Does anybody remember this story?

[Nelson]

I remember a story from back in the late 60s or early 70s and I think Bob Andrews (?) substantiated it. Back when Studebaker was keeping the Avanti top secret they evidently had a prototype at Molded Fiberglass in Ashtabula, Ohio. The car was taken off premises for a joy ride by some of the engineers. They lost control running through a farmer’s fence significantly damaging the car. I guess it created a lot of ruckus at MF and at Studebaker. The car was quickly towed back to MF before the news media or passer byes could photograph it. Does anybody remember this tale that might shed more light on the event?

[Gunslinger]

I’ve never heard that story…be interesting to find out if it’s true.  There’s no mention of it in Bob Morrison’s book where he talks about MFG’s experience with Studebaker and the Avanti.  That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen or if he even was aware of such an incident.

[Mark L]

That reminds me of a somewhat similar, although non-Avanti, non-Studebaker story. The company I work for was flight testing an airplane in Roswell New Mexico about 12 years ago. There was a large support team there with the airplane for a week or two, many of them with rental cars. Late one evening after work one of the engineers decided he wanted to see how fast his rental Mustang would go. Since he had access to the airport, he decided to race the car up and down the runway. Apparently, the airport wasn't as unoccupied that late as he thought, and he was arrested. He ended up in jail while the rest of the team flew home. I think he ended up getting fired.

[mfg]

Along the same lines..A parts manager at a dealership I once worked at told this story...Studebaker would ship cars by  train into the large rail yard at Readville, Mass..Somehow that manager (he was just a teen then, 1963) and some of his friends gained access to unloaded new Studebakers one night..and spent an enjoyable (????) half hour or so playing bumping cars with brand new Studebakers! ( I have no idea if Avantis were included in their 'fun'!!

[Gunslinger]

While not related to this story directly...but it's always fun to tell.  About ten or twelve years ago I had my '70 Avanti at a local car show.  An old fellow came up and looked it over...said back in the late '50s he and his dad owned a Studebaker dealership in the town.  They eventually switched from Studebaker to Ford...don't remember if he told me why.  I mentioned in the small city a few miles away there was a building that you could still read "STUDEBAKER SALES & SERVICE" on the building face.  It was a street out of the way from most of the town and other car dealers.

The old guy said he remembered the dealer and the owner from back in the day.  He said besides the Studebaker franchise he had other properties..."...and owned a few whorehouses, too!"

I never forgot that...I still laugh whenever something makes me think of it.  It's been enough time the old guy has passed on.  He was awesome to listen to.

[8E45E]

The Avanti design was radical enough that no one would have guessed that it was a Studebaker, or possibly any other car manufacturer at the time; especially if there was no identification on it.  And if it did get laid up in a farmer's field, passers-by may have concluded it was a 'home-grown' creation, and kept on driving.

Craig

[wapanzica]

Bob Palma told me a story about the time he and his brother snuck into the proving grounds and hid in a tree on the side of the track and watched an Avanti running laps.  On one of those laps the car stopped, backed up and than stopped at the side of the track.  The driver got out and walked up to the tree and told the boys to come down.  Though they thought they were camouflaged by the tree their legs were dangling below the branches.  After questioning them about what they were doing there he put them in the back seat of the Avanti and drove them to the front gate and told them to leave and never come back.  They may have been the 1st two people to ride in the back seat of an Avanti.

[8E45E]

1 hour ago, wapanzica said:

Bob Palma told me a story about the time he and his brother snuck into the proving grounds and hid in a tree on the side of the track and watched an Avanti running laps.  On one of those laps the car stopped, backed up and than stopped at the side of the track.  The driver got out and walked up to the tree and told the boys to come down.  Though they thought they were camouflaged by the tree their legs were dangling below the branches.  After questioning them about what they were doing there he put them in the back seat of the Avanti and drove them to the front gate and told them to leave and never come back.  They may have been the 1st two people to ride in the back seat of an Avanti.

That was recounted in his & George Krem's "Summer Sleuthing In South Bend" article in the September, 1980 Turning Wheels.  I believe it was also mentioned again in a repeat article in TW earlier this year.