1963 Studebaker Avanti

An amazing car designed right here in Palm Springs by famous industrial design pioneer Raymond Loewy and his team. We drive it through Mid Century modern and classic areas around the city.

[@christopherkraft1327]

The Avanti is indeed an incredible automobile that was definitely ahead of its time!!! This one is a beautiful time capsule!!! The exciting mid century backdrop of Palm Springs makes this video that much better!!! Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thanks for watching !

[@christopherkraft1327]

@@thecarsofpalmsprings you're welcome!!

[@markhansen5526]

You guys always do such an excellent job! Thank you for these great videos.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thank you Mark and thanks for watching !

[@trainliker100]

The modified car run at Bonneville he mentioned had an "R3" engine where the 289 was bored out to 299 cid, had more boost, different intake manifold, cam, pistons, and such. They kept it at 299 cid to be in a certain class. Production R3 Avantis (there were only 9) were bored out for 304.5 cid. There was also one factory special R5 with dual superchargers that Andy Granatelli drove himself for a 2-way run of 196 mph at Bonneville. A paper on that engine Studebaker submitted to the Society of Automative Engineers stated 638 hp on the dyno. There was also the more obscure R4, which was offered as an option like the R2 or R3. But no Avanti was ordered with one, but one Lark sold with it. It was like the R3, but instead of being supercharged, had twin 4 bbl carburetors.

[@trainliker100]

For those who might not know, the Avanti was created to be a "halo" car to bring excitement back to the Studebaker brand and get people to the dealerships. And it most certainly did. So, it really DID do its job. The idea was then to sell most people Larks and Hawks and such because, after all, the Avanti sold for about the same price as a Cadillac. So, they never expected to sell many Avantis. However, most buyers fully expected Studebaker was on the way out and balked at buying a car where dealerships and support were about to disappear. So, they looked, but did not buy.

[@Hibernicus1968]

I love these cars. My '63 Avanti, also white, looks very much like this one, but it still has the round headlights (which I think look better), but I've heard Studebaker replaced those with the square headlight bezels because the round ones had proved impossible to make watertight. As noted early in the video, the clock in classic cars is invariably broken, so when I had the dash off to replace the sun-damaged dash pad, I replaced it with an oil temperature gauge.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Congrats on owning an awesome car ! We could not find much definitive info on the Round vs Square lights. Thank you for watching and commenting ! Next up is 1956 Oldsmobile 98

[@keywestjj]

I swear there are more Avantis in PS than anywhere else!?! Tho in January I was up on Orcas Island, WA and there was one out and about in daily use ... in the rain :-( I wanted to stop and scold they guy! Denny, it's a fun day when you post a new video for all of us to enjoy.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Have to agree, I see more in PS than when in LA for sure, thanks for watching !

[@trainliker100]

That was a VERY nicely done video. I have a white 1964 and my license plate says, "A 64 WHAT" because so many people nowadays have never seen one. I love your pointer. I just HAVE to find one of those.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching and the treasure trove of info below ! It's been a few years since this episode aired but we seem to remember the owners ( who are avid Studebaker collectors and own many ) had mentioned the total production numbers included a batch of post Studebaker factory units for some reason we can't remember . We have had several comments over the years about the headlights and they assured us that they had researched the year and model info and found documentation that about 50 units had the "wrong" headlights. As for the other info we don't know, not our car. Be sure to check out the Avanti adventure episode where a lot of the Palm Springs Avantis meet up kzbin.info/www/bejne/iorNi35mhN-ofdksi=tGkk7IUQZIf0x87O

[@brianpetersen3429]

One of my favorite car designs. Great video.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thanks for watching and subscribing ! Next up is a 1956 Oldsmobile 98

[@michaelshaules3197]

great videography

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching ! Next up is a classic 50s Porsche

[@genegoodwin8925]

If ever there was a car with a timeless design, it was the Avanti. Now a days auto manufactures are showing a lot of interest in bringing back the in-line six cylinder engine. I think it would be really neat if someone would bring back the Avanti with a turbo charged in line six under that long hood. Of course the car would need several updates to be sold these days like , Air bags, four wheel independent suspension, four wheel disc brakes, ABS, EFI, traction control and composite head lights. But just imagine this car with these updates. Move over Corvette, Mustang, Toyota Supra, Nissan Z, BMW Z4 becuae here is a car with class. I know I would want one.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thank you for watching and commenting ! There was actually an Indian sports car being drawn up called the Avanti but no relation, don't think it ever went into major production www.carscoops.com/2015/07/indias-only-supercar-new-dc-design/

[@bobscruggs8886]

Back in the 1970's I bought a 1963 Avanti paid $ 4,000 then traded for a 1972 at $ 9,200 now at 81 years old I want another, found one a 1963 Red will test drive this week, hope it's as good as they say it is $ 9,000, great video thanks .

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

It is weird how they are still fairly affordable being such a rare and special car ! There are a lot of them out here in Palm Springs, best of luck with your new Red Avanti and Thank you for watching and Subscribing !

[@bobscruggs8886]

@@thecarsofpalmsprings Interesting I inquired about four Avanti's from different car sites, they were all fraudulent only those from car dealers or phone number listed are real . Pays to do research ! Thanks

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

@@bobscruggs8886 Always found joining state and national online car clubs is a good resource for info and cars for sale from people who share the passion. There are a few Studebaker clubs good luck with the hunt it is half the fun !

[@bobscruggs8886]

Thanks

[@wagnergertie]

Very interesting!

[@nigelsmart7187]

OMG, you need more subs and more views! This video put me in a tance (a good one), very well made. Thanks.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thank you for watching and the kind words ! Stay tuned for some incredible vehicles in 2023 and spread the word !

[@stevenwolff6866]

Imho this was the most beautiful domestic car of all time. The 63 Riviera the 67 Eldorado & the 61 Continental round out my Mt Rushmore of car design

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Hope to cover some of those cars in future episodes, be sure to check out the Avanti Adventure episode and thanks for watching and commenting !

[@stevenwolff6866]

@@thecarsofpalmsprings you're welcome & thanks for providing this content! I'll be looking forward to you're future videos & hopefully on one or more of the other vehicles I mentioned

[@JulienVansteeger]

Alice Cooper owned one or two ! Amazing car and very interesting video!!

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Did not know that , Thanks for watching !

[@trainliker100]

No 1963 production year Studebaker Avanti had square headlight bezels. I suspect your car is prior to SN R4892, perhaps quite a bit prior. But sometimes funny things happened with car registration dates after cars left the factory. And sometimes, I suspect, a car languished at the factory for some reason before becoming "production." Your car otherwise has many indications of being a 1963 such as the painted dash panel instead of the later wood grain look Tenite panels. It has the earlier heater/vent controls where one lever set is a split tee instead of the later with five separate levers with chrome balls on the top. It does NOT have the vent on the cowl just below the windshield on the top of the gunsight. This was added not for the cabin, but for air to cool the tunnel for automatic transmission cars as they got so hot people couldn't comfortably touch the metal shift lever. (Do you have that problem?) That was supposedly only for auto transmission cars, but some manual transmission cars left the factory with it anyway. But the square bezels don't make sense and I wonder if this was due to a repair at one time using a front clip from a later Avanti.

[@michaelfloat9681]

Nice video. Just want to mention Avanti in Latin means forward not ahead.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Thanks for watching and commenting ! Be sure to subscribe to get notified up next is a beautiful 65 Buick Riviera !

[@scottnewton9046]

Looks like a ‘64. The ‘63’s had round headlight rings while the ‘64’s had the squarish headlight bezels.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

There was an overlap of about 50 late 63s making it a very rare example indeed

[@trainliker100]

A number of 64's had round bezels. The change was made sometime after the model year changeover which was really by date, not by features.

[@KnightPassions]

An Avanti from '63 never had those frames around the head lights, it had round ones. This must be a '64 model.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Good catch but actually the owners who are Studebaker collectors assure us that there was an overlap of about 50 late 63s making it a very rare example indeed ! Thanks for watching and commenting !

[@billmagorian490]

Some of your videos are lacking especially your interior shots. A static side view would have been so much more impressive if the sun were shining on it. I've loved the Avanti since I first saw it as an adolescent. It was so beautiful and no other car looked like it. All these years later I have not changed my mind.

[@joemackey1950]

:56 I think clocks had a life span of six months. :) I worked for a L-M dealership in '76 detailing used cars (three years old was the general limit) and I don't think the clocks worked any car regardless of make.

[@thecarsofpalmsprings]

Haha it sure seems like it, that's what we always confirm in almost every episode, Thanks for watching and commenting !

[@trainliker100]

Studebaker produced 4,643 Avantis. Don't know where the 5800 production number stated came from. 3,834 were 1963 model year and 809 were 1964 model year. There were a few prototypes not sold and normally not considered "production" so sometimes you see "4,647" claimed. But production cars were 4,643. SN R1001 to R5643. R5643 was the last made and had an R3 engine. Perhaps that 5,800 was a number from a time including later Avantis produced by Avanti Motor Corporation after Studebaker ended production. Also, the Studebaker parts listed the changeover from round to square headlight bezels at SN 4892. This would mean that only the last 742 of the 809 "64" models had the square bezels. And a number of "63" models had them. So that is not a defining model year feature. There really is no defining model year changeover feature(s) for the Avanti like other cars. They just made running changes and introduced them when available. Also, you could order your car with round bezels even after square was in production. Years later, some 64 model year serial numbers after the square bezel changeover otherwise have been seen with round bezels and it is suspected this may be from a repair using a round bezel front. Nice video. I have white R5586, one of the last hundred made, which has all the running changes they ever made.

[@BIGBADWOOD]

Great video Just one problem .... Studebaker was not the first to offer Disc brakes .... What was the first car that had disc brakes? In the case of disc brakes, that highly significant claim to fame goes to the little manufacturer of little cars, Crosley. As reader Ernie Knight correctly wrote, it was the Indiana-built 1949 Crosley which was first fitted with Goodyear/Hawley disc brakes on all four wheels.😃

[@trainliker100]

Studebaker was first with CALIPER disc brakes. Crosley, and shortly after the 1949-1953 Chrysler Imperial, had disc brakes but they were a different style with discs pressing against a drum. Studebaker, advertising and many others referring to the car, seem to usually and conveniently leave out that distinction.