Avanti Vs. Corvette

[mfg]

What major difference is found in the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette body in comparison to the 1963 Studebaker Avanti body?

[Guest dapy]

Shape

[Gunslinger]

The Avanti body is one piece after assembly...the Corvette's isn't.

[mfg]

Not exactly what we're looking for here...I should re-phrase question to "difference in body structure"....?

[warren55]

A built in roll bar?

[mfg]

A built in roll bar?

That's really not the 'structural difference' (Although I agree with you that only the Avanti had the roll bar)

[GAWen]

Several years ago I took RQB 1600 to a Corvette Specialty shop for body work. They refused to do the work, saying they were not familiar with the Avanti body due to the fiberglass being made-up differently and being of a thicker material.

[Guest dapy]

Thicker?

[GlennW]

Corvette bodies fit together properly and were deliverd on time? ☺

[Gunslinger]

MFG didn't assemble the Corvette bodies...they made the panels and shipped them to the St. Louis GM assembly plant for assembly. The Avanti was the first auto body they made the panels for and assembled as complete bodies. That lack of experience in assembly was the root cause of the body fit and delivery problems.

Car magazine reviews of the time remarked that the Avanti body seemed thicker than Corvette bodies. At least one magazine reviewer stated the Avanti body was free of ripples compared to Corvette bodies. How accurate that statement was is open to interpretation but magazine writers probably received cars that were gone over pretty well compared to production cars (when production actually ramped up). Writers also wrecked several cars as well.

[mfg]

All great comments!....What I had as a major difference, to add to the above, is the fact that the Corvette had a lot more steel under all that fiberglass...For example, the large Avanti doors were completely made of fiberglass....while the same era Corvette door had the fiberglass applied over what was basically a steel skeleton. Recently I was the go-between on a '64 Corvette Roadster door shell....tiny little thing...but it felt like it weighed as much or more than a much larger Studebaker Avanti door shell weighs!