Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely exceptional
example of this mostly all original and stock 1963 Studebaker
Avanti R2 Supercharged 289/289HP 4BBL V8 2 door Coupe with 9:1
compression ratio in its original 'Avanti Gold' factory color paint
and boasting it's extraordinarily rare and desirable factory 4
speed manual transmission and original matching #'s engine and
factory options including power front disc brakes, AM Pushbutton
radio, electric clock, heater and defroster and original 289 V8
Supercharged R2 Super Jet Thrust engine! Reportedly one of less
than 500 in total factory 4 spd Supercharged R2's ever built
between the 1963-64 production years! The R2 would set several land
speed records for factory stock vehicles, eventually breaking 29
speed records between 1963-64, to become the "World's fastest
production car." These records remained on the books for many
years. Top speed was almost 169 miles per hour. This particular
example was purchased from only it's second owner, a retired
airline pilot who lived in Newport Beach, California in 2005 (who
had previously purchased the car from it's original owner in 2001),
in all original condition including the paint and interior and with
82,951 original miles on it's original matching #'s engine and with
no history of any accidents or damage, by only its third owner who
also lived in southern California and who since has restored the
car mechanically as required over the years with no expense spared
and only using original restored or NOS parts and including an
engine rebuild and one professional repaint in it's original
'Avanti Gold' color. The most often overlooked true performance car
of the 1960s is the original 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti. This is an
odd phenomenon, seeing as the Avanti was more expensive than a
Corvette when new, built in limited numbers and was one of the
fastest and most innovative cars of the time. Andy Granatelli
helped break 29 speed records at Bonneville with factory
Paxton-supercharged Avantis, which he proved could run 170 MPH in
"stock" form, and 200 MPH when more heavily modified.Rodger Ward,
winner of the 1962 Indianapolis 500, received a Studebaker Avanti
as part of his prize package "thus becoming the first private owner
of an Avanti." A Studebaker Lark convertible was the Indianapolis
pace car that year and the Avanti was named the honorary pace car.
This particular example came factory equipped and remains to this
day as follows:Original matching $'s 289/289HP R2 engine rebored to
302 c.i.Original Paxton centrifugal superchargerOriginal Borg
Warner T10 4-speed manual transmissionOriginal 3.73:1 Twin-Traction
rear endPower disc brakesAM radioExcellent original body with
perfect 'hog troughs'One repaint in its correct Avanti Gold
colorFawn interiorFitted with four custom made replica Bonneville
Salt Flat High Speed spinner wheels with 'Firestone Firehawk Indy
500' tires as were on the original Indy 500 Avanti R2 Pace car for
the 1962 race. The Gold color and wheels are correct for this
period when the Avanti R2 broke and held the speed record for stock
cars on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962-63 and also for the 1962
Indy Honorary Pace Car.The original steel wheels and hubcaps are
included1 of 1,883 total supercharged R2 models produced in 1963
and 19641 of fewer than 500 total factory 4-Speed R2 AvantisThe
1963 Avanti was the first American production car to have factory
disc brakesThe Avanti was promoted as America's Most Advanced Car
and was more expensive than a Corvette when newSupercharged Avantis
set 29 speed records at Bonneville when newThis R2 is all that was
promised from South Bend in 1963 and more, beyond it having all of
the right bits, its life in bone-dry climates proved very forgiving
so those famous "hog troughs" which today look as good as the day
they were installed in South Bend. The car has been completely gone
through from end to end over the years to make it mechanically
sound, rebuilding the original matching #'s engine and reboring it
to 302 c.i. as a result of an .060 overbore (13 c.i.) @ 83,012
miles (mileage currently reads 83,349), replaced exhaust manifolds
with NOS, install new stainless steel exhaust system with Dynomax
mufflers, installed new fuel and water pumps, oil pressure hoses
with fittings, clean amp; overhaul carb, R amp;R supercharger amp;
install new pulley belts amp; new bearings, idler arm adjustor,
steering box amp; system replaced, bell housing stripped amp;
cleaned, braking and fuel systems, service rear differential, new
clutch coupler, pivot arm amp; linkage, rod out amp; repair
radiator, new vibrations dampers, new valve cover gaskets, all new
window, door amp; trunk seals, new battery and more to make it
perform to this level of perfection.As a result, this R2s
matching-numbers supercharged 289/290 HP R2 engine runs like a
bear, and that rare T-10 4-speed competently sends all that boosted
power to its Twin-Traction rear end with 3.73:1 gears. Combined
with power disc brakes, it is really a fantastic car to enjoy with
the added bonus of that Paxton blower soundtrack. The 1963-64
Studebaker Avanti was amongst the most daring of 1960's American
cars, a modern masterpiece which still seems contemporary today!
Built with modern safety features such as a built in roll bar,
padded interior and door latches that became structural body
members when closed! A supercharged 289 V8 made the car the fastest
cars built in its day with a top speed of over 168mph - a
staggeringly fast speed for a production street car! Some 29
Bonneville speed records were set by a supercharged Avanti. This
was also the first major fiberglass body four passenger car and
also the first such car to use caliper style disc brakes and
anti-sway bars front and rear. With only 3,834 Avanti models built
in 1963 and even less, 809 in 1964, of which only 1,883 in total
were the Supercharged R2 models, most of which were ordered with
the automatic transmission with reportedly less than 500 of which
were R2 Supercharged models factory ordered with the 4 speed manual
transmission! This car was to prove an instant collectible and has
since reached certified 'Milestone Status'. Distinctive features
abound such as a grille-less front end, asymmetrically placed hood
bulge, shaped windows with large glass areas, a short rounded tail
end, aircraft-like cockpit instrumentation and controls, slim
section bucket seats and a padded roll bar.To Studebaker's delight
and not surprisingly, the public loved the car as it was both
upscale and well equipped, although it sported a base price of
$4,445 compared to the Corvette Sting Ray's $4,252. In the end, the
main problem for the original Avanti, was the fact that the public
knew that its parent company, Studebaker, was fast going out of
business and therefore were reluctant to purchase their cars. Upon
seeing it close its South Bend plant on December 20th 1963 and with
the last 1964 Avanti having barely come off the production line,
its fate was sealed. Studebaker moved production of its other
models to Canada in 1965 and only Chevy engines were offered in
1965-66. The renown 'Studebaker Motor Company' which had been
incorporated in 1968 and founded in 1852 as a wagon producer, sadly
folded in March 1966.In later years, being too good to let die, the
Avanti model continued with Chevy Corvette V8's after two South
Bend Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Norman bought all the
rights to the model, formed the 'Avanti Motor Company' and
continued to hand-build the cars in an old Studebaker plant with
the cars being known as 'Avanti II's. After Altman's death in the
mid 1970's the Altman estate sold the operation to another
entrepreneur in 1982, who continue...for more information please
contact the seller.
