mfg Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 At the time, 'some' 1963 Studebaker Avantis could not be legally delivered to California Studebaker dealers.....Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob caser Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 I believe there was actually two reasons. Exhaust was to loud and then the DMV wanted an additional number or letter added to the VIN / Serial number. Bob Caser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfg Posted March 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 6 hours ago, bob caser said: I believe there was actually two reasons. Exhaust was to loud and then the DMV wanted an additional number or letter added to the VIN / Serial number. Bob Caser OK...I was looking for the straight through exhaust...CORRECT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StudeNorm Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 Would that be the reason my Avanti has Quiet Tone exhaust listed as an option? It was originally destined for Gilroy, California delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studegary Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 2 hours ago, StudeNorm said: Would that be the reason my Avanti has Quiet Tone exhaust listed as an option? It was originally destined for Gilroy, California delivery. Probably. Does it list option 331? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob caser Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 My Avanti which was bought new in New Jersey did not have the quiet exhaust, I moved to California in 1965 and proceeded to receive " exhaust too loud tickets " from the police. This is were Hot Rods were born, how could this be. Bob Caser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64studeavanti Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 (edited) A while back I was speaking to Dan Booth and he had a different take on the additional letter for some CA Avantis. He believes it had something to do with identifying corporate cars, holdover etc. All I know is that 63R4551, which was a Las Vegas Driveaway car, does have the letter A appended to the serial number. It was clearly added after the fact as it is a different font and size. This car was delivered to Los Angeles and does have the quiet exhaust. Edited April 7, 2021 by 64studeavanti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob caser Posted April 7, 2021 Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 I have two 64 Avantis one sold in New Jersey R 5051 and the other sold in California R 5487 B. I do know that by late 63 the California DMV was requiring the addition of a letter. If not stamped on the plate then it was added to the paper title. Bob Caser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64studeavanti Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 The suggestion that California required an additional letter because the serial number is too short does not make sense. My Los Angeles destined car is 63R4551 with an 'A' added to the serial plate. In mid 63, Studebaker dropped the year designation from the serial number. The ones with the year designation had a 7 character serial number. The later ones only had 5. There must be another reason for the addition of the letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob caser Posted April 9, 2021 Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 I do not believe that it was stated that the number was to short, California was seeking additional reference for its registration and title thus the " A" or "B" being added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgriggs Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 According to a passage in the Lamberti Papers (https://www.studebaker-info.org/Lamberti/lambertipagesintro.html), Studebaker was forced to install quiet tone exhaust systems on Avantis bound for New Jersey, due to complaints about the noise level of the standard exhaust. There is some mention of how they would handle that, as the quiet tone exhaust was an extra cost option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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