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My first Avanti that I bought in the LA area was a 64. It had a B letter after the serial number on the title but not on the plate. I had a hell of a time passing the out of state vehicle inspection in Ohio to get it titled. That was back in 1973.

Morning Dwight, that’s super! Costs for transportation are on my account. What’s the amount? Do you like to get the first booster back and are there other consequences? / Have a pleasant Sunday.

Jon Myer at Myer’s Studebaker may have some good used trim. Dan Booth at Nostalgic Motors is another potential source.

I found original speakers. The more I thought about it, the more I want to keep it the way it was when we bought it new in 63. One thing for sure, I would never cut holes where there weren't any. If it was any other year but 63-64, I would not have a problem cutting it up. I've put to much time, energy and money in it, trying to keep it stock. Putting in an upgraded radio was not a good idea with what my intentions are. Not having existing locations for speakers puts the kibosh on it. Rear speakers wouldn't be a problem; I have replacement deck I can cut up. Unless I can figure something out for the front, I'll have to let it go. It just came to me with what you said, I could fabricate the fiberglass console sides top covers. That would allow me to put descent speakers in and would be easy to restore to original. I think I even have fiberglass sheet and new carpet pieces for those panels that came in a carpet set, a guess for a later car. They have about a 2" rnd. hole in the middle. That puts a whole new light on the project. I think I will still put in the new original speaker with wiring should I or someone else want to restore back down the road. Thanks for mentioning about the door panels, It made me think about other places other than the factory location. Makes me wonder why someone cut holes in the tunnel and mounted unprotected speakers in a car I was looking at. Well, I guess it's back to spending money, even more since now I'm going to need 4 good speakers. It's not like the old days. I paid $4k to strip and paint one of my Avanti. $900 for all the chrome. I just paid $14k for stripping and painting and $3k for the front and rear bumpers and valve covers, and I have to wait 3 months for the chrome. Thank you again for your input.

Hi, Paul, Jim has accepted my second booster (from my pictures), so I'll mail it to SI. --Dwight

Looks like you're correct. https://www.theavanti.com/national_mall.html

I'm reupholstering my '63 and need the upper chrome strips on both upholstered door cards and also the chrome strips in the back seat area above the arm rests. These are the trim pieces that divide the pleated panel upholstery from the upper fawn upholstery. Previous owner removed them and didn't reinstall when he had new upholstery installed. Thanks, Dennis

The sway bar bushings are hard to fit even for stock. I do the ones on the frame first, using a jack to get them place. Then the ones on the a frames.

This question has been batted around for years……. For authenticity judging at AOAI meets, either orange or black is acceptable . Personally, I feel that although an orange supercharger ‘presents’ itself better, Studebaker intended the superchargers on Avantis be painted black, as much of their early advertising indicated.

Actually, I believe R5643 is the Avanti in the Crawford Collection.

R1092 was mine. Though I have little history on it, the supercharger was black, and had what I believe to have been original stickers. As of Fall, Lance Bush of the Restored youtube page owned it and was trying to sell it.

Interestingly, R-4200, which is currently for sale, had a final assembly date of 4/29/63 and a destination of Carmichael CA. The ad has photos of the production order and the serial number plate on the frame. No “A” is visible on either. This, just over 2 months after the internal memo posted previously. Perhaps the car was initially sold outside of CA and therefore did not require an additional digit to satisfy CA DMV. On edit: The registry shows 2 early owners in CA and a listing for the car from 2018 states that is was a CA car from new and remained in CA until 2017.

How about 5643?

I think the Custom Auto Sound is much more compact than the original radio. If so you should have room for a bigger front speaker. You could also eliminate the front speaker and mount round speakers in the doors…that’s what I did on the ‘70 I owned.

R-5643 is in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, OH. I saw it there some years ago. (corrected per mfg below)

It was delivered to Jackson, MS. Do we know its current location?

Perhaps this is a question for the trivia page. The production data booklet only mentions orange as the factory color.

When I bought my 7/8” front bar it came with bigger brackets. Mike

I thought they changed color when they got rebuilt. Pb

Yes, the reproduction ones have a larger threaded hole for the switch. Just get a ateel adapter at the hardware store. Rob

regnalbob Your the best! Thank You

There you have it, CA. Fruits and Nuts

Every Paxton I see in cars is orange like the fans. Mine is original and gloss black. Mine is one of the first 100 built. Did the color get changed? Nobody has ever touched mine except to change oil.

Gunslinger, thank you for your input. I'm thinking, I only want to do this once\. So I looked at Custom Audio Sound. They sell the same head units as nostalgic sells, about the same price. Problem I am having now is, putting a unit like that in the car and not having any place for speakers. I haven't found anyone that make a stereo speaker to fit a 4x10 opening. I'm not modifying the inside for anything. I'll put a boom box on the back seat. I actually saw one that had 6" speakers in the console. They actually cut them into the tunnel and yes they were subjected to everything that got thrown up under the car. Anyway, I need to make a decision fairly soon. Funny thing, I was kidding about putting a boom box in the back seat, but It's not going to be driven much except to some local shows. I don't need to spend money on something I'm not going to be able to hear anyway. I took my radio apart and cleaned everything, including the pots and speaker switch. The speakers are in really good condition. I have a problem, I'm sure a lot of us have that same problem. I can always find a reason to spend money that I don't need to. My wife said what do you want for Christmas. Thought about it for a while, I said remember when you took that ride with me out of state to take some parts from my car to have worked on. Well it's 3k for chrome work. Love you. What a woman! I've had this car since new, somewhere along the line, I lost interest. New toys and interests. It was stored indoors. Well, the mice found their way into it. Up through that stupid 2 or 3 inch hole in front of the fuel tank. They built the plaza Hotel on top of the tank. Fortunately, sometime in the 80s I purchased a ton of NOS from the factory , including 2 fuel tanks. Some rubber products didn't fair to well. Sorry, I'm rambling now. Thank you for all your input. Merry Christmas and have a safe and heathy new year.