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http://studebakermuseum.org/p/about/
Abraham Lincoln was carried to Ford's theater in a Studebaker carriage, and he was not the only President to use them. Studebaker opened for business in 1852 and got big building wagons for the Civil War.
It had a high point in the late 80s through the mid 90s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw-AxiVqihM
Here's the car in the museum:
The DKW 1000 roadster was a pretty blatant T-Bird copy, but of course when you heard it run and saw it drive, there could be no confusion:
No MB connection (although I think there may be a DKW in that Studebaker-MB dealer pic)
Each wagon is checked on village streets, the trail to Sleepy Eye, and even the rutted muddy road all the way to St. Paul in all conditions: blinding blizzards, flooding rains, sudden epidemics, even the schemes of meddlesome matronly merchants and their spoiled daughters! Studebaker test drivers check for tree branch clearance and splinters. They even go under the wagon to check leaf springs and the mechanical brake rods. There's a check parchment with over 200 items that gets filled out on every carriage. If it's not right, Studebaker doesn't want you to have it!
Coming through with the kind of wagon Minnesota wants, that's the slogan this year, and I think Studebaker is living up to it.
I've seen the way they build the 1872 Studebakers. It's obvious they want these wagons to last longer and perform better than any other carriage they've ever built before.
Your Studebaker dealer can let you take a Standard Farm Wagon out for a local test ride of your own with your three daughters and adopted son. You'll see what I mean.
Michael Landon owned a 1988 Avanti II.
http://wizbangpop.com/2009/07/09/cars-of-the-stars-the-great-studebaker-avanti.p- hp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85148Ny2wo&feature=related
The car looks great, but it does not have the great Stude V-8 sound.
Too bad they used that blue one as a photo. Non-factory color and wheel covers incorrect (blacked out between spokes).
I remember the first one I saw in Oak Park near Chicago in late 1962-early 1963 when I was ten years old. My Mom was driving us to Grandma’s house in our 1951 bullet nose Champion when we came up behind a gold one at a stop light. I could read the Studebaker script on the trunk lid
and said something like, “Wow, that’s one of ours!” I could not believe the size of the rear window. I wanted my Mom to pass it, so I could see the side and front, but the driver chose not to be associated with our Studebaker and left us behind.
Some say that the Avanti failed because Studebaker could not build them fast enough, and others say that they did not sell well enough. There is truth to both arguments as shown by the production figures here. http://www.theavanti.com/production.html
The Avanti was announced in April 1962 and one pre-production car was given to Roger Ward for winning the Indianapolis 500 that Memorial Day, but regular production did not begin until June 1962 and it peaked in January-February 1963 (a short month). That is a period of nine months from introduction until full production.
Therefore it is true that Studebaker could not build them fast enough until February 1963 and after that they could not sell them fast enough.
But by 1963, the cards were already stacked against Avanti---a) it was far too expensive and b) the general public had a pretty good idea that Studebaker was going under.
Had the Avanti come out say in 1960 or so, and been financed (and perhaps subsidized) by the success of the Lark, things might have been different for the car.
Also the styling was controversial. Not everyone liked it. But it *was* different and it could have been handled so much better. Which brings me to:....
And finally, Studebaker's sales and promotional department botched the Avanti launch pretty badly, much like they did with the GT Hawk and even the Starlight coupe. They were pretty listless and half-hearted as to how to market the more exciting products from Studebaker--the very products that might have saved them, or at least kept them going longer.
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?55790-quot-Our-dealers-are- -screaming-for-the-cars-quot-Sherwod-Egbert-6-13-62
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?55790-quot-Our-dealers-are- - - -screaming-for-the-cars-quot-Sherwod-Egbert-6-13-62
Avanti should have been marketed as an upscale GT car--a "gentleman's express", like a Buick Riviera, Olds Toronado, Pontiac Gran Prix.
Studebaker's marketing was almost...how can I say this politely...bucolic and provincial in its outlook. They didn't even know what they were actually trying to sell.
Sure, dealers wanted Avantis...they wanted ANYTHING new and fresh to keep them alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG8pdR6VAXw
you know, we can look at this from so many angles and there is no one cause for the demise of the company---and by the same token, no one thing, or car, that could have saved it IMO.
Aside from the strange marketing of certain models (for example, ads about breaking straight line speed records in the desert, while GM was advertising the Riviera with gorgeous interior shots and a well-tanned man in a business suit---NOT Andi Granatelli--LOL!).
Also, Studebaker neglected the market for women drivers completely with Avanti---but GM did not:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3464280371_f38a8f4079_z.jpg
We also had the Studebaker problem of very erratic styling year to year---sometimes very good, sometimes very bad. Can we name an ugly GM car for 1963? Don't think so.
I think it was GM that actually priced out production costs on some Studebaker economy model and said they could built the same car for hundreds less---and in those days "hundreds" was a lot of money per economy car.
It's not how many eggs you sell, it's how much you make per egg, bottom line.
This has always been my favorite Avanti ad. In fact, when in college I took a razor blade and cut it out of a National Geographic magazine from the library and put on my dorm room wall. Terrible, I know!
http://www.justoldcars.com/image2011/1962-63%20studebaker%20ads/avanti-time-12-0- - - - 6-1963-024-advert-sm.jpg
Remember, the auto business is a business...it's not about Art School.
I actually don't mind those Olds, especially the 4 door HTs, fairly handsome to me.
FICTION Well there's the problem right there. The Avanti was not a Corvette and should not have been marketed as a Corvette competitor. FACT The comparision made to the Corvette was only that Studebaker wanted a better quality of body than the Corvette. Studebaker never marketed the Avanti as a Corvette competitor. Others made that comparision because it was a small, fast car with a fiberglass body. The Avanti had no competitiors in 1962 when it was introduced. The Thunderbird and Buick Riveria (which appeared later that year) were larger, heavier, slower cars. The first Mustang came two years later.
FICTION It was not a track car, wasn't raced, didn't have a drop top and didn't even look like a "sports car" as the term was so readily understood in 1963. FACT: What American car besides the Corvette fits that narrow desription? The Corvette has often been marketed as the only "American sports car," class of one to distinguish it from true Eurpoean sports cars.
FICTION: Avanti should have been marketed as an upscale GT car--a "gentleman's express", like a Buick Riviera, Olds Toronado, Pontiac Gran Prix. FACT: Notice how every car named came after the Avanti? The Avanti WAS marketed as a “personal luxury car" or GT type car for drivers who liked to go fast for long distances. It was never marketed as a Corvette type sports car. Critics did that.
Studebaker's marketing was almost...how can I say this politely...bucolic and provincial in its outlook. They didn't even know what they were actually trying to sell. FACT: Studebaker knew what they were trying to sell. Critics don't understand what Studebaler was trying to sell. by making claims that Studebaker never made and confusing the issue by saying that Studebaker was trying to market a sports car to compete with the Corvette.
FICTION: Yeah but it was a sinking ship. Their production costs were so high that it hardly mattered how many they sold--what mattered is the profit per car. It's not how many eggs you sell, it's how much you make per egg, bottom line. FACT: Studebaker did not intend to make a profit on every Avanti sold the first year. The idea was to generate excitement and good press. Chevorlet never made a profit on the Corvette during the first ten years of its existence either. In 1956 Ford sold the Continental as a separate make, not a model of Lincoln. The Continental sold for $10.000 and Ford lost money on every one they sold, so they returned to making it an upscale Lincoln model. I would be surprised if Chrysler ever made a profit on the Viper.
FICTION: Also, Studebaker neglected the market for women drivers completely with Avanti---but GM did not: FACT: This is partly true. GM could afford to advertise to every niche group. Women did not care much about high performance cars then or now. For example, how many women are participating in this discussion group?
The Avanti was supposed to do the same for the 1963 model year, but production was choked by the short supply of bodies as set forth in the Egbert letter to the body supplier. Production missed the September 1963 model year introduction month and did not peak until January 1963. That is not to say that Studebaker released defective Avanti bodies, but it took more time and money to solve the problem than Studebaker had.
Here are some examples of what I mean. People weren't going to buy Studebakers to "go racing". That's crazy.
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/pix/Studebaker/images/FY/64%20Stude%20ad%20w%- - 20Avanti.jpg
Now HERE is a better idea---marketing to women:
http://studebakerskytop.com/contact61ad.bmp
Maybe some small mechanical parts would fit.
Man, now I can't get "STP - it's the racers' edge" jingle out of my mind - thanks a lot! :P
And then it's real to everyone.
STP was a brilliant idea, and like most brilliant money-makers, what it did was offer a solution for a problem that didn't exist.
There is nothing about that advertisement that indicates that an Avanti should be raced on a race track. Studebaker was promoting a performance image because the economy image was not working. Ten years earlier (1953) Studebaker promoted efficient economy cars and nearly went
broke.
The Avanti was a fast, exciting car car on the open roads and the interstate highways that could easily top 100 m.ph. That is why we are still talking about it. There were some years when the Ford Thunderbird was fast and exciting, but does not have much of a racing history either.
Now HERE is a better idea---marketing to women:
The marketing of the Avanti to women would have made no difference because Studebaker did not have enough cars to sell until it was too late. Studebaker had more marketing than Avantis.
At this site of the rich and famous there are twenty men but only two women who owned Avantis. The two women are Barbara Walters and Shirley Bassey (Note: Alice Cooper is a man).
http://wizbangpop.com/2009/07/09/cars-of-the-stars-the-great-studebaker-avanti.p- - - hp
As one who has attended Studebaker meets for more than 40 years, I cannot remember a single woman who owned and operated an Avanti. Women usually own Larks or pick-up trucks. They could care less about the Avanti. It never was a type of car that appealed to women.
I would be surprised if anyone can find advertisements where a 1960s Corvette, Pontiac GTO, Olds 442 or Dodge Charger was marketed to women. Any examples? Most women did not care about high performance cars in the 1960s. If the car had an automatic transmission and power steering, that was good enough.
Do you put the Avanti in that group of cars (assuming you mean a Charger hemi/big block, plenty of plain Chargers got sold to women)? I don't.
"Know Thy Audience" in other words. Reliability, good gas mileage, nice styling. That's what they wanted. Not a sports car, not a "muscle car".
Maybe some small mechanical parts would fit.
Is it not the same chassis? I know a '62 Corvette still had kingpins, like a '53.
A '63 Hawk had many different pieces of sheetmetal than a '53, different dash, grille, most glass, much-thicker gauge in the frame and additional crossmembers, and improved brakes. Also, if so equipped, the added benefits of disk brakes were offered, along with a three-speed automatic with "PRND21" quadrant, while cars like the Riv still had "PNDLR" and drum brakes. Consider the Lark, and the steering was new (Saginaw starting in '61) and a different length wheelbase to boot from a '53 sedan. Not a single piece of sheetmetal or glass will interchange between a '53 sedan and a '63 Lark. '63 Lark NOS parts are plentiful--'53 parts are not.
I never saw ANY high performance car of the 1960s era marketed to women. I just happened to mention the Dodge Charger as an example of one that was not marketed to women.
Why would you have to specify a particular type of Charger to compare to an Avanti? The first generation Dodge Charger was a Dodge Coronet fastback with hidden headlights that sometimes froze open or shut in the winter. http://www.amcarguide.com/muscle-cars/dodge-charger-history-1964-2009/
Unlike the Avanti, the Charger was offered with a six-cylinder motor. Women may have liked that model and it may have been marketed to them just as Zsa Zsa Gabor made commercials for the Studebaker Lark. After Dodge copied the Avanti coke-bottle shape in 1968, it looked much better.
Well known automotive writer Dan Jedlick believes that the Avanti was a high performance car where he writes here. http://www.danjedlicka.com/classic_cars/studebaker_avanti.html says this
The Avanti had advanced safety features, when no U.S. automaker particularly gave a darn about safety. Such features included a built-in roll bar, padded interior and door latches that became structural body members when closed.
Performance? An Avanti with a supercharged V-8 was one of the fastest 1960s autos. A supercharged model hit 168 mph, while a modified version reached 196 mph--a staggering speed for a 1960s production street car. Some 29 Bonneville speed records were smashed by a supercharged Avanti.
Safety? The Avanti (Italian for "forward") was the first mass-produced fiberglass-body four-passenger American car. It also was the first such car to use caliper-style disc brakes.
Sexy? James Bond author Ian Fleming ordered a black Avanti and shipped it to foreign countries he visited outside his native England. Ricky Nelson, the second most popular (behind Elvis) rock and roll singer of the late 1950s and early 1960s, also owned an Avanti (which I drove one evening in the 1980s because it was for sale at a Ft. Lauderdale exotic car dealer). In short, the Avanti was a modern masterpiece.
The "real" R2 had a theoretical top speed of 139 mph, so an actual of probably about what... 120? Maybe 130 with 3.07 gearing, if you have the room to reach that. Not too shabby at all for 1963 but it's not a hand-built, bored out, modified R3 (of which only 9 were made).
If people who bought an R2 were expecting the hype of the R3 ads, well, then, that could explain disappointing sales maybe?
I've driven plenty of Avantis---believe me, they aren't supercars. Good strong V8 power, but nothing exceptional, at least not by my standards for 60s muscle. 0-60 in about 7.5 seconds (again not shabby for the 1960s) There were any number of production cars faster in the 1/4 mile and 0-60. It was probably about as fast as a Plymouth 340 in a similar body size/weight.
But it had a number of meritorious features---disk brakes, built in roll bar, rev limiter, shift-able automatic....this is all very cool stuff for 1963.
Maybe this comment sums up the failure of the Avanti to sell:
" It was an instant love-or-hate design. Though it had captured the title of 'fastest production car in America' (claimed by the R3, not the R2) it failed to generate sales. The styling of the vehicle was too much for buyers to bare." --Daniel Vaughn for ConceptCarz
So okay...controversial styling...marketing that didn't stimulate interest in the right places...lack of capitalization...union blues....they all contribute to the demise of this interesting car.
You keep using terms Studebaker never used, setting up "straw men" and then knocking them down. Studebaker never said the Avanti was a "sports car," "muscle car" or "Studebaker's Corvette." They called it a personal luxury car and sometimes a GT. It is a car you can drive fast for long distances.
The only car fiberglass car that was comparable at the time was the Corvette, so the Avanti sometimes got compared that way, just as the Camaro was Chevrolet's "pony car" answer to the Mustang. Studebaker wanted to wanted to send the message that some Studebakers could go very fast - - -not just for the first two blocks and not just around in a circle.
The 1963 Cadillac does not look like anything that was built ten years later. It still had the big chrome grille on the front, quad headlights and fins on the rear. The 1974 Firebird that James Garner drove in the Rockford files does look like the Avanti, as do many other cars that came later. If Studebaker made the boring car that Packard fans wanted to see, we would not still be talking about it.