1963 Studebaker Avanti

Coupe

289 Super Jet Thrust

Automatic

R3648

Clear

Why just drive…when you can Avanti! In April 1962 Studebaker floored the crowds at the New York Auto Show with the dramatic new Avanti. Andy Granatelli took an Avanti to the Bonneville Salt Flats a few months later, and broke 29 speed records as certified by the United States Auto Club. An early Avanti sold for almost $75,000 at the Gooding & Company auction in Scottsdale this year. Avantis have definitely been “discovered” by collector car enthusiasts. This is your opportunity to own a low-mileage Studebaker Avanti that has been owned by the same family since new. Would you like a supercharged Avanti, or one with air conditioning? The factory made you choose one or the other, but here you can have both! § 1963 Avanti, supercharged R2 engine, Powershift automatic transmission, Power Steering, Power disc/drum brakes, 3.31 Twin-Traction differential, AM radio with rear speaker. 76,200 miles at time of this writing. § Serial # 3648 has a final assembly date of 3/5/1963, and was used by Studebaker in their engineering department. My father purchased the car in January 1964 and was the original titled owner. I have owned it since 1987. Scans of the production order and some other documentation are included in the ad photos. § The car has spent its entire garage-kept life in the Southeastern U.S. § Car is mostly original, with the following modifications: ¨ Around 1966, my father installed a correct OEM air conditioning system using components purchased from Studebaker. ¨ To gain room in the engine bay for the A/C compressor, he moved the battery to the trunk, and changed the power steering reservoir to a smaller (circa 1960 Rambler Ambassador) unit. My mechanic took the compressor off while servicing the car. I have set it back in place, but have not hooked it up. The A/C always worked great, although the pulley clearance with the inside fender is tight. Were I keeping the car, I would switch to a smaller, lighter Sanden unit. ¨ Around 1967-68 he added the R3 pressure box and exhaust manifolds. For safety reasons, he upgraded the brakes to a dual master cylinder, and added a rear window defroster from a later model Avanti II. Click here for more detailed pictures: AVANTI Exterior and Underside One of the tremendous benefits of an Avanti is the fiberglass body which cannot rust. I took many chassis photos to show how clean and dry the undercarriage is. The torque boxes (hog troughs) look great. The Avanti was repainted once in the late 1970’s, using turquoise lacquer as per the original finish. It is very presentable, but is deserving of a repaint. You will see touched-up spots in the pictures, particularly around the passenger door. There are some “solvent bubbles” on the trunk lid and roof. The bumpers have some corrosion and hazing, but do not detract from the overall appearance for a driver. The car has never been in an accident, although it has picked up the occasional dings and scratches that are part of normal usage. There are a couple of small body cracks in the grill area, as you can see. No glass cracks, but there are some nicks/scratches on the passenger door window. I have a used window assembly and will include it with the car if the buyer desires. Interior The original interior is in very good condition. The dashboard and steering wheel have no cracks, and the headliner and roll bar trim are fine. There is some minor splitting on the driver’s seat; the passenger seat has a small cut or split on the inboard bolster. There is some minor cracking of the sun visors. The carpet in the driver’s side footwell was shredded from scooting in and out of the car, so I cut the bad area out and patched in some black carpet. I did not have the heart to take out the rest of the irreplaceable turquoise and black carpet; it has some sun fading but is very presentable. The trunk carpet is fair, but should be replaced for show. The plywood core for the spare tire cover has started to de-laminate. The original Firestone 500 spare is in place. Accessories Lights (except stop lights), horns, wipers, heater/defroster and A/C fans, all work. The radio works, but reception is variable. The major gauges and clock work. The manifold vacuum/supercharger boost gauge does not. Mechanical I do not drive the Avanti often enough to keep the fuel bowl full, so it takes a fair amount of cranking and accelerator pumping to light her up. The car is a strong runner, although it will have pre-ignition pinging on heavy throttle. I have adjusted the distributor to reduce that tendency a bit. Oil pressure is great. Transmission shifts fine; brakes work well. The rear leaf springs do need new mounting bushings, as you will hear squeaks from back there. With the crossover pipe and turbo-style mufflers, the exhaust sounds just right: authoritative, but never obnoxious. Summary This is a very solid, honest, largely original and correct Avanti. The main changes that were made are desirable improvements. There are very few supercharged Avantis with air conditioning added, and fewer still that have an OEM appearance. I have done my best to describe the car accurately. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, or to arrange an inspection. This vehicle is being sold as-is, where is. There is no warranty expressed or implied. Payment Terms: Certified / Cashiers check drawn on a United States bank Personal check drawn on a United States bank Winning bidder to pay a $1000 non-refundable deposit through PayPal within 48 hours from end of the auction. Full payment required within 7 days of the auction closing. Vehicle will be released only once full payment has cleared thorough my bank. Shipping: Buyer responsible for picking up or making shipping arrangements. Car must be picked up within 30 days after making full payment. I have the state of Florida title in my possession. Please Note: If you have a feedback score of less than 10, please contact me before placing a bid. Otherwise, your bid will be cancelled. Thanks. On Nov-01-13 at 03:36:42 PDT, seller added the following information: birthofasalesman Store On Nov-03-13 at 14:17:22 PST, seller added the following information: Based on some questions received, I wanted to add more detail about the air conditioning: The system was a 100% owner installation a couple of years after we got the car. Studebaker never offered A/C in supercharged Avantis. While the factory may have used my vehicle in determining the feasibility of such an offering, I do not know what approach they intended to take, nor how far along they got with the project. The primary system components were purchased from Studebaker's parts department, just as a dealer could order such items for a customer repair. As indicated in the listing, the system is not now hooked up or operating. As I mentioned, there are modern compressors of much smaller physical size available today, which would improve clearance under the hood. New hoses would need to be made with the correct fittings. There are companies that specialize in old car air conditioning that would be resources for this. The condenser was pressure tested a few years ago and was fine at that time. I had the receiver-dryer rebuilt then as well. Given the passage of time, it might need to be done over. Thanks for the interest in my listing, Atlchris56 On Nov-09-13 at 10:54:40 PST, seller added the following information: I added a picture of the sheepskin covers that were custom made for the front buckets. I had them dry cleaned a number of years ago, and never had put them back on. They add a lot of comfort on cold and hot days. Unless the buyer desires they be left on the seats, I will ship them separately to keep them clean. Thanks