In the beginning Sherwood quipped................""You are looking at a new take-off point for the American Automobile. It is the Avanti by Studebaker. It is a prestige car, a fast car, a safe car, and certainly the most advanced car produced in America today."
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In 1963 it WAS "America's most advanced Automobile".
The Car Mag's touted it as the Fastest, you figure it out.StudeRich
Second Generation Stude Driver,
Proud '54 Starliner Owner
SDC Member Since 1967 -
Yes, he did say things like that.
Too bad he wasn't humble and contrite like GM, Ford and Chrysler were in their advertising and press announcements.
They were just poor old Detroit boys trying to earn an honest buck or two selling transportation to a needy public.
Yes, doggone that Sherwood Egbert guy anyway!
Like Car & Driver's article on the demise of Studebaker said, "Studebaker deserved to go out of business!" (Paraphrased from my memory of that article).
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The overall design is still relatively modern looking even after 60+ years. What other American car from that period can you say that about? The Corvette? No. Even though they do look really nice of course, they still don't look as modern as the Avanti does now. It wasn't until Lamborghini came out with the Miura in '65 does a car look more modern than an Avanti.
And other than the chassis being a leftover because they had no real choice on that, it had a lot of pretty advanced features for the time. With re-engineering of the chassis and drivetrain and a few detail modernizations on the body, the basic design could still easily be turned into a top performing EV if somebody wanted. Part of the problem of the car was that the design was a bit too far ahead, "weird" for a lot of people, plus the whole fiberglass body delivery problem of course.
But being a bit too far ahead of the market was a problem Studebaker had multiple times, not just on the Avanti. But the Avanti was probably the most. The word Avanti literally means to go forward, onward and in front of, etc. The name was very fitting, they certainly nailed that if nothing else.Last edited by M-Webb; 10-14-2025, 08:30 AM.Comment
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YES Michael, you are right about the "too far ahead' designs, it happened when the Loewy team designed the Bullet nose 1950 & '51, and again when they did the '53/'54 Coupe & Hardtop Models.
The buyers of 1950 and 1951 Models some how were able to overlook the Modern Aircraft design, due to the large post war demand for something New.
Did they really want something THAT New, maybe not, but they bought the largest number of cars in 1950 that Studebaker had ever sold !
It could have been driven by the Huge success of the "First by far with a post-war Car", the all NEW 1947 Studes. in 1946.
Owners that always bought other makes, found out that the small Car Co. from South Bend, actually built Very durable, dependable high quality Cars !StudeRich
Second Generation Stude Driver,
Proud '54 Starliner Owner
SDC Member Since 1967Comment
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The Avanti and the Miura both have a Mid-Century Modern appearance and is still appealing to many like a Charles Eames office chair; dated, but still good looking. The Porsche 911, which was introduced in late 1964 was a clean, contemporary design much as was the Barcelona chair from 1929. The 911 still retains the same basic shape for 2025.Originally posted by M-Webb View Post
CraigComment
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Yes, the 911 is another good example of a modern design still appealing today. But the Avanti was still before it. And I would argue is still a bit more "modern" and progressive than even the 911. And I've had a couple early 911's, liked them a lot, wouldn't mind a new one either, if the banking accounts would allow it. So nothing against the 911's at all. But I would still suggest an Avanti updated with the same level of design skills as the 911 has been would look more modern than the 911 does, apples to apples. The current 911's are the same basic design as the original ones, but they are also a long way off too in almost every way except for the very basic shape and layout in reality. While at it, an ultra high performance 911 EV wouldn't be a bad concept either. But Porsche isn't going to be doing that any time soon because the 911 world would be too up in arms over the change - that's how progressive they are. The Miura on the other hand of course set the stage for every mid-mounted motor high performance car we still see very common today, including now the Corvettes. If the Avanti had come out as mid-engined car, the whole world would have gone crazy. They were progressive, but not at that level, and didn't have the $'s resources to do it even if they wanted to. Although I'm not sure Lamborghini did either at the time building tractors mostly, and a couple bespoke yet fairly traditional cars, but they still managed it somehow. If Studebaker had teamed up with Mercedes more, one bought the other in some way, the Avanti might have been a lot more successful and that could have possibly got them to the next level above and beyond either of the Big 3 at the time. But that's just another what if, who knows, didn't happen.Last edited by M-Webb; 10-14-2025, 11:23 AM.Comment
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The 1998 AVX could be considered an update of the original 1961-2 design.Originally posted by M-Webb View Post
CraigComment
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I never knew those later cars were called AVX, so learned something knew. Wasn't really much of a fan of them, but have to say, re-looking at them just now, I can appreciate the design evolution on them. Especially for coming out of the mid to late 90's, and comparing to what else was available then as well. For something that was of extremely limited volume and I assume similarly limited resources to pull it off to begin with, it is somewhat impressive it happened at all. Take that and give it another well skilled and well funded update, and it could still be just as modern and relevant as any car out there, similar to the 911. Or EV it, focusing again on top level current performance, and the basic design again could be top of the heap and technology, same basic design/concept and purpose, just 65 years later.
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Years ago read a driver report on 911; the writer (a famous Indy driver) literally got out of it and kissed the ground, grateful for having survived the experience.Comment
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Sherwood. …………This is the Indiana Highway Patrol. We would like to discuss the matter of these 1962 and 1963 unpaid traffic citations……Comment
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Full disclosure................back in 1972 I outran the Golden Beach (Miami Fla) police in my Avanti, I had some unpaid tickets and while driving down A1A spotted a "B&W" in my rear view mirror, saw him turn his car around and attempt to catch up to me, the lord was on my side that evening, I disappeared into the next county...............my boxers were brown btw. My Avanti was "well known" all over Miami Beach.Comment
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Going back to the "originals" '63 - '64, it was the wrong car, at the wrong price, at the wrong time.
End of story.Comment
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I disagree it was the wrong car,as conceived the car was a rear guard action to save the company, those in charge could not have known at the time that the car would suffer the ignominious fate that fell on it, the price was what had to be applied, after all they were in business to make money were they not?..........who is to say the wrong time? when is the right time to bring forth a product its creators hope would create enough interest to generate significant sales? The story did not end as you assert, the car and its concept continued (Avanti 2) for many years with buyers willing to put down hard cash for the design.............in the end the car was very much a success.
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It's interesting nobody has brought up the Corvette in this discussion. "America's Sports Car" in 1962 was basically a face-lifted design from 1958, had drum brakes, front suspension and steering box from a 1950 or so Chevy Styline sedan and by then an eight year old engine design and the only automatic transmission available was a two-speed powerglide.
Of course the Avanti was technically a "1963", but still introduced before the much improved Stingray. So the 1962 model was still it's main competition in the high performance sports/Grand touring arena.
Nowhere near as aerodynamic as the Avanti was it had webbed straps under the the solid rear axle housing to keep the rear end from rising up at high speeds.
Of course that was all conveniently forgotten when the 1963 Stingray debuted a few months later, sporting the much-daunted independent rear suspension. Yet all of this improvement took Chevrolet a mere 10 years to develop, but the front suspension and steering on the "all-new" 1963 was still from a 1958 Belair. Plus, it still had 4-wheel drum brakes and the antiquated two-speed Powerglide automatic.
Studebaker crammed all of the great styling and advancements into the Avanti in what, six months on a poverty budget.
Yet for all of the accolades given the Stingray, I believe it was Motor Trend testers who noted that in the transition from the '62 to the '63 "the Corvette inherited a bundle of wrinkles" (as best I remember the quote), whereas the Avanti was smooth and well finished. Also road racers noticed the beautiful Stingray still had issues with body lifting at high-speeds.
For my money the Avanti was, all things considered,
"America's most advanced automobile".
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Keith you make more than excellent points, many of which I had not ever considered before!! Someday automotive historians will give the Avanti its due and its esteemed place in automotive history. Another story left for another time is the fact that Enzo proffered to Studebaker his six cyl engine under license, now can you imagine the Avanti with a Ferrari engine in it?????????
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