ford II glutting the market with new cars in a vain effort to catch and pass Chevrolet, one of the lesser problems was the market's embrace of the V8 engine, which required tooling changes beyond the capacity of most smaller automakers. Studebaker was the only independent to come out with a V8 prior to 1955, and even this great little engine was designed before anyone realized what a big deal the horsepower race was going to be, with only limited room for expansion.

          Nash-Kelvinator CEO George Mason saw this need looming on the horizon and started talking with the other independent automakers about pooling resources. N-K started by acquiring Hudson, which created American Motors. Packard, which had a V8 of its own well on the way to production, countered by buying Studebaker, only to find out after the purchase that Studebaker had a break-even point of 271,000 cars per year, a number that had not been reached since 1950.

          Historians on both sides say that Mason's next plan was to incorporate Studebaker-Packard into AMC, which would have given the combined company four makes of big car plus the successful Rambler and Metropolitan, plus two distinct families of V8 engine to choose from depending on size and power requirements. This plan fell apart after George Mason's unexpected death in late 1954.

          AMC and S-P went ahead with their first tentative plans toward merger, which would have been agreed upon while Mason was still alive, and which involved offering the smaller Clipper version of the new Packard V8 in 1955 Nash Ambassadors and the new Nash-bodied Hudson Hornets. Packard also provided its Twin Ultramatic automatic transmission for use with its V8.

          When Mason's successor, George Romney, took over at AMC, he looked at the merger proposal and decided against going further, proposing instead "love without marriage." Instead, the relationship between the two companies turned ugly, with S-P contending that AMC never offered them anything they could not get from another vendor for less money and AMC responding that the Packard engine contract had them paying too much for V8s and Ultramatics, which in turn forced them to price cars with this combination at a higher price than buyers were willing to pay.

          The discovery that one of AMC's new hires had just designed an excellent V8 engine for Kaiser-Frazer could not have been more timely. It is said that George Romney, a devout Mormon, considered this a gift from God. The speed of the new AMC V8's development suggests that the Kaiser work was accepted as what would normally have been AMC's preproduction process. It also suggests that AMC jumped on David Potter's V8 quite literally as soon as they became aware of its existence.

          The first edition of this engine, at 250 cubic inches (4.1 liters), appeared halfway through the 1956 model year in Nash Ambassador Special and Hudson Hornet Special models. The Specials were not only a lower trim level than the Packard-powered Ambassadors and Hornets, which remained in production, but were seven inches shorter! This was because the AMC V8 went into what had been the shorter Nash Statesman/Hudson Wasp platform, which had been powered by Nash and Hudson sixes respectively up to that time. The new V8 also used a GM Hydramatic transmission instead of the troublesome Packard Twin Ultramatic. (AMC had continued to use Hydramatics behind its sixes, as indeed both Nash and Hudson had done before their merger.)"

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          • #6
            Here's another article referencing the exhibit with the History Centers location and hours, but no mention of the Avanti or its owner.

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            John
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