Introduced in 1962 as Studebaker's halo car, the Avanti was supposed to save the company from going under. Unfortunately, it failed to succeed, but it's now a unique and hard-to-find collectible, especially in supercharged form.
With the sports and personal luxury car markets in full swing, Studebaker had planned to sell 20,000 Avantis in 1962, but a series of production problems related to suppliers and fit and finish resulted in delays and canceled orders. As a result, the company put together fewer than 4,000 cars for the 1963 model year.
When Studebaker closed its factory in late 1963, fewer than 4,700 had left the assembly line. It's estimated that only 4,643 Avantis were built and only 1,833 were R2 versions with the Paxton-supercharged V8.
The car you're looking at here is one of the 1,552 Avanti R2s that arrived in dealerships as 1963 models. And the gold paint narrows that number even more, even though there's no specific info as to how many R2s left the factory in this hue. We do know that Studebaker made 1,220 gold Avantis for 1963, so it's possible that fewer than 800 were supercharged R2 models.
Regardless, it's a rare Studebaker that rarely pops up at auction or on public roads, and the fact that this one is a survivor (apart from a respray) with a numbers-matching drivetrain makes it that more valuable. As is the fact that it got a second chance at life after spending decades in storage.
Granted, it's seen daylight quite a few years back and the engine ran when it first came out of storage in 2016. But that was just a brief moment after being parked back in 1980. That's 36 years in darkness and another six years of sitting on the side of the road. But thankfully enough, classic car enthusiast Dennis Collins located it in California and bought it. And hopefully, he'll turn it into a driving classic.
Powered by a supercharged, 289-cubic-inch (4.7-liter) V8, the Avanti R2 came with 289 horsepower on tap. It might not sound like a lot in 2022, but it was enough to send the coupe toward a top speed of 170 mph (270 kph), which made it the fastest production car in America at the time of its introduction. It also broke no fewer than 29 world speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
See this rare survivor getting a walkaround and being hauled to a new home in the video below. And make sure you check out the end to see and hear its V8 run.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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