Bob Preston

I test drove it last October at Napoli Motors. Deficiencies at the time were the electric passenger window control was non-op, car pulled to the right when braking, tires had flat spots and there may have been a crack in the dash, the center arm rest lid was detached and there was at least one tear in the driver’s seat. The ride felt as though some suspension components might require a closer inspection. Paint was overall pretty good with some imperfections. I also have 20-odd pages of receipts from Mike Meyers that total about $35K. It was priced at $58,000. It looked at felt like a mid-$40K car to me, so I passed. Lenny bought the car from Art and Speed in Collierville TN. Not sure what he paid but A&S bought it for $37,500.

Would you send measurements for the air cleaner support? I need to fabricate one. Thanks.

A picture might help. Also recommend getting your hands on a workshop manual.

Thanks. I’m sending it tomorrow.

I was provided with an Owner’s Guide with the purchase of 1692. I believe it is the original guide for 63R-2068 with body # 63-RQ-1232, since those numbers are written on page 4. I have a reproduction guide and would like to return this guide to the owner of 2068. Any assistance in locating the current owner would be appreciated.

I haven’t personally used it, however a number of friends and relatives have used FB Marketplace to sell vehicles. In some cases a car or boat was sold and gone within a few hours. It’s a little more work than the consignment process but it opens up the possibility of capturing the fees/commissions that would otherwise be paid to a dealer.

Just do it. Send a picture when it’s done.

I use Valvoline Dex/Merc III. Anything that meets the appropriate standards is acceptable.

It looks as though someone made an effort to redirect fuel tank vapors for some reason. Perhaps the original vent hose loop was compromised so the quick fix was to drill a few more holes in the tank and add some plumbing. As Groucho Marx once said: “ The problem with making something foolproof, is that fools are so ingenious.”

I’m seeing what I believe to be excess movement in the belts at idle which also seems to be causing a clattering noise. I’m not a mechanic but I will have an opportunity in a few weeks to get it back to my buddy’s shop and have his/our mechanic finish up a few other things. My question is, could a simple adjustment fix the issue or should I order a new spring and/or other parts. I’m not opposed to ordering a part that may not actually be necessary at this time, because if it is necessary I’ll have it in hand and not have to wait a week and then have to schedule shop time again. Strangely, I did not see removal, replacement or adjustment of this part 1542361 addressed in the workshop manual. This is on a 1963 R2. Thanks in advance.

What did you pay for the pair?

It might make an interesting display parked next to a 100-point car. Otherwise, probably not worth the cost to relocate. Does it even have an engine? That’s quite a gap above the front tire. I’d put a value of zero on that one.

Do you have a workshop manual and/or parts catalog?

I’d say further experimentation and implementation wasn’t in the cards for Studebaker at the time. The displacement of the R3 is 304.5cu/in (bore 3 21/32) with a rating of 335hp. That, disc brakes, superchargers, innovative styling and numerous land speed records weren’t enough to save a struggling company. The bore on the R3 is +.09375 when compared to the R1/R2 at 289cu/in. So Studebaker was doing exactly what has been postulated. It just didn’t work out. Chevy engines were used after US production was halted.

The information I provided is from The Studebaker Avanti Production Data book which was compiled by the Studebaker National Museum Archives. The book contains photographs of internal documents one of which contains the information I shared. The first black Avanti was 63R-1013. The first grey Avanti was 63R-2122. There were also 32, 1964 Avanti’s painted black.

Black was offered as a standard color from the beginning of production. Some time between November of 1962 and January of 1963 black was replaced by gray. Black remained available as a special order color.

Hagerty just put out a short list of affordable vehicles with 300hp. The Avanti II made the list. They included median prices for #2 and #3 cars.

There’s a black 1963 R1 for sale at Harwood Motors in Cleveland Ohio for $30K.

There’s a decent looking 63 R2 (3479) at Worldwide Vintage Autos in Denver for $32K.

Actually, I can and I did. The evidence is pretty solid to support my statements about declining values in the classic car market. There are certainly exceptions, but they are very few.

I certainly respect the experience and knowledge of a former classic car appraiser. It is their job to determine a fair market value for a vehicle without bias. Individual objectives also come in to play. It may be beneficial, in some cases, to sell the car in a timely fashion and move on to the next project rather than wait months or years trying to get top dollar for the car. Like it or not, classic car prices are in decline and have been for several years. A quick sale at a reasonable price may be the prudent option. In your example of ask for X and anticipate Y, when Y doesn’t hit the table then one may need to consider that Y is still too high of a price. Otherwise , the inevitable outcome is having a collection of items that have perceived values which exceed reasonable market values.

$25-30K is in alignment with actual selling prices for cars in a similar condition. Declining prices are quite the trend across the board for many classic cars. From what I’ve seen, there’s a minority of sellers who price their cars reasonably.

I’d recommend having them include photos of any used parts as well. This step may help you avoid a situation where you have to return unacceptable items and eat a 15% restocking fee. Also, nail down shipping costs. I paid about $60 to have some rusty parts shipped to me, but only $16 to have them returned. Maybe also ask the question “Would you put these parts on your car?”

Have you traced the wires? Does the light illuminate? Could be part of an alarm system.

Somebody may have changed it. The design isn’t brilliant because it’s sucking in hot air from deep within the engine compartment. If the whole affair was flipped to put the intake in front, it would be sucking in cooler air.