Great Cars: AVANTI

while the world's leading designers was given the charge to craft a unique vehicle with a mission save Studebaker the result the Avanti unfortunately Studebaker collapsed so the Avanti has refused to die its repeatedly resurrected by diehards who are passionate about one of the most unique vehicles ever created [Music] in the summer of 2004 the party owners gathered in Charlotte North Carolina for their 40th annual get-together here they displayed their devotion to this unusual car it's a design that is so unique than you either like it or you hate it and it's always been that way from the time it first came out but today nobody believes that this is a 40 year old car but when I used to drive the car on the streets people would pull up at the stoplight beside you because it looks like a fairly modern car from the side view and they would look at each other and say like what is that because they weren't sure if it's like a new cars from some of the car like a European car so I did I have no I think styles beautiful to me it's just a beautiful autumn of a piece of work Raymond Loewy designed originally it's the only guy as a matter of fact it's in the Smithsonian Institute for the beauty of the body the colors unusual looks have attracted loyalists for over 40 years some also like the car because it's an underdog this orphans story started out in South Bend Indiana at Studebaker in 1961 South Bend had never been the center of fashion trends it was solidly middle class inhabited by descendents of European immigrant farmers Notre Dame University and its Fighting Irish football team put it on the nation's radar and Studebaker kept it working Studebaker have been prosperous since its blacksmith business boomed as it helped dreamers head west during the gold rush the West continued to lure people after the Civil War and Studebaker began to supply the Pioneers with wagons the wagons and carriages were also used by local formers and city dwellers who recognized their quality and durability presidents Lincoln grant and Harrison Road in Studebaker carriages during their administrations by 1879 Studebaker had sold over 1 million carriages the company was an institution but there was a threat to its buggy business the automobile the Studebaker family was divided about diversifying and building cars they decided to experiment by 1926 they sold upwards of a million cars some still harbored misgivings about the noisy mechanical contraptions but there was no turning back Studebaker would continue to build cars they decided they needed someone outside of the family to guide the company's growth Albert Erskine was brought in perskin rewarded the workers with paid vacations and pensions and promoted the company's cars through racing [Music] a Studebaker won races Erskine decided to weave this into the company's marketing campaign as the builder of Champions he took the cars out west to tackle the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1929 Studebaker set a record racing to the top but the economy was about to race to the bottom the stock market collapsed and Studebakers fortunes tumbled as the country descended into an economic depression by 1933 lagging sales and a mountain of debt forced Studebaker into bankruptcy the devastated Erskine killed himself the company reorganized with the help of some financial angels and kept its factories opened sales grew as the economy improved [Music] the famous designer Raymond Loewy was hired to create a car that would build on their momentum Loie arrived from New York and went to work developing something that would be introduced at the 1939 World's Fair the champion was a hit and gave studebaker entree into the burgeoning economy market once again outside events stalled its automotive ambitions world war ii brought a halt to building cars although no more cars were being built the company was booming with orders from the military Studebaker executives used the time to plan a new car that would be ready to hit the market right after the war they hoped to put a car on the streets before the big Detroit companies could the 1947 commander champion were the first all-new car released after the war the car staff public snapped them up as fast a Studebaker could build them its Detroit competitors were building cars using the styling from their pre-war models while Studebaker had created something different but this particular car is what they call the starlight coupe with the pillbox effect in the back and a lot of the ads and a lot of events at the time would take pictures of people sitting in the back seat looking through here and it did look like a rocket ship going backwards it looked actually nicer going backwards and it did going forwards the so-called backward forward cars kept the factory busy Studebaker was sure it had found the formula for its success innovative styling Studebaker was selling over 200,000 cars a year by 1949 but it wanted to stay ahead of the competition once again Raymond Loewy was asked to create something fresh their factories were running at full speed as their ever-growing work force started to build Louis new creation introduced as part of the company's 100th anniversary in 1952 the LOI designed 53 model the Starlight was ahead of its time [Music] the 53 Studebaker was so radical that a lot of people started looking at Studebaker as not just grandpa's car but as an interesting American car the design was there it's just that the engineering was a little bit what they weren't expecting brilliantly styled in the European tradition of fine car design is Studebaker the new American car with the European look styled along graceful contours Studebakers years ahead fashion trend reflects exciting beauty from every angle and it's amazingly saving of gasoline economical to drive you'll be proud to own a Studebaker the new American car with the European look while Studebaker touted the cars euro styling the public became increasingly loyal to the over-the-top offerings of Detroit's major car makers this time different wasn't better [Music] by 1954 Studebaker was in Grievous financial trouble Studebaker didn't have the resources to compete with the big three Ford Chrysler and GM it searched for a partner all the us independent car companies agreed to combine Nash Hudson Packard and Studebaker discussed forming a new company that could take on the Giants Nash and arson grew impatient and merged into American Motors leaving the other two Packard and Studebaker to cobble together an unstable union this program today represents a very solid beginning of a plan to stop losses and broaden our base to provide the studebaker-packard corporation with an opportunity to turn our business around into a profitable position this was wishful thinking the company reworked Lois elegant copays and transformed them into the Hawks the cars never caught on but once again they found homes with happy collectors who admire their charms and powerful v8 Packard stumbled - and things just lurched forward Studebaker kept fighting but it was a losing battle President Eisenhower heard that Studebaker was once again teetering on the brink and decided to keep it afloat with some defense contracts he didn't want to hand the Soviet Union any propaganda victories about the failures of capitalism profits from defense work helped Studebaker develop a new compact car in 1959 they came out with the Lark which was sort of going to be a lot of people point out there last year however the Lark proved to be a success and for the first time in the 1950s Studebaker made a profit 1959-1960 larks sold like crazy but by 1961 all of the other car companies had come out with compact cars to compete against Studebaker lock sales started to tumble Studebaker was in financial trouble once again it's president Harold Churchill was removed and a search began for a replacement the board wanted sure would Eggbert the executive vice president at the McCulloch corporation but he wasn't sure if he could turn Studebaker around they gave Eggbert some time to study the automakers prospects he drove the cars and he talked to people in the auto industry as he studied Studebakers position he began to believe that the company could be rescued he felt something bold and had to be done he took the job and called Raymond Loewy he wanted a car that would put Studebaker back on the map it had to be something fantastic an egg Burt knew that only loi could deliver Loie set up a design studio in a rented house near his winter home in Palm Springs California he assembled a small staff and went to work it was around-the-clock effort this was war he created a design bunker and drove his guerrilla band until they came up with something that he felt was just right it took weeks of work to refine their sketches and find the right lines to satisfy LOI forty days later they had a design that LOI liked in April of 1961 LOI took the clay model to South Bend it was a hit but it needed a name Louis suggested the Italian word for forward Egbert didn't like it but Louis persisted and the car was called a banty [Music] the Avanti was rushed into production they hoped its unique styling would wow the crowd and create a buzz for Studebaker at the upcoming New York Auto Show and it was a styling that was so far advanced it looks modern today it was a completely fiberglass car and it was sort of a last-ditch effort for Studebaker to draw itself out of what had been almost a decade long depression the rush to put the Addante into the showrooms didn't leave enough time to work out the books doors didn't line up and problems with the windows and hoods held up production to get the show on the road Eggbert and LOI is shipped to advantage around the country and they pull these two cars into the plane fly it from airport to airport around the country have the dealers and the press come down to the airport help in the back of the plane and drive out the cars onto the runway zip around and within two hours they were back on the plane flying to another city around the country the aerial hoopla whipped up interest in the Avanti people responded to its jet age shape of the aircraft style controls [Music] unfortunately the production snags meant there weren't any cars available for sale public interest evaporated the avantage delays kept people out of the showrooms and Studebaker continued to slide sales fell by half Eggbert agreed to send a team to the Bonneville Salt Flats to resurrect the excitement he hoped the Granatelli brothers of STP Fame could break some records and generate sales there Avante averaged over 140 miles per hour on the sorts and grabbed some headlines they broke over 72 different speed records at Bernardo this was impressive performance Eggbert renewed his push to lift Avant his sales many of us ask ourselves from time to time why car a or why car B Studebakers answer was to build a different car different by design Eggbert and the Avanti were on their last legs Eggbert was diagnosed with lung cancer he resigned in April of 1963 the Board of Directors halted Studebakers u.s. car production in December but they decided to keep a plant in Canada operating just long enough to honor their commitments to the dealers South Bend was shocked the company had been the largest employer in town people started to talk about rescuing Studebaker especially Avanti [Music] the Altman brothers raised some money and made a deal with the board to buy the rights to the Avanti they got the leftover parts and tooling - it looked as though the Advanta would live the new Avanti Motor Corporation began work on the Avanti to the oatman's have no trouble recruiting former Studebaker employees to work on the new model this season crew started work on the car and had a prototype ready by the end of 1964 [Music] it was the same basic car with a few refinements the headlights were squared and he used the Chevrolet engine this ensured that servicing wouldn't be a problem the interiors were spruced up a bit and they started to deliver cars about 50 cars were built in 1965 and sold for $6,500 since the Studebaker dealer network had disappeared they had to rely on word of mouth from their customers to sell the cars they rewarded any leads with a discount on a car and a commission this grassroots marketing campaign didn't sell a lot of cars but it built up a loyal if small customer base in 1968 only a hundred cars were sold by 1976 they were selling just a hundred and fifty unfortunately one of the brothers Nate Altman died once again the advantage future was in doubt finally Steven Blake stepped in and bought the company he was a building contractor from Washington DC who loved the cars [Music] the company needed help it was a loosely run outfit that was rudderless Lake try to impose border and standard business practices he even cleaned up the old factory [Music] he hired engineers to rework the cars while retaining the signature Avanti design in 1983 he took the car racing at Daytona it had been a long time since navantia race he kept the innovations coming next up was a convertible in 1985 the $50,000 price tag was a bit stiff only five of these cars were ever produced but this may have been too many soon after customers took delivery they noticed a problem with the high luster paint that gave the cars their glossy Sheen prolonged exposure to the Sun caused the paint to peel and pit this was intolerable on a $50,000 car Leake had to shut down production and recall all the cars he'd sold that year the company was bankrupt [Music] this very well could have been the end of Avanti but Mike Kelly came to the rescue the South Bend native knew how much Avanti meant to the area and he wanted it to thrive Kelly knew that the car needed to be updated to survive in the crowded auto market but he didn't have the money to do it himself he sought out additional capital from JJ Cafaro a Youngstown Ohio shopping mall developer cavero eventually purchased the whole company and moved it to Youngstown in 1988 he wanted to move into the upscale luxury market leather and wood trim were added but customers didn't flock to buy the cars this was also the first four door Avanti but the public was unimpressed Cafaro kept building cars until 1991 once again it looked like the end for Avanti but as its fans will point out the Avanti will never die there are loyal bunch who gather every year to reminisce about a car that refuses to fade away these are cars that excites real passion in their owners they admire the graceful sculptured lines that taper into a wedge and give the cars a sleek speedy look the middle-aged cars look as shiny as the day they left the dealership an indication of how they owners feel about the along dog advantage [Music] in 2000 the Avanti Rose once again Phoenix Lake from the ashes and is reborn in fear Rica Georgia the classic shape was retained with a few subtle changes the design was penned by one of the original abouty stylists Tom Kellogg he lived long enough to see his new design roll out the company relied on proven technology for its running theater but when GM stop building Camaros Avanti had to find a new chassis well the new Avante is gonna be built on the ford platform historically we've been on a General Motors platform the EF body and it hasn't been available now for some time so we have changed to the Ford platform the Ford platform will also give us updated steering braking suspension so we're really looking forward the next generation Avanti comes in a coupe a bull convertible no matter which version you choose it's sleek lines are a salute to Louis original car it's hard to believe but its basic shape was developed in the early 1960s the Avanti has been charming the automotive world for over 40 years [Music] it's a car that one either love or hate but no one can deny that Raymond Loewy and his team created a classic it's a car that refuses to die [Music] a car whose owners are proud to drive something that's different by design [Music]

Channel: King Rose Archives

Views: 262,980

Rating: 4.8662748 out of 5

Keywords: Raymond Loewy, Studebaker, Sherwood Egbert, Andy Granatelli, Bonnveville Salt Flats, Tom Kellogg, Paxton supercharger, automotive design, disc brakes, Bendix, Nate Altman, Leo Newman

Id: AETmKBI36yU

Length: 25min 5sec (1505 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 30 2017