Today in Studebaker History, April 26, 1962
The Studebaker Avanti was introduced to the public at the New York International Auto Show on April 26, 1962.
The concept for the Avanti came from Sherwood Egbert who took over as president of Studebaker – Packard in February 1961. He thought that an exiting lines of the car would capture the youth market and help Studebaker's struggling sales. What Egbert was looking for was a sports car that was powerful and fun to drive. He gave the task to famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy, who had done work for Studebaker for many years. Loewy secluded a styling team consisting of Bob Andrews, Tom Kellogg, and John Ebstein in his Palm Springs home. In a week they had come up with a finished clay model in 1/8 scale to show Egbert. The car was unlike anything else on the road, especially from American car builders.
During the New York debut the response to the Avanti was very strong and preproduction orders poured in. The Avanti established numerous speed records and won the praise of the automotive community. Sadly sales were hindered by numerous production problems and many orders were canceled by buyers who got tired of waiting.
The Avanti turned out to be everything Egbert had been looking for, is was sleek, stylish and powerful. It also had some great safety features never before offered on an American automobile.
The power came from five different engine options that could be ordered. In late 1962, Andy Granatelli broke 29 Bonneville speed records with an Avanti, traveling faster than anyone had before in a stock American car.
Unfortunately all the good press the Avanti received and sales were not enough to save the company and Studebaker stopped building cars. It’s too bad… considering how they were always thought of as a company whose designs were advanced it would be interesting to see what they would be building today had they survived.
