# The Studebaker AVANTI-was it a good car? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331 "2000-08-30T13:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/1 "2000-08-30T13:51:50Z")
years ago, I had an elderly neighbor who had a beautiful Studebaker Avanti car. He drove that thing forever-i remember him compalaining that he could not get a replacement carburator for it-the old one simply wore out at 300,000 miles. Anyway, he passed on, and the car was given to his nephew, who married it to a tree. I understand that when Studebaker went bankrupt (1963?), the factory was taken over by a guy who continued to make them 9in limited production) into the 1970’s. I haven’t seen one in years. my question: in many ways, the Avanti seemed ahead of its time (fiberglass body panels, supercharged engine)-why didn’t it succed? Was it too radical a style for the American public? Such a shame-i really liked the look of that car. Is there any chance someone will revive this car? ---
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/2 "2000-08-30T14:44:59Z")
For the latest incarnation of Avanti’s, [go here.](http://www.classicar.com/clubs/aoai/newavanti.html) [Here’s](http://www.classicar.com/articles/history/studeart.asp) a good history of Studebaker. My own personal favorite is the 1957 Golden Hawk. Hell of a car. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Thing\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/3 "2000-08-30T15:01:32Z")
It certainly was a beautiful car. From what I understand it was a pretty good performance car capable of a top speed around 130 mph. After Studebaker went under I thought the tooling was bought by American Motors who continued producing them. One of my former bosses had an American Motors version and it was really cool. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/4 "2000-08-30T16:04:22Z")
It was certainly a good-_looking_ car, though I don’t know about its performance. Sounds like your neighbor had a good one. My experience is limited to the fact that I once built a plastic model of one from a kit (Revell, I think.) I painted it gold. Also, movie producers still use them when they make SF movies about the future. An Avanti was seen in _GATTACA_, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/5 "2000-08-31T12:17:24Z")
Just a side note: executives at Packard tried to save their company by buying out Studebaker. Didn’t work, and both companies fell by the wayside. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/6 "2000-08-31T13:19:44Z")
They were great cars. IIRC 4-four different engine opt. R1 was 2-bbl carb, R2 was 4-bbl, R-3 had a supercharger, and the R4 had two. Full frame,fiberglass body,built in roll bar, The body was designed by Raymond Lohey{sp} MTS ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/7 "2000-08-31T16:41:51Z")
After making my above post, I remembered that I did actually see an Avanti at a commercial car-and-Hollywood-prop museum in (where else?) Southern California in 1979. The museum was going out of business and was auctioning off its collection. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/8 "2000-09-01T14:21:14Z")
I came across some info on the Avanti in a book about Raymond Loewy, who was one of the most influential industrial designers in the US. He was most influential in popularizing the “streamline” look. But anyway, Loewy claimed the Avanti was way ahead of its time, which it certainly was in many ways. For example, the Avanti has an interior steel cage “safety zone” which wasn’t something the US auto companies even considered doing until many years later. The book showed a picture of an Avanti that had rolled and the car was basically destroyed but the passenger survived without injury. There are lots of things to love about the Avanti. Loewy claimed that the Avanti was the last car ever made solely from a clay model. It is more a piece of sculpture than a car. And that is what is so amazing about the Avanti, that a bunch of guys with clay can produce something better than a Ford or GM with all their computer power. It really was the end of an era for cars, the peak of development of one kind of automaking. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/9 "2000-09-01T18:09:06Z")
The Avanti was pretty sweet, but I concur with the post that said the Golden Hawk was best. The Hawks were also prettier until they stuck that ugly ass grille on them (1957?). Studebaker was the original importer and seller of Mercedes cars in the US; this is where the idea to molest the Hawk styling came from. For those who can’t get a picture of the pre- and post- grilling cars, imagine taking a Porsche 911 and sticking a big Rolls-Royce toaster grille on the nose. Still, the Hawks were fast cars! I think 170 mph, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-studebaker-avanti-was-it-a-good-car/31331/10 "2000-09-01T18:19:28Z")
Just a couple quick inputs: After Studebaker packed it in, a guy in South Bend, Nate Alman (I think) continued building Avantis. Chevy engines; he also raised the front suspension and by that simple change screwed up the looks of the car totally. The tooling was not bought by American Motors. The most common plastic model of the Avanti is the one made by AMT, although Aurora also offered one. The AMT is a better representation; the Aurora is too square-looking. I’ve always thought that the Avanti was a futuristic car–from another future; the one we didn’t end up in.