Photo: Mecum
Had it lived past the 1960s, the Studebaker name would probably have been a big one in today’s car industry. After all, the Indiana-based carmaker made electric vehicles a full century before Tesla broke the mold with such machines. At one point, it was even responsible for making the fastest production car in the world.
That would be the Avanti, a “four-passenger high-performance personal car” that back in the mid-1960s when it was made could reach speeds most others only dreamt of, 178 mph (286 kph). That is impressive, but apparently not impressive enough in the age of muscle cars, and certainly not enough to save Studebaker from going under before that decade was over.
Records say there were only under 6,000 Avantis made back then by Studebaker, but the Avanti managed to impress some people to such a degree that production continued in some form or another well into the 2000s.
So, even if production of the model officially stopped in 1963 and Studebaker went out of business in 1967, seeing a 1972 model pop up for sale is not entirely a surprise. This particular one is no regular Avanti, of course, but custom work based on the Avanti II that used the engine of the Corvette Stingray of the same era.
As you see it here, the car is the result of some customization work that followed the designs of a certain Eric Brockmeyer.
With a body wrapped in something called Dupont Lemon Mist over a Cosmic Dust interior with leather bucket seats and Stewart Warner gauges, the car is a much more modern Studebaker. It seems to have the same appeal for speed as its ancestor as power comes from a 383ci (6.3-liter) engine tied to a 5-speed transmission, spinning 17-inch staggered wheels.
The 1972 Avanti II Stinger X is for sale, going under the Mecum hammer in Orlando at the end of July. There is no price listed, but the build is estimated at over $100,000.
Records say there were only under 6,000 Avantis made back then by Studebaker, but the Avanti managed to impress some people to such a degree that production continued in some form or another well into the 2000s.
So, even if production of the model officially stopped in 1963 and Studebaker went out of business in 1967, seeing a 1972 model pop up for sale is not entirely a surprise. This particular one is no regular Avanti, of course, but custom work based on the Avanti II that used the engine of the Corvette Stingray of the same era.
As you see it here, the car is the result of some customization work that followed the designs of a certain Eric Brockmeyer.
With a body wrapped in something called Dupont Lemon Mist over a Cosmic Dust interior with leather bucket seats and Stewart Warner gauges, the car is a much more modern Studebaker. It seems to have the same appeal for speed as its ancestor as power comes from a 383ci (6.3-liter) engine tied to a 5-speed transmission, spinning 17-inch staggered wheels.
The 1972 Avanti II Stinger X is for sale, going under the Mecum hammer in Orlando at the end of July. There is no price listed, but the build is estimated at over $100,000.
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