Avanti driving impressions? The good the bad

And the other will remain unstated. I like the way they look. I have been wrapped around the discussions about them the last few days. I just spent an hour looking at Avanti advertisements. I will not be able to buy any cars in the near to distant future.  But educationally speaking I need to know the good and the bad. Thanks

Braden

In reply to pilotbraden :

I’ve never driven one, but I imagine it varies greatly depending on whether you’re talking about the original Studebaker cars, or one of the later variants.

I imagine the Studebaker cars drive like their contemporaries, but also provide the most authentic experience, while the later cars have better chassis so they likely go/stop/turn far better, yet are still tuned for more comfort than sport. Just a guess. 

No input, but I love that GRM now has THREE threads going on Studebaker Avantis. Avanti Is Always The Answer.

The Avanti drives like a RWD Allanté....probably.

Tyler H said:

The Avanti drives like a RWD Allanté....probably.

But at least it doesn't have Northstart or HT4100 power

The '82-'86 Avantis are probably pretty decent to drive. Herb Adams designed the chassis on those, and he was no dummy, and it uses C4 Corvette IRS. Small block Chevy power means some modicum of reliability and parts obtainability and upgradeability as well.

Tyler H said:

The Avanti drives like a RWD Allanté....probably.

Pretty sure it drives more like a fiberglass Lark. 

You guys know what the only solution to all this is, don't you?  Sometimes needs to find an old non-running Avanti for dirt cheap, LS swap it, throw on a set of eBay fender flares and super wide tires and a front air dam and bring it to the $2000 challenge.  That's the only outcome I'll accept.  

I have a cousin that having made some serious money in the early to mid '80's, and being at the middle of the "baby' boom, added one of the R3's to his collection.   I was just out of college trying to find employment in the recension of '82 and he allowed me to drive and then wash my choice of his cars.  That and help him keep this toys running.  The Avanti was the car I treated with the most respect,  at over 3000 lbs. the car was a street fighter in ballet slippers.  The very stock, narrow white walls offered almost no confidence in anything other than a straight line.  The hood, doors and trunk lid would remove fingers if you were not paying attention when you closed one of them.

But the R3 is fitted with a Paxton Supercharger for the 289. It was a blow through system that did not like to be ignored as to maintenance, I was lucky in finding a shop that was willing to work on the car and deal with my cousin.  My first exposure to Client / Vendor management, to this day I manage expectations and still owe my cousin for the lessons I learned on his cars and with his check book.

Classic Motorsports featured one a year or two ago and had driving impression in the article.  I'd have to get an original Stude version for the looks not matter what magic Herb Adams added later.

It's been well over 20 years, but I drove a few when I was a valet.  Nothing remarkable stood out to me beyond the fact that they did feel like they had the assembly quality of a kit car built by Stevie Wonder.

NickD said:

No input, but I love that GRM now has THREE threads going on Studebaker Avantis. Avanti Is Always The Answer.

And alliteration is always awesome 

infinitenexus said:

You guys know what the only solution to all this is, don't you?  Sometimes needs to find an old non-running Avanti for dirt cheap, LS swap it, throw on a set of eBay fender flares and super wide tires and a front air dam and bring it to the $2000 challenge.  That's the only outcome I'll accept.  

searching build thread forum for Avanti builds started by infinitenexus....

Avanti's had a 109 inch wheelbase.  What if you shortened the Avanti body by 10 inches, making it strictly a two-seater, and placed the body on a Maserati BiTurbo chassis ala the Molvo?  

Adrian_Thompson said:

Classic Motorsports featured one a year or two ago and had driving impression in the article.  I'd have to get an original Stude version for the looks not matter what magic Herb Adams added later.

Here ya go. I even put it on the home page. :)

In reply to Jordan Rimpela :

Awesome article.  Thanks!

slowbird said:

NickD said:

No input, but I love that GRM now has THREE threads going on Studebaker Avantis. Avanti Is Always The Answer.

And alliteration is always awesome 

Alliterating A-holes annoy all.

I have quite a bit of Avanti time in both service and driving, all of the Studebaker R1 variety, beginning when they were almost new cars. The kit car comments are well deserved unfortunately.  jr02518's comment about handling was on point with the original tires. About 9 years ago my now ex SWMBO bought a very pretty one with serious mechanical needs. When we (I) got it on the road with modern tires it was surprisingly pleasant handling, but still nose heavy, the Studebaker 289 is about 200 lbs heavier than an SBC with Iron heads. The original Dunlop disc brakes were innadequite, but easily upgraded with a Turner brand kit. Very good club support is in place from the Studebaker Drivers Club. The HVAC system is a nightmare to service under dash. I don't know where nickd got the info about Corvette IRS and Herb Adams, but it aint so. Herb did build a serious race car from one, but all of the production cars are live axle. Also all of the cars with Federal bumpers have Chevy Monte Carlo chassis. Note that those cars rear wheels look a little Off related to the arches, because the Monte's wheelbase is a little longer, and the basic body mold didn't change. All Avanti IIs look higher in the front because they raised the front of the body (with spacers) to clear the top mounted AC compressor on the Chevy engine. Left over Studebaker produced Lark Convertable chassis frames were used until the end of chrome bumpers. That also means king pins folks! A car I wanted to like but the reality was a let down.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

How much weight can you shed off the nose with alloy heads?

My dealer friend took me for a ride in one, other than that I can't comment.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

The iron Chevy is already 200lbs lighter than the Studebaker. And the biggest displacement you can make the Stude is 304CID. It is darn near bulletproof, but just pop a Chevy in there and you can go to 400CID+ Some Avanti II had a 400 from new, but it was rare. The Avant II was a made to order car unlike the approx. 3000 Studebakers. They were only selling around 50 cars a year for most of the time from 1965 till the end. Interesting tidbit, Studebaker had twice as many dealers as they sold total number of Avantis. Many dealers never saw a car. The dealer in Montclair NJ (Sigrist Motors) sold at least two, one gold '63 and a square light one in red. I worked on both after the dealer became Mercedes only and chased the owners off. Gold one was still with the original owner in 1974, but it was really rough by then.

TurnerX19 said:

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

Gold one was still with the original owner in 1974, but it was really rough by then.

It’s really shocking how quickly cars went bad back then. My brother in law bought a ‘67 MGB in 1969 and it was completely rusted out by 1973 when he traded it in on a new one. 

Never driven one, but I absolutely love the original Tom Kellogg design (Art Center College grad), accomplished with a couple other guys in a  few weeks in a Palm Springs, CA, makeshift studio. Make no mistake, it wasn't the French guy's design (Raymond Loewy). Loewy was merely the figurehead hired by Studebaker to save the company during their dying days. So the story goes. But in my humble opinion, it's not about "handling" of the car. The Avanti wasn't conceived as a race car. It was a signature vehicle for Studebaker. It was a "performance" car, but certainly not a potential race car like the Mustang or Camaro. This was before that era. And Studebaker management really didn't have that kind of foresight.

You know? ... I wouldn't mind owning an early Avanti. I loved the original in '63 when it first came out, and I love it today. I'll take an early model with round headlights.

the beauty of glassfibre, you can take one of the last Avantis and graft the round headlights onto the nose

In reply to Gary :

Your comments regarding Raymond Loewy and figurehead are correct, and apply to the 1953 designs as well, they were actually drawn by Robert Bourke. Loewy was an American however, just domeciled in France. His design company did Mr Zip for the USPS too. 

In reply to TurnerX19 :

We had one as a dealer.  My Dad's partner nearly destroyed it on a test drive when he lost control and crashed.  We did get another one, it also ended up destroyed.