"R" Engines!

[mfg]

The 'R' in R1-2-3-4 Studebaker engines stood for 'racing' or 'racing version'.....True?

[studegary]

I am not sure about all R engines, but the R3 was referred to by Studebaker as the "racing version". Sales Letter 103, 9/27/62: "As first announced on April 25, 1962, the racing version of the Avanti engine, designated Model R-3, is available as an extra cost option....This is a modification of the standard supercharged Avanti engine...The engine will be installed ...in South Bend....shipped from South Bend. Performance and design characteristics of this engine are such that it is not recommended for normal city and highway usage."

To me, this boils down to R3 and R4 engines are racing engines and R1 and R2 are street engines, therefore, I do not believe that the R in front of all of these engine types refers to racing.

[mfg]

Good point on the R3-4's labeled 'racing version'....but that's not what the "R" prefix meant!.....Anyone else?

[r1lark]

The answer can be found in the Parts Manual. The "Model Symbol" for the Avanti was "R". So the engines developed for the Model R (Avanti) were designated as R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4.

[mfg]

The answer can be found in the Parts Manual. The "Model Symbol" for the Avanti was "R". So the engines developed for the Model R (Avanti) were designated as R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4.

EXACTLY!....."R" simply stood for 'Avanti engine'!

[studegary]

Good point on the R3-4's labeled 'racing version'....but that's not what the "R" prefix meant!.....Anyone else?

point on the R3-4's labeled 'racing version'....but that's not what the "R" prefix meant!.....Anyone else?

Ed - Your initial question did not ask what the R stood for. It just asked if it was true that it meant racing.

Paul has given you a good response to this second question.

[mfg]

Yes, he did!...And the question stated that "R" stood for racing or racing version....which was indeed false. To explain what it DID stand for can't be a bad idea Gary!