New YT conspiracy video

[Desert Driver]

Haven't seen this one before, but they really don't make the case that Chevy subverted Avanti production at MFG. 

 

[Stacey]

That was interesting, thanks for posting it for us.

[Geoff]

This hit the SDC Facebook group too. John Hull says, "Unfortunately many errors which clouds the Avantis history."

[Someone didn't want Studebaker carrying on. I say it was the banksters who were up to no good; they are nothing but trouble anyway.

1) The Lehmann Brothers pulled their funding and they didn't have to. Yep, the same company we had issues with during the '08 housing crisis.
1a) My father and I saw a photograph in Tippecanoe Place while visiting for the '12 SDC Int'l meet. The photo's caption mentioned similar to the above.
2) Henry Ford warned people how the nation's financial system works but not enough heeded his words. Henry was heavily involved in automobiles and was familiar with all the ins and outs of that industry. I believe all he said pertaining to that matter.]

[mfg]

Excepting the very first handmade Corvette bodies, I don’t think normal production ‘55- ‘62 Chevy Corvette body panels were any “thicker” than Studebaker Avanti body panels.

[aardvark]

Also noticed a few restoration things not right on their display car, like (as previously discussed) the 3EE battery area..and some minor issues.

Neet Vid.

Edited February 16 by aardvark

[Gunslinger]

Chevrolet didn’t need to do anything to harm Avanti production…Studebaker really didn’t need any help in destroying themselves.  I doubt if Chevrolet…or other carmakers…gave Studebaker much thought as Studebaker had such a small market share.  
 

The problem had less to do with Chevrolet than with Studebaker requiring MFG to supply complete, assembled and painted Avanti bodies…which MFG had no experience doing.  Corvette bodies were shipped to Chevrolet in sections…far fewer sections than in an Avanti body.  There are many horror stories about the MFG production issues and what Studebaker troubleshooters found when they went to Ashtabula to smooth out production.

Chevrolet didn’t to do anything to hurt Studebaker…all they needed to do is sit back and watch.

[Geoff]

Yep, MFG tried to assemble the first, how many? Some number around the first 86 cars were attempted to build without a jig.

The story I heard about 1025 from my father. And he bought the car with my uncle in 1970. It left the factory, did whatever it did for the Granatellis, and then went to Bill Alderman who got into a fender-scruncher, looking as it did when it left South Bend.

There was a sizeable divot in the roof which would hold water. The passenger side door's fit was so far off you could reach under the door from outside and be holding the bottom of the door while it was "closed." There was a wrinkled-oopty at the cowling/fender on the driver's side. Look at photos of a Ferrari F12. Notice Pininfarina sculpted the body so the air flow falls away at the cowling, diverting some of the airflow from flowing over the windshield. 1025 kinda sorta had that aerodynamic feature, albeit inadvertently and on an asymmetric basis, from July '62 until it was corrected in the later 1970s - early 1980s.

Let me loop this back to judging vehicles today. Take 1025 (or any of the first 86 cars) back to "Factory stock" as it left South Bend, and make that car the judging manual's metric! Everyone else's car would score 140% - 160% by comparison.

[Gunslinger]

When Avanti Motors formed...Nate Altman approached Bob Morrison of MFG about supplying bodies again for the new startup company.  Morrison was elated to do so and at great rates as he had something like 150 Avanti complete bodies leftover from Studebaker cancelling the contract with him.  About all that was necessary to use them was to design and produce the filler for the front wheel arch.  Following the sale and use of all these car bodies Nate Altman brought body assembly into his facility for assembly...just buying the fiberglass body parts from MFG.  I would think he exercised better quality control and labor costs by doing so.

I'm thinking Bob Morrison was doing the happy dance after making that agreement with Altman.  

[mfg]

On 2/16/2025 at 5:04 PM, Gunslinger said:

Chevrolet didn’t need to do anything to harm Avanti production…Studebaker really didn’t need any help in destroying themselves.  I doubt if Chevrolet…or other carmakers…gave Studebaker much thought as Studebaker had such a small market share.  
 

The problem had less to do with Chevrolet than with Studebaker requiring MFG to supply complete, assembled and painted Avanti bodies…which MFG had no experience doing.  Corvette bodies were shipped to Chevrolet in sections…far fewer sections than in an Avanti body.  There are many horror stories about the MFG production issues and what Studebaker troubleshooters found when they went to Ashtabula to smooth out production.

Chevrolet didn’t to do anything to hurt Studebaker…all they needed to do is sit back and watch.

Personally, I think the Studebaker Avanti came out AWESOME considering the limited funding and time constraints placed on its development……

I believe that’s why we, on this forum, are still talking about it today!

[Desert Driver]

On 2/16/2025 at 3:04 PM, Gunslinger said:

Chevrolet didn’t need to do anything to harm Avanti production…Studebaker really didn’t need any help in destroying themselves.  I doubt if Chevrolet…or other carmakers…gave Studebaker much thought as Studebaker had such a small market share.  
 

The problem had less to do with Chevrolet than with Studebaker requiring MFG to supply complete, assembled and painted Avanti bodies…which MFG had no experience doing.  Corvette bodies were shipped to Chevrolet in sections…far fewer sections than in an Avanti body.  There are many horror stories about the MFG production issues and what Studebaker troubleshooters found when they went to Ashtabula to smooth out production.

Chevrolet didn’t to do anything to hurt Studebaker…all they needed to do is sit back and watch.

Spot on analysis IMHO. Avanti was a great design, but production was a big problem. So many things were rushed due to Egbert's desire to get this halo vehicle into showrooms ASAP and attract new buyers for Lark, Hawk & Champ. Classic case of woulda, coulda, shoulda.

[Skip Lackie]

As I noted when this video was posted on Facebook, it's interesting that despite the fact that the facts surrounding Studebaker's withdrawal from the automobile industry are very well known, people keep making videos and creating histories about the company that are full of incorrect info, rumors, and wishful thinking. There have been several very well-documented books that chronicle the history of Studebaker Corporation, with particular emphasis on the post-WWII period and the Avanti gamble. The most authoritative is "Studebaker, The Life and Death of an American Corporation" by Donald Critchlow, University of Indiana Press, 1996. Critchlow had access to the minutes of the board meetings, the financial records, the car production data, and the personal recollections of those who were there at the time -- so he was able to document every decision that the company made. As Gunslinger said above, GM had nothing to do with it.

Edited 22 hours ago by Skip Lackie
typos