West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely exceptional example of this fully restored, in fact overly restored to say the least, body off restoration original southern California 1963 Studebaker Avanti 2 Door Coupe with its original 289 V8 engine and automatic floor shift transmission and factory options including:
Power steering,
Power brakes
AM Pushbutton radio,
Electric clock,
Heater and defroster,
White sidewalls,
Electric washers,
Twin traction,
Tinted glass
and original all matching #'s 289 V8 engine!
Original engine reconditioned to new
Body off professional restoration
New show quality 'Ivory; paint
New Tan leather interior front bucket and rear seats
Tan leather door & side panels
Vintage Air Conditioning
New Black Salt & Pepper Carpeting
New Black trunk carpet
All new hosing, wiring, battery
Refurbished carburetor
All new rubber weather stripping for both interior & exterior
All new chrome
Showroom undercarriage
New dual stainless steel exhaustsNew stainlesssteel components including front brake calipers and rear wheel cylinders
All fasteners and hardware completely refurbished and chrome plated
New shock absorbers
Total front end rebuild including bushings, seals etc
New front end disc pads and rear brake shoes
Chrome hood strut
Chrome header tank
Chrome valve covers
Chrome breathers
Chrome power steering reservoir
Chrome alternator
Chrome distributing housing
Chrome coil
Chrome wiper mechanism
Chrome hood latches
Black gloss powdercoated front sub frame
Black gloss powdercoated frame
Black gloss powdercoated front suspension & roll bar
Custom rewired
Seat belts
Chrome wheels
The 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti was amongst the most daring of 1960's American cars, a modern masterpiece which still seems contemporary today! Built with modern safety features such as a built in roll bar, padded interior and door latches that became structural body members when closed! A supercharged 289 V8 made the car one of the fastest cars built in its day with a top speed of over 168mph - a staggeringly fast speed for a production street car! Some 29 Bonneville speed records were set by a supercharged Avanti. This was also the first major fiberglass body four passenger car and also the first such car to use caliper style disc brakes and anti-sway bars front and rear. With only 3,834 models built in 1963 and even less, 809 in 1964, this car was to prove an instant collectible and has since reached certified 'Milestone Status'. Distinctive features abound such as a grille-less front end, asymmetrically placed hood bulge, shaped windows with large glass areas, a short rounded tail end, aircraft-like cockpit instrumentation and controls, slim section bucket seats and a padded roll bar.
To Studebaker's delight and not surprisingly, the public loved the car as it was both upscale and well equipped, although it sported a base price of $4,445 compared to the Corvette Sting Ray's $4,252. In the end, the main problem for the original Avanti, was the fact that the public knew that its parent company, Studebaker, was fast going out of business and therefore were reluctant to purchase their cars. Upon seeing it close its South Bend plant on December 20th 1963 and with the last 1964 Avanti having barely come off the production line, its fate was sealed. Studebaker moved production of its other models to Canada in 1965 and only Chevy engines were offered in 1965-66. The renown 'Studebaker Motor Company' which had been incorporated in 1968 and founded in 1852 as a wagon producer, sadly folded in March 1966.
In later years, being too good to let die, the Avanti model continued with Chevy Corvette V8's after two South Bend Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Norman bought all the rights to the model, formed the 'Avanti Motor Company' and continued to hand-build the cars in an old Studebaker plant with the cars being known as 'Avanti II's. After Altman's death in the mid 1970's the Altman estate sold the operation to another entrepreneur in 1982, who continued the passion of building the car and so it was for years to come, until finally the recession of 1991 doomed the car to history.
This particular overly restored example presents most likely one of the finest examples available anywhere of a 1963 Studebaker Avanti, restored to concours standards.
