Indy 500 Avanti?

[Bullet]

I was talking to a shop in Ventura, CA this past Friday, Feb 7. I was asking him some questions on my Cruiser. When he stated that I was the third Studebaker that day to come to his shop. He said that he had the Avanti that the 1963 winner of the Indy 500 won in his shop at the present time. I had not given any thought that this car was still around. I did not see the car, as we were talking on the phone, so don’t have any particulars but thought that it had to be a historically significant car. The shop is called Pacific Carburator,

thought you all might be interested.

Mark

[Avantidon]

The Roger Ward Avanti was sold a year or two ago at Auction so it is still around

[Studebaker Wheel]

Yes, could be. That was the Rodger Ward Avanti presented to him nearly 2 mos after he won the 1962 race. Serial 63R-1034, white with orange vinyl trim and air. It has had quite a few owners I believe in the past 58 years. Not sure of the current one. Someone will know. Car shown in images #1 and #2 below was a pre-production model, it is not the one he was given. Third image from an ad in the Oct 1962 issue of Motor Trend magazine.

[BobWaitz]

So if there was any other question about why this is the best message board around, show them this thread.

[Dick LeRoux]

Is it true that Roger Ward was originally offered an R-2 but he requested the R-1 because it had Air conditioning and already knew how uncomfortable an R-2 was in hot weather without Air, or is that just a story that hangs around without any basis on facts?

[Peddler]

He, Roger Ward, was from Southern California and wanted to be able to drive the car so he wanted air. The original prize car was an R-2 but they were happy to give him what he wanted I guess. The car was in Northern VA then bought by a friend of mine a few years ago who also had a real R-3. He sold both last year at Auburn to trim his collection.