Studebaker Avanti Walkaround

I took the above photos in May of 1963.  The setting was North Charles Street in Baltimore, Maryland.  I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland and would come to Baltimore on weekends to visit a nursing-student girlfriend.

I first learned of Studebaker's Avanti on 26 April 1962 or maybe a day later when the New York Times had a photo of it.  (At that time I was at the Army Information School, Fort Slocum, New York.)  I was captivated.  And remain so.

My previous Avanti post is here, and the Wikipedia entry is here.  It notes: "Designed by Raymond Loewy's team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews, and John Ebstein on a 40-day crash program, the Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body mounted on a modified Studebaker Lark 109-inch [2769 mm] convertible chassis and powered by a modified 289 Hawk engine.  A Paxton supercharger was offered as an option."

The Avanti design is classic, and any criticism I might make would be nit-picking.

Gallery

1962 Studebaker Avanti - publicity photo (cropped)
Studebaker sent an Avanti to Palm Springs, California for a photo shoot.  Raymond Loewy had a house in Palm Springs, and the Avanti was designed there.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R1 - car-for-sale photos
The walkaround photos below do not include side views, so here are two nice ones I found on the Internet.

Avantis had flowing, sculpted lines aside from a few functional details such as the B-pillar.  Note that the beltline and fenderline are the same.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R1 - Hyman Ltd. photo set
The grille opening position below the bumper was innovative for American cars in those days.  The only previous example that comes to mind was the 1949 Crosley Hotshot sports car.

Styling was unlike anything seen on previous Studebakers.  The only visual brand continuity was its boldness in the spirit of Studebaker's 1947 Starlight Coupes and 1953 Starliner Coupes.

I selected this Hyman image set because, unlike most other sets on the Internet, wide-angle camera lenses were not used.  Wide-angle lenses distort shapes too much, so these Hyman photos present the design more realistically, especially in quarter-views such as this.

The least-attractive Avanti aspect, what with the clutter below the bumper.  Rear lights were simple, probably to save development and production costs.

The vertical nose crease is echoed by the side character line.  Very subtle, very nice.

1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 - BaT Auctions photo
This reveals the grille more clearly.  Due to its sunken position, it is essentially invisible to casual viewers.