Avanti/Studebaker

Avanti/Studebaker

My first car was a 1955 yellow and blue green 4 door Studebaker President. Oh! to have that car today! It was dependable and it would fly. My second car was a 1962 Studebaker Lark Daytona, one of the best looking of the Lark series.

Studebaker was rich in tradition tracing back to blacksmithing and the Conestoga wagon. Various reasons contributed to the demise of Studebaker. In its final years the company had difficulty selling viable production quantities to cover the fixed costs of operating an aging plant. One of the contributing reasons has been aledged to be styling that was so many years ahead of its competition that the public would not accept it.

My experience was that the vehicles were extremely dependable and seldom needed the frequent service that my friends Fords and Chevys did. This may have actually contributed to the failure of the company because owners had less occasion to visit the dealer and be tempted to trade. It also reduced dealer revenue thereby impacting a dealers ability to expand inventory, advertise and otherwise grow the business.

The '47 Starlite Coupe for example had a large wrap around rear window in contrast to Ford, GM, Hudson and Packard products with small rear windows and lots of steel. The early '50's Coupes that evolved into the Hawk series were based on a sleek low profile that could pass for one of today's models. The Avanti, upon introduction in 1962 was loaded with revolutionary features such as padded dash and disc front brakes that exceeded NTSB requirements into the early '90s.

Avanti

Final assembly for the Avanti was in a building in South Bend with windows facing the sidewalk where you could observe the process. I remember several times pre-introduction stopping to watch and dream of ownership. Rather than a traditional assembly line it was more like a job shop with a dozen or so cars around the room in various stages of assembly and fiberglass bodies were stacked in the lot outside.

When Studebaker ceased production in 1966, the Avanti assets and rights were sold and production continues even today despite ownerhship changes. Today Avanti is again for sale. Production levels are believed to be in the 150 per year range and prices in the $75,000 to $125,00 class.

2005 Yellow Avanti for sale by Auto Toy Store, West Berlin, NJ

2005 Red Avanti for sale by Auto Gallery, New Jersey, Pennsauken, NJ

* 1955 Studebaker President Speedster, Dale Truitt,Speedster Gallery, http://www.pavy.com/interests/cars/speedstergallery/truittspeedster.html

** 1947 Studebaker Starlite Coupe

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