By the time the futuristic Studebaker Avanti was announced in 1962, Studebaker history already dated back 110 years to 1852, when Clem and Henry Studebaker opened a blacksmith/wagon shop in South Bend, Indiana. They added electric cars in 1902, then a gasoline model in 1904. Electrics ended in 1912, and horse-drawn vehicles soon after.
Studebaker developed a sound reputation and survived the 1930s Depression, albeit after a brush with receivership. Following the Second World War, Studebaker was the first with new postwar styling, the sensational 1947 "coming-or-going" Raymond Loewy design.
The 1950s were difficult for the non-Big Three (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) automakers. The end of the postwar sellers' market brought relentless competition that drove Kaiser-Frazer, Crosley and Willys-Overland out of cars. In 1954, Nash and Hudson were forced to amalgamate as American Motors Corp., and Studebaker and Packard joined as Studebaker-Packard Corp.
Studebaker's designs prevailed, and "real" Packards disappeared in 1956, followed by Packard-badged "Packabakers" in 1958. By the late 1950s, Studebaker was in trouble, and in 1961 a dynamic new president named Sherwood Egbert was recruited from chainsaw manufacturer McCulloch.
To revitalize the company's image, Egbert wanted an image car, so he turned to Studebaker hero Raymond Loewy, creator of those postwar 1947 Studebakers and low silhouette 1953 Star-liner/Starlight coupes, and later the Hawk series. Loewy agreed to design an all-new Studebaker, but only if he was given a completely free hand.
Granted the full autonomy he wanted, Loewy and a few associates worked feverishly in secret in Palm Springs, California, and produced a full-size clay model within five weeks. It was dramatically different from anything seen before, Studebaker's biggest styling departure since 1947.
Called the Avanti - Italian for "forward" - the four-passenger, two-door Grand Touring's hood dipped down to a slender bumper. The blade-like front fenders extended ahead of the hood to flank two round, glass-covered headlamps. With no grille, engine-cooling air entered under the bumper and an asymmetrical hood bulge sat directly in front of the driver.
There was little chrome and the "Coke-bottle design" flanks were concave. Curved side glass, a large rear window and high tail with an abrupt drop-off gave a definite wedge-shaped profile. Small taillights wrapped around the rear fenders, and wide C-pillars concealed a built-in rollbar. The Avanti was all curves and arcs with not a straight line to be found anywhere.
The front seats were comfortable buckets, and a full set of round instruments included a tachometer and manifold pressure gauge. Overhead switches gave the cockpit an aircraft-like feel.
It was the dramatic and daring styling statement that Egbert wanted. To save time and money a fibreglass body was used, mounted on a strengthened 2,769-millimetre-wheelbase Studebaker Lark convertible chassis with stiffer springs and anti-roll bars. It had rear drum brakes and Dunlop front discs made by Bendix, the first production American car with caliper discs since Crosley had them in 1949.
Molded Fiber Glass Products of Ashtabula, Ohio, whose auto-body experience included the Chevrolet Corvette, got the body contract. The Avanti had an upgraded version of Studebaker's 4.7-litre, 240-horsepower overhead-valve V-8. With an optional Paxton-McCulloch centrifugal supercharger, it developed an estimated 275 horsepower. Transmissions were three-and four-speed manuals and three-speed automatic.
In October 1962, Road & Track reported that a supercharged, 1,542-kilogram four-speed Avanti sprinted to 96 km/h in 7.3 seconds, helped by a low 4.09: 1 axle ratio. While good for acceleration, it limited top speed to 188 km/h. Handling was reported as only mediocre.
Andy Granatelli, later of STP and Indianapolis fame, took three supercharged "R-3" Avantis (there were progressively tuned R-1 to R-5 versions) with 4.9-litre engines to Utah's Bonneville salt flats in August 1962. He broke 12 stock-car speed records, including the flying mile at 271 km/h.
Although the Avanti was introduced in 1962, fibreglass-body difficulties delayed production until 1963. Body-building was finally moved to South Bend. This delay, as well as Studebaker's precarious financial condition, kept Avanti sales to only 3,834 '63 models. This shrank to only 809 '64s, which were identical except for square headlamps.
The Avanti never reached its true potential because of its slow start and because Studebaker was a failing company. Its Indiana operation closed in late 1963, and Studebaker production continued in Hamilton, Ont., where it ended in 1966. Avantis were not made in Canada.
After Avanti production ended in South Bend, Studebaker dealers Nate Altman and Leo Newman established Avanti Motor Corporation in 1964 to produce Avanti IIs. They sold the company in 1982, and it subsequently went through several resurrection attempts.
The Avanti was a brave attempt by a dying company to save itself. While it ultimately failed, it did produce a daringly different car.
