1964 or 1966 Avanti -which to buy???

[DTM1]

Hi all- have loved Avanti's for years. I've been looking at a 66 that a friend owned who passed away and his son is selling it. Turquoise with lite beige?? interior. Interior has been refurbished and looks like new, Paint is pretty nice, engine is believed to be a modified 350 with auto (original 327 included. Has newer A/C, rear end  has been rebuilt. 15K  A 1964 R1 has come up for sale looks all original- long time owner has a/c& auto. Not sure what to to $ 1964 is 3K more

[Gunslinger]

You have to judge each on its own merits and what you intend to do with the car.  As far as collector value, the '64 R1 will likely always be the better bet (in equal condition).  The '66 at least sounds like a better driver but will long term not hold its value as well.  

Do you want a collector car or a driver you can modify as you like without really harming its value?  Outside of the drive train, they're both Studebaker Avantis for all intents and purposes.

[studegary]

2 hours ago, Gunslinger said:

You have to judge each on its own merits and what you intend to do with the car.  As far as collector value, the '64 R1 will likely always be the better bet (in equal condition).  The '66 at least sounds like a better driver but will long term not hold its value as well.  

Do you want a collector car or a driver you can modify as you like without really harming its value?  Outside of the drive train, they're both Studebaker Avantis for all intents and purposes.

Ditto - I agree.

[DTM1]

Thank you- prob go for the 66- no matter what will have to move the seat as my 6'2 frame does'nt fit well.

[studegary]

I will add that with any 1963 -1991 Avanti, it is more important to look under the car (for rust in the frame and/or torque boxes) than to look at the body.  I know that you are in California, but the car may not have always been there or it may have been stored on dirt, etc.   

[1963r2]

I would strongly suggest not buying either. Once you have one you will want more and more and more and the problem won't be which one should I get but which one will I get next.

Just kidding

If you know the history of the car then 66 is the way to go.

pb

Edited September 29, 2017 by 1963r2

[PackardV8]

Do you like the original recipe raked stance or do you want the better performance and ease of maintenance of the SBC?  JMHO, but an Avanti is all about style.  None of them really perform or handle measured by present day standards.  If I wanted an SBC, I'd put one in a '63.  Round headlights and the rake make it unique.

As to value, none of the garden variety R1s or Avanti II will be worth the big bucks, so there's really not much investment appreciation.  Go with what you like and what makes you happy when you look at it.

jack vines

[MARK]

they are original once, the 64 will appreciate both in price and enjoyment. Regarding your height, just move the track below the seats back a bit and you will gain much appreciated leg room.

[DTM1]

I bought the 66 RQA 0057- RQ4613 So cool. it's a runner.

[abasile]

I have owned 1963, 1964, and 1968. If you are looking for a driver it is hard to beat that 327 Corvette engine. Just as fast as my current R2. 

[GlennW]

I too, would say get a good handle on which (if either) was unsound underneath and what obvious money would need for frame/hogtrough issues. The rest would really depend on what you plan to do with the car. If you want a daily driver that's lower cost to work on, with more performance, the chebby one is almost a no-brainer. If the "I got the last of the Studebaker built & powered" Avantis, you have no choice but to get the '64. (is it one of the good-looking ones, rectangular headlamp lens?)

[Billy Shears]

Personally, unless the Studebaker is in worse shape, I'd go for the '64, but that's me.  I used to own a '75, but I was never quite happy with it, and ended up selling it and buying a '63.  I only bought the '75 in the first place because I missed by one lousy day the '63 R2 4 speed Dan Booth had for sale.  Someone else snapped it up just before I called about it.   I wanted the raked stance and the round headlights, and the Studebaker original is simply always going to be worth more.  Also, and this may mean nothing to anyone else, but whenever I was asked about the car (and they do attract a lot of attention, and therefore questions), I found I always had to explain the car's history at length to tell people what it really was -- they tended to assume it was kit car, and I always had to correct them.

 

The plus side of the Avanti II is that it's got a lighter engine, which helps remove some of the front weight bias that the originals suffered from, and the Chevy engine will be a little easier to get parts for.  If you're going to do any restoration, you can do whatever you want as far as paint and interior goes, because there were no factory colors/materials; Avanti Motors would paint it whatever color the customer wanted, and use any interior materials the customer wanted, so you don't ever have to feel badly about departing from factory original specs to have it the way you want it, and it won't affect the value any.

[GlennW]

14 hours ago, Billy Shears said:

Personally, unless the Studebaker is in worse shape, I'd go for the '64, but that's me.  I used to own a '75, but I was never quite happy with it, and ended up selling it and buying a '63.  I only bought the '75 in the first place because I missed by one lousy day the '63 R2 4 speed Dan Booth had for sale.  Someone else snapped it up just before I called about it.   I wanted the raked stance and the round headlights, and the Studebaker original is simply always going to be worth more.  Also, and this may mean nothing to anyone else, but whenever I was asked about the car (and they do attract a lot of attention, and therefore questions), I found I always had to explain the car's history at length to tell people what it really was -- they tended to assume it was kit car, and I always had to correct them.

 

The plus side of the Avanti II is that it's got a lighter engine, which helps remove some of the front weight bias that the originals suffered from, and the Chevy engine will be a little easier to get parts for.  If you're going to do any restoration, you can do whatever you want as far as paint and interior goes, because there were no factory colors/materials; Avanti Motors would paint it whatever color the customer wanted, and use any interior materials the customer wanted, so you don't ever have to feel badly about departing from factory original specs to have it the way you want it, and it won't affect the value any.

Funny world, I wanted a '64 because I love the rectangular lenses. I can still remember around 1965 carefully carving out the round body holes for the optional rectangular lenses/frames when building the 3 in 1 AMT model kit where you could choose which ones you wanted since the kit came with round holes but both headlamp style parts.

[plwindish]

DTM1,

    I just got around to seeing the post and wondered if you ended up with a 64 or 66.  I had a 64 (unsold 63, which became a 64 back in the day) from 66-69.  Getting back into the Avanti hobby in 2011, I bought a 76 and in 2015 added an 89 convertible to my Avanti collection.  I've enjoyed the upgrades of the later Avantis compared with the original Studebakers, but I bought my cars with the purpose of driving them and not for the collector value.  Quality-wise, I think Newman Altman Avantis are superior to the Studebaker Avantis and later versions like my 89 convertible.  Handling wise, the 89's suspension is better driving and handling than my 76.  The 89 has been resto-modded and has a 383 for a motor so its much quicker than the original 305.  The 400 in the 76 was just rebuilt last fall and had EFI added so I'll see how it performs this summer as we'll be doing a driving trip from the Chicago area to Tacoma WA for the IM.  I've driven the 76 to the West Coast on Rte 66 and also to the East Coast three times, so its gotten plenty of driving during the 7 years I've owned it.  If I were still driving the 64, I don't think I'd be doing that much driving with it as reliability was never its strong suit.

[DTM1]

Good Morning, I ended up with the '66- really like it, its in pretty good shape. I think its got a semi built 327 so its peppy, its really begging for an overdrive transmission though. Tach' s 3100 at about 65 with 3.54 posi rear end. Your cars are very nice and you drive them alot it which is cool. I would really like to put some fat tires on the rear but that might be a challenge.

Dan

[Avanti83]

25 minutes ago, DTM1 said:

Good Morning, I ended up with the '66- really like it, its in pretty good shape. I think its got a semi built 327 so its peppy, its really begging for an overdrive transmission though. Tach' s 3100 at about 65 with 3.54 posi rear end. Your cars are very nice and you drive them alot it which is cool. I would really like to put some fat tires on the rear but that might be a challenge.

Dan

I'm running 15X8 rims on my 83 and 17X8 rims on my 74 both with about 4.5" backspacing. The tires on both fit within the rear fenders with no Boy Racer look.

How much bigger do you need?

[DTM1]

Something on the order of say 245. What size tires are you running??

[Mel]

Regarding your comment about overdrive, I had a 700R4 transmission put in mine which lowered my RPM at 70mph from about 3100 to 2150, or so.  This lets you hear your passenger and think as you ride down the freeway; saving the engine and better gas mileage are plusses.  I have the 3.07 gear and it handles the OD fine; I'm sure your lower 3.54 gear would have no trouble.

[DTM1]

Hi Mel- what did that run you for the 700R4??

[Mel]

I took the car to Myer's in Ohio; Michael has done several of these.  The total for everything -- transmission and rebuild, kits, adapter plate at the end, lines, drive shaft modification, labor, fluid, -- was about $2600.  And, he gave me $100 for the Borg-Warner.  I've been very pleased with it.

[DTM1]

That seems very reasonable. 

[DTM1]

I doubt I could do it around here for that. 

[Avanti83]

16 minutes ago, DTM1 said:

I doubt I could do it around here for that. 

You could do the 66 for much less. Hiring it done adds up quickly.

Rebuilt 700R4 - $1100 or so

Driveshaft - $200

TV cable & lockup switch $150

You can modify your rear mount for free and the radiator should have trans cooling already.

You can use your shifter but to select the lowerst gear you may need one off Ebay. -  $100

Find a good used 700R4/4L60 trans for less and save more money.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Avanti83

[Avanti83]

On 3/1/2018 at 3:42 PM, DTM1 said:

Something on the order of say 245. What size tires are you running??

P245/60R15 on 15X8 wheels

[DTM1]

19 hours ago, Avanti83 said:

You could do the 66 for much less. Hiring it done adds up quickly.

Rebuilt 700R4 - $1100 or so

Driveshaft - $200

TV cable & lockup switch $150

You can modify your rear mount for free and the radiator should have trans cooling already.

You can use your shifter but to select the lowerst gear you may need one off Ebay. -  $100

Find a good used 700R4/4L60 trans for less and save more money.

What shifter do you use? What exactly is the "tv" cable??