1963 Studebaker Avanti 2-Door Coupe
2019.0023.0001, Savoy Collection
Engine: 289 cu in. (4.7 L) Cast-iron block, OHV, V-8
Output: 240 HP
Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Wheelbase: 109 in.
Overall Length: 192 in.
Weight: 3,148 lbs.
Top Speed: 125 MPH
No. Produced: 3,834
Original Price: $4,445
Manufacturer: Studebaker
Studebaker President Sherwood Egbert called in Raymond Loewy to design a new generation of Studebaker passenger cars. Loewy, who hadn’t worked for Studebaker since 1956, jumped in with enthusiasm, promising Egbert a sporting coupe of revolutionary design from which a complete line of family cars would evolve. Studebaker quit before the family cars were finished, but Loewy did give Egbert one brief shining moment with the memorable 1963-1964 Studebaker Avanti.
Designed in seclusion by Loewy’s talented team of Bob Andrews, Tom Kellogg, and John Ebstein, the Avanti (the Italian word for “forward”) was a styling session. A coke-bottle waist formed the base for a thin-section roof with a huge rear window and a built-in roll bar. Razor-edged front fenders swept back into the curved rear, then into a jacked-up tail. Loewy threw out the conventional grille, putting an air scoop under the thin front bumper and an asymmetrical hump in the hood. The entire package was accepted with hardly any changes from Loewy’s small-scale model.