1962 & 1963 Studebaker Avanti
Some history & technical specifications

1962 Motor Trend

Avanti, freely translated from Italian means forward!, which is just where Studebaker's president Sherwood Egbert hopes to lead his company with an exciting new 1963 automobile. From doodle to drawing board to prototype in less than a year is quite an accomplishment for any automobile maker who is designing a production car, but Studebaker was able to push this program and still incorporate into the Avanti several major "firsts" for the industry. Egbert knew what he wanted and "doodled" some styling concepts which were used as a guide for stylist Raymond Loewy, who once before had put Studebaker back in sales competition with his "which way are they going" designs of 1953. This was in March of 1961 and by February 1962, the Molded Fiber Glass Body Co., Ashtabula, Ohio, was ready to deliver body shells to the South Bend, Indiana, Studebaker plant. Engineering, in the meantime, was working to improve engine performance and chassis handling, using as a base the 289-cubic-inch Hawk engine and the 109-inch wheelbase Lark Daytona chassis.

Excerpt from 1962 motor trend

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE REAL CAR:

Interior

The 1963 Studebaker Avanti interior colors were Fawn and elk with black, turquoise, red, or orange.

Pleated Regal vinyl upholstery (previously optional) replaced Perforated Delux vinyl upholstery in August of 1963. The interior originally planned for the Avanti never saw production. The design called for unique Royalite moldings (similar to fiberglass) throughout the interior. The original instrument panel remained, but the Royalite was replaced by carpeting and by individual vinyl sections that were padded, pleated and sewn together. This cutback may have saved the interior from being "over-designed." Ironically, the interior ended up looking more expensive because it had to be cheaper.

Avanti's interior features contoured bucket seats in the front passenger compartment. The rear seat is a semi-contoured bench, mounted 3 in. higher than the front buckets. The padded dash covers gauges that are black with white letters and glow red when lit. Dials include a clock, tachometer, and vacuum gauge. The speedometer reads to 140 m.p.h. Light and heat/air controls are mounted in the center of the windshield header. Other items in the console include the shift lever, an ashtray, and a small compartment. There's also a glove compartment in the dash and it houses the Avanti's small vantity case with a pop-up mirror.

Exterior:

The 1963 Studebaker Avanti colors were:
Avanti Black (P-6330)
Avanti White (P-6331)
Avanti Turquoise (P-6332)
Avanti Gold (P-6333)
Avanti Red (P-6334)
Avanti Gray (P-6335)

Avanti Gray replaced Avanti Black after complaints about "waves" in the fiberglass body panels.

Avanti Black was reinstated when the problem was solved

Wedge-shaped front	The swoopy curve of bob-tailed rear

CHASSIS

Since budget constraints would not allow completely new engineering, the Studebaker Lark convertible X-frame was chosen for the
Avanti chassis. The chassis layout, including engine position, is the same as the Lark and both wheelbase, 109 in., and tread, 57.4 in.
front and 56.6 in. rear are the same. Overall length is 192 inches, that's 16 feet, a four-seater touring car size more than a sports car size. Chassis modifications include a stiffer anti-roll bar at the front end, and radius rods that supplement the rear semi-elliptic leaf springs.
The suspension combines the heavy-duty coil springs of the Lark police car with the 5-leaf semi-elliptics of the station wagon. The rates at the wheels are 110 lb./in. at the front and 136 lb./in. at the rear. The Avanti was sprung for stability not for a soft ride.

ENGINE

Avanti engines were developed from the basic Studebaker V-8. The R1 was a 289 cubic inch carbureted version with a
4 barrel and the R2 was a 289 cubic inch version equipped with a supercharger. Most Avantis were equipped with one of these two engines, though the R2 could not be equipped with air conditioning. The R3 was a special performance supercharged variation displacing 304 cubic inches and very few of these were built. The R3 version came with a bored out 304.5 cubic inch V-8 stuffed into the engine bay, modified suspension and the standard front disc brakes. There were also R4 and R5 performance variations, but none of these were sold to the public. Engine development was the responsibility of Andy Granatelli.

The Avanti R1 Engine

Transmission

Standard gearing for the unblown Avanti engine is a 3-speed manual transmission with ratios of 2.57:1 in 1 st and 1.55 in 2 nd and a rear axle of 3.31. Optional for the same power plant but standard for the supercharged unit is the Warner 4-speed with 2.54:1 in 1 st, 1.89 in 2 nd, and 1.51 in 3 rd, driving through an axle of 3.73. Perhaps the most interesting transmission of all is the automatic, described by Studebaker as a special high-performance version of the Borg-Warner torque converter cum 3-speed gearbox. The converter has a maximum stall ratio of 2.1:1 at 2200 rpm, multiplying a 1st gear of 2.40 and 2nd of 1.47. Normal axle ratios are 3.31 with the standard engine and 3.73 with the blown version. The automatic's really unusual feature is its shifting control. It has three forward positions, marked "1," "2,"and "D." "1" engages 1st gear only while "2" supplies 1 st or 2 nd, according to road speed. "D" provides only 2nd and 3 rd under normal conditions or 1st, 2 nd, and 3 rd under full throttle.

In practical terms, this means the driver can start out in "1" and hold 1 st as long as he wants. A flick of the lever to "2" causes an up shift to 2 nd and "D," of course, provides 3 rd. Yet, on slippery surfaces, 2 nd gear starts can be obtained by placing the lever in "D" and applying a light touch to the accelerator. In 1962 this was the greatest degree of manual control ever incorporated into an automatic transmission for a U.S. passenger car.

Transmission

Front suspension

Type Coil springs and sway bar
Shock absorbers Gabriel Adjustomatic shock absorbers

REAR SUSPENSION
Type Semi-elliptic leaf springs and radius rods

Method of propulsion
Rear axle

Brakes

The 1963 Studebaker Avanti, introduced at the New York International Auto Show in April of 1962, was the first American "production" car to be equipped with disc brakes. Servo-assisted Dunlop 11 1/2 in. disc brakes made by Bendix are fitted to the front wheels and finned 11 in. drums at the rear.

References:

http://www.theavanti.com/
1962 MotorTrend

LINKS:
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