Gunslinger

AM/FM radios were an option for 1964.

Did all Avanti bodies come pre-drilled for an antenna or was that done on the assembly line? It would seem there would be a fair amount of variation where the antenna hole was located if done on the assembly line assuming there was no locating device where to center the hole. Then again...Molded Fiberglass was contracted to supply complete, painted bodies to Studebaker...were they expected to pre-drill the antenna hole? I guess that would incur an extra expense paid to MFG when Studebaker had their own people to drill holes.

I would guess the cable was there regardless in case a radio would be dealer installed. Since all Avanti bodies were done ahead of time...painted and inventoried...all would have had the hole drilled for the antenna whether the car was radio delete or not. Would there there have been a plug installed in the antenna hole? Would there have been an antenna installed regardless of radio option?

I had a ‘69 Corvette L71…three deuces on top of the 427. I know where you’re coming from regarding hood clearance. Even with the big block hood clearance was tight…a very low profile air cleaner and an intake manifold that was more sunken than high rise.

There's truth here to each opinion. Nate Altman said he never liked the Avanti's "rake" when he stated the height of the Chebbie engine made the change mandatory. While others have opined the height of the Chebbie and Studebaker engines aren't significantly different...you have to keep in mind that the engine mounts may not be located at the same place on the block plus to use the SBC it takes the mounting brackets fabricated to use the SBC engine...so the effective height of the Chebbie might be higher. Studebaker designed the engine mounts for the SBC for Lark platform cars where height was of no matter due to the different engine bays. It was of more critical difference in the Avanti engine bay even though the frames were essentially the same.

Body orientation as far as sitting level or having the rake as the Studebaker Avanti has is all about body shims and not suspension…unless the front springs have compressed…a not uncommon thing with the Avanti.

Bonneville Avanti #8 (63R-1014) was a few miles from where I lived before relocating. It sat there in a shop for some years due to a dispute of some kind between the owner and shop owner. It had a genuine R3 engine on a stand by the car but not the R3 it used at Bonneville. I took many pics of it at the shop...eventually I connected the current owner of the car with the former owner. It's been restored since then. The car definitely had a black interior and still had the roll cage installed for speed runs.

I've no idea if that car still exists...I never did know the serial number. As I said...it wasn't until maybe the later '70s that I realized only prototypes had the mirror mounted on the dash and Dr. Penn was unaware of it as well. It was Avanti Turquoise when I looked at it but I've no idea whether it was originally Turquoise when it left South Bend. If someone had the time and energy to check the current whereabouts and ownership of those cars using the SDC or AOAI owners books it might be determined if that car still exists, is gone or simply unknown status. It won't be me looking..."I'm Retired...Go Around Me".

During that time period SBCs were notorious for having soft camshafts...particularly the 305. This was even before there was any controversy over ZDDP in motor oils but it was being cut back some by that time.

At least some of the original prototype Avantis had the rear view mirror mounted on a ball socket on the dash...production models had the mirror mounted on the windshield. Back in the early '70s I went to see the late Roger Penn (who was an Avanti dealer) about a turquoise '63 Avanti R-1 he had for sale. I distinctly remembered it had the mirror mounted on the dash like a '61 Chrysler my dad used to own. The car had no power anything...just a base car with an automatic transmission. I liked the car but simply couldn't swing the money...poor college student and all that. It wasn't until a few years later when I did buy a '63 and started learning about Avanti history that I realized the car Roger Penn had to sell was a prototype. Many years later in the Studebaker swap meet at York, PA I ran into Dr. Penn and talked to him about that car. He had no idea it was a prototype. He said after I was unable to buy the car he said he had a sunroof installed in it.

Any good radiator shop can do whatever you need as far as the radiator itself goes...repairs...re-coring it.

All Studebakers with disc front brakes have 11" rear drums...including the Avanti.

I don’t know the serial number of the car where the light changed…maybe R4892…but some states, then the federal government…required amber front turn signals so a redesign was made to an amber lens rather than an amber bulb behind a clear lens.

The higher rear roof area to allow for rear passenger headroom. Sherwood Egbert envisioned what became the Avanti as a 2-passenger car but was told if it wasn’t a 4-seater he was throwing money away.