1963 Studebaker Avanti Resources

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1963 Studebaker Avanti Facts – Body Paint Color Codes

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1963 Studebaker Avanti

1963 Studebaker Avanti Facts and Specifications

General Year Information – 1963 Studebaker Avanti

Concept and Design
The Avanti was developed at the direction of Studebaker president, Sherwood Egbert. Egbert’s concept was to answer Ford’s Thunderbird and an attempt to improve the automaker’s slow sales. Egbert commissioned Raymond Loewy to quickly come up with a design (Loewy had designed the 1953-55 Studebaker coupe). The car was designed by Raymond Loewy’s team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews, and John Ebstein on a 40-day crash program. The Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body mounted on a modified Studebaker Lark 109-inch convertible chassis and powered by a modified 289 CID V-8. 4 levels of engine performance were offered: from 240 HP up to 335.

Loewy envisioned a low-slung, long-hood-short-deck semi-fastback coupe with a nose without a grille and a wasp-waisted curvature to the rear fenders, suggesting an aircraft. In a week, the stylists finished a clay scale model with two different sides: one a two-place sports car, the other a four-seat GT coupe. Tom Kellogg, a young California stylist hired for this project by Loewy, opined that it should be a four-seat coupe.

The accepted design was a four seat coupe with an integral internal roll bar, and four snug seats. This approach would later be adopted by the “Pony Car” sect a year or two later. Studebaker recognized that to capture any of this sports/luxury market, the car had to be an outstanding performer, so the job of extracting lots of power from Studebaker’s aging and small V-8 (its design could not exceed 305 CID) was contracted to Andy Granatelli and Paxton Products Group. Three engines were developed – two naturally aspirated engines of 240 and 280 HP and two supercharged engines of 289 and 335 HP. (HP figures were initially not advertised, but pressure from race sanctioning bodies resulted in the numbers quoted here).  See the Engines Section Below for more information on the specific engines.T he car was available with either an automatic transmission or a 4-speed manual unit.

The Avanti’s complex body shape, like the Corvette, would have been both challenging and prohibitively expensive to build in steel. So Studebaker elected to follow GM’s lead and mold the exterior panels in fiberglass, outsourcing the work to Molded Fiberglass Body in Ashtabula, Ohio — the same company that built the fiberglass panels for the Chevrolet Corvette in 1953.

The Avanti featured front disc-brakes that were British Dunlop designed units, made under license by Bendix, and was the first American production model to offer them. The design was also was one of the first bottom breather front fascias – where air enters from under the front of the vehicle rather than via a conventional grille above the front bumper.

Launch
The Avanti was publicly introduced on April 26, 1962, simultaneously at the New York International Automobile Show and at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. In another marketing ploy, Rodger Ward, winner of the 1962 Indianapolis 500, received a Studebaker Avanti as part of his prize package. A Studebaker Lark convertible was the Indianapolis pace car that year and the Avanti was named the honorary pace car.

Production
Many production problems concerning the supplier, fit, and finish of the bodies resulted in delays and cancelled orders. Studebaker planned to sell 20,000 Avanti models in 1962 but could build only 3,834. The car remained in production until the close of the factory in December 1963. Only 809 Avanti models were built in the 1964 model year. Regardless of the small number of cars produced, the Avanti garnered a huge following due to its surprising performance and its unique design. It would be manufactured by independent companies after Studebaker’s demise.

1963 Studebaker Avanti Facts – Powertrain Options

• • R-1 – 240 HP V-8 and 3-speed manual transmission standard. 4-speed and 3-speed automatic transmission Optional
  • R-2 – 289 HP Supercharged V-8 and 4-speed manual transmission standard. 3-speed automatic transmission Optional
  • R-3 – 305/335 HP Supercharged V-8 and choice of wide and close ratio 4-speed manual transmission, or 3-speed automatic “Power Shift” automatic.
  • Rear Gear Ratios from 2.53:1 to 5.38:1 available. See 1963 R-1 & R-2 AMA Specifications Sheets HERE and 1963 R-3 Specifications Sheets HERE.

1963 Studebaker Avanti Facts – Major Optional Equipment and Accessories

Prices where known:

• • Air conditioning, not available with R2-R3 engines. ($325).
  • Automatic transmission No-creep.
  • Hill Holder ($15).
  • License plate frames.
  • Locking gas cap.
  • Power (door only) windows ($75).
  • Power steering ($81).
  • Radio, AM/All transistor push-button ($65.70).
  • Radio, AM-FM push-button transistor radio.
  • Rear seat speaker ($13).
  • Rubber floor mats.
  • Seat belts ($10).
  • Strato-vue rear view mirror.
  • Tinted glass ($32).
  • Under hood light.
  • White sidewall tires ($49).
  • Windshield washer ($14).