Trivia!...Testing Avantis

[mfg]

Trivia...Each new Studebaker Avanti was 'dynoed' before it left the factory.....True?

[Gunslinger]

Nope...R3's supposedly were before they left Paxton.

[mfg]

Well, I'd have to say that the correct answer is 'TRUE'....Here's why....according to the several page 1963 'CAR LIFE' magazine article on Studebaker, all new Avantis were dynoed at the end of the assembly line. I remember that they actually showed a picture of one (an R2) with it's hood up on that dyno.

[Gunslinger]

Were they actually dyno'd or put on something like a Sun tester to make sure it was tuned properly? A dyno is a very expensive piece of equipment and with Studebaker's precarious financial state at the time it doesn't seem like they would have invested in one.

At that time car makers that had dyno's ran the engines on stands and without accessories for gross horsepower ratings, not in the assembled vehicle.

[mfg]

Were they actually dyno'd or put on something like a Sun tester to make sure it was tuned properly? A dyno is a very expensive piece of equipment and with Studebaker's precarious financial state at the time it doesn't seem like they would have invested in one.

At that time car makers that had dyno's ran the engines on stands and without accessories for gross horsepower ratings, not in the assembled vehicle.

I'm doing this from memory, and my brain cells aren't getting any younger, but that picture in 'Car Life' I referred to showed that particular Avanti 'nose down' with its rear wheels elevated and rolling on a dynomometer machine.... and once again, they called it a 'Dyno'.

[Gunslinger]

I'm not disputing you or your memory. It just doesn't seem likely Studebaker would have invested in a dyno for every Avanti. Maybe they did...maybe the dyno was in inventory for a long time and put to use. Maybe it was just for the journalists to see. I really don't know.

[Guest dapy]

No dyno testing. If so, it would have been recorded on the forms that accompany the new car. This was a media marketing ploy and a more valid description would be confirming. Two things...in a mass production assembly line they would not take the time to do a dyno test, and what would Studebaker do with a failure? And of course I was there.

My comments are to show how frivolous these TRIVIA questions are. Let's get serious and not waste people's minds.

Edited June 13, 2014 by dapy

[mfg]

No dyno testing. If so, it would have been recorded on the forms that accompany the new car. This was a media marketing ploy and a more valid description would be confirming. Two things...in a mass production assembly line they would not take the time to do a dyno test, and what would Studebaker do with a failure? And of course I was there.

My comments are to show how frivolous these TRIVIA questions are. Let's get serious and not waste people's minds.

Although it may not seem likely, Studebaker was still spending money on new car development right up to the point of the plug being pulled and production shut down. For example, an expensive 'shaker' machine was ordered to evaluate the chassis components of new Studebakers...but it was canceled before delivery when the South Bend operation was closed. It ended up being purchased by the Ford Motor Company. There really is no doubt that Studebaker had at least one chassis dyno. And 'dapy' if the trivia posts bother you, why don't you simply skip over them?

[bigdaddy]

I met up with the original owner of my '63 Avanti in December. He was a Millwright for Studebaker @ the Avanti plant. His first job within the plant was repairing the Dyno. According to him, it was not used on every vehicle, but random selection. He told me that the Dyno was not used for HP., but was used for tuning and speedometer calibration.

I had about a 4 hr. conversation , went out and had a nice meal with him and his wife, and was given a history of my Avanti and (Studebaker in general), that is priceless.

[mfg]

I met up with the original owner of my '63 Avanti in December. He was a Millwright for Studebaker @ the Avanti plant. His first job within the plant was repairing the Dyno. According to him, it was not used on every vehicle, but random selection. He told me that the Dyno was not used for HP., but was used for tuning and speedometer calibration.

I had about a 4 hr. conversation , went out and had a nice meal with him and his wife, and was given a history of my Avanti and (Studebaker in general), that is priceless.

That really is priceless....and the random dynomometer selection of Avantis makes perfect sense.