bob caser
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Posts posted by bob caser
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1 hour ago, 63stick said:
Alright, I had a 64 Royal Bob Cat, one of 3 made, when I was seventeen. And a 62 Ferrari 250 GT swb Berlinetta when I was 30. Wish I had them today, I gave them away. Had and have two different things, unfortunately. Memories
You are correct. Had and have are two different things. I have been blessed in life to own some great cars and even more fortunate today to still have some great cars. I work in the automotive business and have clients that have even greater cars to play with.
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12 hours ago, Mark L said:
Wow, a 16 year old boy with a new Avanti. I'm speechless. Just...wow.
I had a Shelby Cobra at eighteen years old,what condition would that render you. Our neighborhood had numerous Corvettes , muscle cars a Ferrari Lusso among other cars. We had four Avanti's in the small confines of where I lived in New Jersey. Good times , great memories.
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Parents purchased for me, I was 16 years old, I still have the car.
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Bendix Motors, in Fairview, New Jersey.
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I stand corrected, the R3 sold new in New Jersey was R 5532 and it was turquoise.
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So, I am also a original owner delivered in New Jersey Avanti. From my experience dealers installed the mirror to the position that the customer chose, fender , door. I have never seen any order sheet that indicated to the factory to install a mirror in South Bend, but I am always willing to learn something new. My car had it's mirror installed by the dealer.
As far as one of nine 1964 R3 cars one was sold new in New Jersey and from what I recall it was a black car and I think that it was delivered in Vineland, New Jersey.
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Shelby American built around 1,000 cars during it's heyday. 600 odd 289 cars and some 325 427 cars. The 428 installed engine infuriated customers who believed they were getting the more expensive 427 FE engine.
With a conservative estimate over the years there has probably been 30 times the amount of replicas built over the Shelby American production. Superformance, Backdraft Racing and Factory Five by themselves have easily produced over 12,000 component or kit cars.
Continuation cars terminology is now a abused term in the industry. Avanti Motors was a true continuation vehicle until Mike Kelly changed the model.
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15 minutes ago, Geoff said:
That looks like the Shelby museum in Las Vegas. Though it's either not, or it's not a part I've been through.
It is the Superformance/ Hillbank facility in Irvine , Cal.
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22 hours ago, Nelson said:
Thanks for the comment, Bob. I just wish I could see those cars you saw back in the day. Good photos of those Bonneville cars, especially under hood shots and inside trunk shots of the two R3 convertibles. I own both of those cars and have one pretty much finished. If it wasn’t for having those two as samples plus the HR road test Lark it would be anyones guess on how things were supposed to go together and how they should be fitted. One big surprise was they didn’t run an air cleaner at Bonneville and evidently were sold that way. One of the convertibles has never been restored under the hood and witness marks made by the hose from the air intake to the blower are pronounced as wear on the inner fender. When this one gets restored I will do nothing to the paint work or misjudgments made during the original build. To me that is what is so cool about original cars……they are still able to tell their story.
I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I have regrets of not having taken photos at the time, shame on me. While still being being active in the automotive business everyday brings a surprise some good some bad. The whirlwind of the 1962 introduction of the Avanti, all of the press, advertising and Bonneville runs that were devoted to it will never be repeated.
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39 minutes ago, mfg said:
WOW! What a view… May I ask Bob is this your personal collection, or are these beauties for sale?
These are for sale, personal stuff is elsewhere.
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1 hour ago, Nelson said:
Hahaha! I just showed that photo to my wife and said “so you think I’m bad”. Her response was “those are toys”. My response back “ they sure are”.
It would delight me to have a R3 powered car in the showroom. I have seen in person every Bonneville car over the years, Sherwood Egbert's personal car and # 1025 when Vince Granatelli owned it. But I have never seen your R3 Lark. A car that I consider to being very significant, and I thank you for saving it.
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I cheated ! This is the view from my office.
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Salisbury rear end
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So , a parts and service letter was written on February,11,1963, how did this affect future cars being produced for sale. Was there a letter written by the states of California and New Jersey to Studebaker regarding the loud exhaust. I'm sure that in my stack of old documents that I still have a copy of a ticket issued by the CHP in 1965 for a loud exhaust on my Avanti.
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We purchased R5051 new in New Jersey in October of 1963. It was dealer traded from New York to our dealer in New Jersey with a loud exhaust system. It was never a problem to pass the New Jersey mandatory vehicle inspection for safety. I moved to California in 1965 and accumulated many " exhaust to loud tickets " from the CHP. Also being a 1964 it was delivered with clear turn signals with amber bulbs.
Possibly something was written regarding the exhaust, but I never received or saw anything from the factory on this issue.
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I'm confused what does a Thunderbolt or a Corvette have to do with the question that was asked regarding a Chevy engine being installed into an Avanti.
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Altman , did not like to look of the rake on the Avanti. I am attaching photos of a 1964 Avanti that I own with a Chevy engine with no modification made to the body at all. Over the years I have owned this car it has had a variety of Chevy engines with none of them necessitating body or chassis modifications.
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1 hour ago, Stefan B. said:
Thanks, this is exactly the document I also received with the car. Mine is just without the handwriting that is seen on your copy, and I have it in on a thin green paper and the same also on a thin red paper. Where did you get that?
kind regards,
StefanHello Stefan.
I am not sure where I acquired this document. I have owned numerous Avanti's since October of 1963 when we bought one new from our local dealer. Over the years many automotive things enter and attach themselves to our lives. I have attached a photo looking out my current office window. I have been my involved with great cars through out my whole life ! The Avanti still remains my top choice, though.
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I found the photo of a European export car with the Borrani wire wheels. It appears that the photo might have been taken at the Olympics. I believe that this one is a factory show car that was sent over in 1963 for a auto show.
Bob Caser
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I have always been fascinated by any Avanti that was sold new and exported exported. Ian Flemings Avanti being the most famous of them,I have attached something that you might already have obtained for your files. There is another 1963 Avati that was exported to Trieste, Italy and might have been a show car fitted with Borrani wire wheels when new. You have a gorgeous car.
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As has been previously Studebaker did offer a sedate Avanti , unfortunately the competition offered a better product for that type of customer.
In the fall of 1963 our household had a new " sedate" Avanti and also a Buick Riviera, sorry but the Buick was a better vehicle. Smooth , quiet, powerful and with better seating area. Some, Avanti quirks such as a second gear start with the auto trans, engine cooling issues, and muffler's placed beneath the front seats which caused the interior to become very hot, issues that the competition did not have. These were small issues that Studebaker should have resolved before offering the car for sale.
My experience of trying to order a "spec " Avanti through the dealer network was terrible. I lived in the metropolitan New York area with established dealers who had no interest in ordering a Avanti. We bought our car from a dealer who had to trade to another dealer in order to get a Avanti. There was a 63 supercharged car that seemed to be passed from dealer to dealer for demo rides. I assume that this was a factory owned car that was in the region to support sales.
We bought the Avanti for $ 4,500.00 in October of 1963 ,and less than two months later the factory announced it was closing. The value of the car went to half six weeks after we bought it. That's okay , because I still own the car and have amortized my depreciation over the last 61 years.
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Same for me it took me one week to get delivery after placing my order.
Bob Caser
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The address is 929 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, Ca. The photos were taken about two years ago and the building was vacant but it great condition.
Bob Caser
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Nelson,
This is my time frame , and I do remember the car, but never saw the construction of it . I have been in the automotive aftermarket for the past 55 years and we still have issues shipping no drive-train cars. I have attached some photos that I took of Paxton Products a few years ago. The building looks the same as the 60's when Andy, Joe and Vince were there doing their Paxton and Novi magic. I do remember going there when the were dyno testing for Indianapolis and hearing the Novi engines screaming at hi RPM.
Bob Caser
How to install modern A/C in a Studebaker Avanti yourself for under $600
in 1963-64 Avanti
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I converted my modified 1964 Avanti a few years ago to a similar evaporator in a car that was also factory air conditioned. I took a different approach and cut the console and installed the evaporator under the dash . My reasoning is that I wanted maximum cooling and the four outlets provided this for me. Doing it this way I can blow air into the rear as well as cool the front passengers. I attempted to install and intergrate the evaporator into the dash with no success.