Avanti Torino?

[mfg]

What mid sixties Ford vehicle was built with and displayed the name ‘Studebaker’?

[Gunslinger]

If I remember correctly...the Shelby Mustang GT-350s equipped with Paxton superchargers had a sticker on the supercharger body with Paxton's name and listing it as a division of the Studebaker Corporation.  

[mfg]

2 hours ago, Gunslinger said:

If I remember correctly...the Shelby Mustang GT-350s equipped with Paxton superchargers had a sticker on the supercharger body with Paxton's name and listing it as a division of the Studebaker Corporation.  

Yep!…. You got it Gun!!

[Geoff]

I've visited Las Vegas a handful of times over the last eight years. I managed to hit up the Shelby museum a couple times because I wanted photos of the radiator isolation box and A-pillar fences/strakes on the Daytona Coupe.

Anyway, here's one of the two blowers (other visible in background) on the remaining Cobra made as described in Bill Cosby's "200 MPH" comedic routine.
Visible if you zoom in, "Manufactured by Paxton Products a div. of Studebaker Corp. Exclusively for Shelby American Inc."

[mfg]

Twin Paxton’s on a 427 CI Ford V8… I wonder if that engine was ever dynoed?

Can you say overkill??

Edited January 13 by mfg

[Geoff]

CSX3015 has a twin Paxton blown 427 FE engine producing 800 horsepower to motivate 2350 pounds. 60 comes in less than 4 seconds if the tires can actually find and hold traction. Oh to feel that experience some how, some day.

[Nelson]

I remember that 427 Cobra was tested and had some crazy zero to 100 mph and back to zero times of something like 12 seconds? What ever the time was it was just mind boggling at the time.

[mfg]

5 hours ago, Nelson said:

I remember that 427 Cobra was tested and had some crazy zero to 100 mph and back to zero times of something like 12 seconds? What ever the time was it was just mind boggling at the time.

Yes… Carroll Shelby certainly had that little car zeroed in!

There was a new 427 Cobra which sat on the showroom floor at Tasca Ford in Providence, R.I. for several months. (back in the day)….. Like Studebaker Avantis, some new Cobras were a tough sell…..

If I remember correctly, the dealership was asking around $6500 for that car.

 

 

[Geoff]

Carroll Shelby pretty much guaranteed the 427 Cobra could 0-100-0 in under 14.5 seconds. Ken Miles accomplished a 13.8 second time, and the record is 10.3 seconds. I don't know if the double Paxton Cobra could do much better? Well, unless slicks were involved on a VHT prep'd surface. Then decreasing braking distance requires wider front tires, stickier rubber, or as Colin Chapman said, "adding lightness." Might as well VHT the whole anticipated distance so the stickiness also helps in the 100-0 section.

If that $6500 was witnessed in 1965, 2025 dollars would equal $64,729.48. I understand why they'd sit. The reliable $25k car is hard to come by these days.
Flipping the values, $25k today would be $2510.45 in 1965.

[Nelson]

Weren’t the bulk of the 427 Cobras actually 428’s?

[mfg]

34 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Weren’t the bulk of the 427 Cobras actually 428’s?

I think that the later ones were.. Why I don’t know…. Perhaps availability issues with the 427?

[Gunslinger]

I believe many, if not most, 427 marked Cobras were actually 428 equipped.  It was probably due to cost and engine availability issues with Ford.  Carroll Shelby probably knew many of his buyers were not capable of safely handling a full out 427 car.  

There's probably more replica Shelby Cobras out there today than Carroll Shelby ever rolled out of his shops.  All seem to have 427 emblems but a small block engine under the hood.  

[mfg]

1 hour ago, Gunslinger said:

I believe many, if not most, 427 marked Cobras were actually 428 equipped.  It was probably due to cost and engine availability issues with Ford.  Carroll Shelby probably knew many of his buyers were not capable of safely handling a full out 427 car.  

There's probably more replica Shelby Cobras out there today than Carroll Shelby ever rolled out of his shops.  All seem to have 427 emblems but a small block engine under the hood.  

There’s a company which builds replica Shelby Cobras located just a few miles from where I live, called ‘Factory Five’….

They have been in business since the mid nineties, and a few years ago the local Studebaker Club Chapter was invited to tour their facilities.

[mfg]

On 1/25/2025 at 11:38 AM, Gunslinger said:

I believe many, if not most, 427 marked Cobras were actually 428 equipped.  It was probably due to cost and engine availability issues with Ford.  Carroll Shelby probably knew many of his buyers were not capable of safely handling a full out 427 car.  

There's probably more replica Shelby Cobras out there today than Carroll Shelby ever rolled out of his shops.  All seem to have 427 emblems but a small block engine under the hood.  

Concerning  the word ‘replica’, when the ‘65(?)- ‘85 Avantis were being produced in South Bend, it always put a frown on my face when I overheard an ‘uninformed’ person referring to them as ‘replicas’….. and I recall hearing that a lot….Just didn’t seem right to me!!

[Gunslinger]

The Avanti is the first "continuation" car...same body supplier...same chassis...same factory...just a different engine and it evolved from there.  

[mfg]

3 hours ago, Gunslinger said:

The Avanti is the first "continuation" car...same body supplier...same chassis...same factory...just a different engine and it evolved from there.  

“Continuation car” ….. never heard that term… but I like it!

[Nelson]

Sort of like a Graham Hollywood after the coffin nose Cord.

[mfg]

On 1/28/2025 at 1:08 PM, Nelson said:

Sort of like a Graham Hollywood after the coffin nose Cord.

The Graham Hollywood was very interesting …. I think from the cowl rearward the body was basically all Cord, however the nose, or doghouse, was unique to Graham…. And, also, it had a conventional rear drive.

[bob caser]

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.

[wdaly]

1 hour ago, bob caser said:

Continuation cars terminology is now a abused term in the industry. Avanti Motors was a true continuation vehicle until Mike Kelly changed the model.

Because they ran out of Studebaker (Lark?) frames?

[Gunslinger]

Avanti Motors ran out of Avanti frames in the late ‘70s and began using true Lark frames and welded in the X-member and supposedly added some additional stiffeners as the Lark frame was a thinner gauge steel.  
 

I believe many of the safety standards Avanti Motors received exemptions from had run out…along with running out of parts for a 30+ year old chassis prompted the need for a modern chassis.  
 

Prior to Mike Kelly…Steve Blake initiated a design for a proprietary chassis for the Avanti which never reached fruition.

[wdaly]

Thanks - Gun!

[Geoff]

Yeah, Blake was going to put together a multi-link IRS Dana 44 equipped chassis, probably lifted right out of C4 Corvette.
Oh great paint debacle. How much you really screwed things we'll never know.

[Gunslinger]

I looked it up and Avanti Motors switched to the Lark frame in the 1977 model year...the frame was used continuously from serial number RQB-2607 with earlier numbers RQB-2696 and RQB-2699 also receiving the same frame.