AOAI Magazine Issue 212!

[mfg]

Like the article on the one and only ‘Due Cento’ Avanti in the latest AOAI Magazine….. Looking forward to the full story, which will be printed in the next issue!

[regnalbob]

On 11/28/2025 at 1:24 PM, mfg said:

Like the article on the one and only ‘Due Cento’ Avanti in the latest AOAI Magazine….. Looking forward to the full story, which will be printed in the next issue!

There are two Due Cento Avantis.

The original Due Cento.

 

The Next Generation Due Cento.

 

[mfg]

On 11/28/2025 at 1:24 PM, mfg said:

Like the article on the one and only ‘Due Cento’ Avanti in the latest AOAI Magazine….. Looking forward to the full story, which will be printed in the next issue!

Incorrect Bob…. The name of the turquoise Avanti, #9431,  is:

DUE CENTO THE NEXT GENERATION

Nice try…. Keep swinging kid!!!

 

[mfg]

Regnalbob was confused about the ‘DUE CENTO’ Studebaker Avanti…..

The Paxton built Due Cento Avanti, mentioned in the latest issue of AOAI Magazine, was fitted with an experimental Studebaker engine referred to as the ‘R5’ and tested on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1963….

It would be wonderful, in my opinion, to eventually see Greg Cone’s R5 engine reunited with Richard Bennett’s Due Cento Avanti!

 

 

[mfg]

2 hours ago, regnalbob said:

There are two Due Cento Avantis.

The original Due Cento.

 

The Next Generation Due Cento.

 

‘Due Cento The Next Generation’ was owned and built for Bonneville speed runs by the late James Lange, who was an extremely talented Studebaker Avanti enthusiast…..

RIP James

[mfg]

I’ve never been a fan of hood scoops  on Studebaker Avantis… However, the air scoop which the Granatellis added at the front edge of the Due Cento’s hood looks, to me, mean & aggressive…. I like it!!

[mfg]

One detail on the ‘Due Cento’ I’m not very keen on is the full rear fender  skirts!

I understand they were added for important aerodynamic reasons… however, as far as looks go, I doubt if very many current Studebaker Avanti owners will be replicating them!!!

[ronmanfredi]

If you guys had been at the AOAI convention last September like we were, you would have received the full accurate story, met Bennet, hands on the car and received the multi-page booklet on that car and the history of it.

[mfg]

8 hours ago, ronmanfredi said:

If you guys had been at the AOAI convention last September like we were, you would have received the full accurate story, met Bennet, hands on the car and received the multi-page booklet on that car and the history of it.

Did he mention if there is any possibility of reuniting R5 engine with this car?

[ronmanfredi]

10 hours ago, mfg said:

Did he mention if there is any possibility of reuniting R5 engine with this car?

They don't know where the original engine is.

[mfg]

13 minutes ago, ronmanfredi said:

They don't know where the original engine is.

Yes they do!

[mfg]

The gentleman that now owns the Avanti ‘R5’ engine is a visionary!

Many years ago he had the initiative to pursue the Granatelli brothers for all the unique R5 engine parts, (back when no one else was especially interested in these parts), he finally acquired them….

Setting those parts to one side for years, he ultimately reassembled this one of a kind engine…..

Now, I’m not sure if he’s using the original damaged block or not, and it’s been said the pistons were changed, but all the peripheral parts are now assembled, with the engine now sitting on an engine stand.

Once again, it would be wonderful to see this unique R5 engine again under the hood of the Due Cento Studebaker Avanti!

 

Edited December 3 by mfg
Spell.

[mfg]

I noticed the accent color which the Granatellis applied to the Due Cento’s red exterior, as well as the graphics, have not (yet) been applied to the car….

These details will eventually make this special Avanti even more exciting!

[mfg]

With all the visible aerodynamics installed on the Due Cento for the Bonneville speed runs, I wonder if that Avanti also had a full belly pan?

Edited December 6 by mfg
Added text

[Gunslinger]

I had read accounts say the Due Cento had full belly pan streamlining.  I’ve seen no photos of it though.

[mfg]

Checking out the Due Cento in person is definitely on my bucket list!

BTW…. any Stude/Avanti fan that hasn’t yet toured the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, should, if possible, try to get there…. Great take!!

[Nelson]

I think the original short block is in Ed George’s Avanti. 

[brad]

Ed George only has the R5 pistons in his R3 engine. Greg has the original R5 and had a section of the pan rail welded when it had damage. I supplied R3 pistons to Mr. Cone when the originals were long gone. The R5 piston is essentially a regular R3 Forged True but, the crown is angle machined for slightly lower compression. Necessary with two higher output superchargers. The specially stressed blowers would last approximately one run. (7 miles)

[mfg]

On 12/11/2025 at 2:36 PM, brad said:

Ed George only has the R5 pistons in his R3 engine. Greg has the original R5 and had a section of the pan rail welded when it had damage. I supplied R3 pistons to Mr. Cone when the originals were long gone. The R5 piston is essentially a regular R3 Forged True but, the crown is angle machined for slightly lower compression. Necessary with two higher output superchargers. The specially stressed blowers would last approximately one run. (7 miles)

Very interesting information Brad!

[Nelson]

I was under the impression that Richard Bennet was trying to work something out with Ed as a trade. I know George Krem had installed the engine In Ed’s Avanti when Krem owned it. George had removed the camshaft as it was too radical or at least didn’t perform on the street. His engine does have the piston’s you described, Brad.The cylinder heads were also ported and cleaned up. I didn’t know Cone actually had the real engine. I did hear there was more than one R5 built but actually two. I assumed that one must have blown on the dyno. I do think Ed’s engine has a high B number which doesn’t seem to make sense. It would be interesting to see what rods are in Ed’s short block.. If they are press fit wrist pins it would give it some credibility. Right now they both may have original R5 engines😬 but only one was in the car when the records were set.

Edited 8 hours ago by Nelson

[mfg]

9 hours ago, Nelson said:

I was under the impression that Richard Bennet was trying to work something out with Ed as a trade. I know George Krem had installed the engine In Ed’s Avanti when Krem owned it. George had removed the camshaft as it was too radical or at least didn’t perform on the street. His engine does have the piston’s you described, Brad.The cylinder heads were also ported and cleaned up. I didn’t know Cone actually had the real engine. I did hear there was more than one R5 built. I assumed that one must have blown on the dyno. I do think Ed’s engine has a high B number which doesn’t seem to make sense. It would be interesting to see what rods are in Ed’s short block.. If they are press fit wrist pins it would give it some credibility.

So there may have been a second R5 engine?… That’s interesting…. If there were a second (or more) R5 ‘long block’, I’d think it would be a stretch to believe there was a second (or more) set of the peripheral parts unique to the R5…

I certainly could be wrong, but it’s hard to believe there was more than one plenum chamber, L&R intake manifolds, custom bracket for the dual blower setup, special blower, idler, and crank pulleys, Novi injection pump, etc…

I’d guess the R5 parts Mr. Cone wisely purchased from Paxton years ago are ‘one and onlys’ whether they are installed on the original Bonneville block or not…. Ed

 

[DWR46]

My records show the Bennett engine is B-23. It might now have ported and polished R2 cylinder heads. Also may have been the 224 cu. in. version used by Bob Burke.

Engine B-37 appears to be the Cone engine. Supposedly, he found the engine in Detroit, MI. Cone installed a number of Bonneville parts (blower cooler, etc.).

I make no representation that the above is 100% correct. It is the result of my research with the kind help of George and Nelson.

[mfg]

1 hour ago, DWR46 said:

My records show the Bennett engine is B-23. It might now have ported and polished R2 cylinder heads. Also may have been the 224 cu. in. version used by Bob Burke.

Engine B-37 appears to be the Cone engine. Supposedly, he found the engine in Detroit, MI. Cone installed a number of Bonneville parts (blower cooler, etc.).

I make no representation that the above is 100% correct. It is the result of my research with the kind help of George and Nelson.

We’ve all seen an R5 appearing engine, completely assembled with all the unique Bonneville peripheral parts, sitting on an engine stand…. haven’t we?

Edited 6 hours ago by mfg
Spell.

[mfg]

I’m simply saying that it would be really nice to get that ‘R5(?)’ engine back under the hood of the ‘Due Cento’……

If the block isn’t the one run on the salt flats, that’s too bad…. however visually, in a static display at the SNM, I don’t feel it would make much difference!

Edited 6 hours ago by mfg