So back in 1962 my dad was driving a '56-J with three on the tree and OD. At the time I was in sleep-a-way camp and my parents came up to see me during the 8 weeks I was away. I was a typical 13 yr old kid and thought that 56-J was just the greatest thing on wheels. My dad brought with him an automotive magazine that was heralding the design of Studebaker's new automobile. I really flipped out when I saw the pictures. dad asked me what I thought of the car, even as a young kid I told him in two words what the design represented to me........." dad that car is "rolling artwork".......he laughed, but that is exactly what an Avanti is...........how fast the car was never was the end all and be all........I thought that even sitting still it looked like it came from outer space, I still feel that way 60 plus years later.
-
-
The Avanti thing, I was 10 years old in 1971. tagged along with My Father to go look at a 63 R1 four speed. the Man opens the garage door, to his bright white walls well lighted two bay. at first sight I actually stood there / walked around and around " what My 10 year old brain was thinking " is this is a space ship on wheelsOriginally posted by Hawklover View Post
! well Dad bought " thank God " leave it to Him to find a four speed, that managed many trilling rides 
-
Yes as Tom Kellog liked to quip.............."the Avanti is cosmic".........and in 1962 looked like it came from outer space.Comment
-
At the tender age of 12, I got my first Avanti. It was white but too small for me to ride. It was a slot car. I would ride my bike up to the strip mall where there was a slot track and I ran against the Corvettes. I got good at cornering and acceleration. It was the small scale and I saved my allowance to buy a larger scale Avanti. It was good, but the smaller scale was a better car on the track.
I check Feebay and an original kit was listed at $199 but not to scale reproductions at $25-30. The cost would be more, however, as I then would have get a track, parts, another room to set up. I am not going to go down that path.Comment
-
Is an Avanti II a studebaker? (Don't take this too seriously, just trying to stir up a little trouble!)
Rafe HollisterComment
-
There is an Avanti II locally that was the first '68 built. The Commonwealth of Virginia has it titled as a "1967 Studebaker Avanti". So, legally, this one is a Studebaker.
--DwightComment
-
-
-
Thom,Originally posted by Rafe Hollister View Post
Way to go. This started as a nice thread with people posting there memories and you have to go and screw it up with your moronic post that starts trouble. Hope you are proud of yourself.
Just because we have the First Amendment does not mean you can yell FIRE in a crowded theater.Comment
-
I had no intent to offend or cause strife. As I understand this forum, and as some of you know me, I figured it would stir up a little good natured ribbing, along with some new facts that I was not aware of.
I met a guy with an Avanti II, he was the type that believed his car was the best ever built (the '56 Power Hawk was), that his car was better than all previous Avantis and all that came after. That his particular car was the only one in existence with its option package. And he would not stop talking until you simply had to walk away. We have all met this guy before, eh?
But then that got me to thinking... and what inspired my comment.
-
-
was working for a finance company in '63. we had a local studebaker dealer with 5 cars on floor plan. his younger brother took me for a mid-nite ride in the Avanti they had on our plan thru Manchester vt, at over 100 mph, and yes, there was alcohol involved. right then I decided I would someday own one. bought my first in 1977, a '64 r-1, and still have it. 16 more have come my way over the years. I drive my '80 every day weather permitting. can't imagine not having one!gfperryComment
-
One more thing............why I never raced my Avanti:
Back in 1967 I lived in Miami. Florida and had my Avanti with me.
One one occasion I happened to be at Trojan Service Center, (the Studebaker repair facility) in the corner of the lot was what was once a '63 R-2 Avanti, in what looked like dozens of pieces, and an interior with dried blood. The Avanti owner was drag racing his brother in law (in a Corvette) down Red Road in south Miami, the Avanti owner lost control of the car and he hit a Southern Bell phone pole at what was estimated at around 100 MPH, when I saw what was left of that car it sickened me.................and scared me to death............lesson learned very cheaply................never had the desire after that to do stupid things.Comment
-
I graduated from HS in 1962. I had already been driving my 1953 htp. for two years by then. To be honest I thought that Studebaker had lost it's way (design wise) when in 1956 it became a follower, by emulating the "Shoebox" styling of the Big Three. The 1st gen. Larks only heightened my dissatisfaction with what I saw as a misstep in direction. I could write a book about the evolution of my post-adultescent brain (which not one would want to read) but suffice to say that I don't see the world the same way that I did then.
What hasn't changed is my feeling for the design of the Avanti. No what I just wrote is not totally true. What I once saw as a completely new and revolutionary leapfrog in automotive design, I have come to recognize as a modern classic. Like the 1953-54, the impact of, or lack of it, has long since ceased to be a factor in automotive design. Today the Avanti design is so far in the rearview mirror as to have become polarizing today.
As a struggling college student I was able to purchase my first 1964 Avanti in 1967. More were to follow, but I still own that first one today. Trying to use it as daily transportation, in those days, change my infatuation with the car, but my feeling for the design still remains strong. I still enjoy seeing succeeding generations discover the car for the first time. But I tend to want to enjoy it from afar.Comment
-
I've owned a 64 Daytona and a 74 Avanti II for many years. For almost all of that time, DC has listed the make of the Daytona as Studebaker and the Avanti II as Avanti. But the last time I renewed my registrations, the Daytona came back as an "UNK" and the Avanti came back as "Studebaker". The wonders of artificial intelligence. Go figure.Originally posted by Dwight FitzSimons View PostSkip LackieComment
-
The post-'64 cars that grew from the original Avanti (the Avanti II, AVX, rebodied Camaros/Trans Ams/Mustangs etc.) are not "Studebakers" per se. But, in my humble opinion, they are definitely part of the Studebaker family/legacy.~Matt Connor
'59 Lark 2-doorComment
-
The original Avanti ll was little more then a Studebaker Avanti with a Chevrolet engine. Parts were almost entirely left over stuff from Studebaker stock. Workers were recruited from the unemployed Studebaker workers, many of whom worked on the original Avanti. Whatever one wants to call it, those early cars, their bones carried the DNA of the original Avanti.Comment
Comment