1964 Studebaker R3 Avanti

The final offering from Studebaker was the most sensational performer in the independent automaker's long history. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to help the company survive the intense automotive sales competition of the 1960s.

First, understand that your chances of finding and buying an R3 Avanti are minuscule at best. Only nine were ever built, due in no small part to their price tag; about $6,000. Plus tax, title and so on. People in 1964 were not accustomed to paying six "big ones" for a Studebaker of any kind, never mind that the R3 had been thoroughly massaged by Andy and Vince Granatelli and each engine was hand-assembled by their people.

This work included punching out the Studebaker 289 V-8 to 304.5 cubes. Specially cast heads with much larger valves were fitted and Iskenderian dual valve springs were optional. A hotter cam was added and heavy-duty bearings installed. Major moving parts were balanced and magnafluxed. The top edges of the cylinder head bores were chamfered to match the cylinder head combustion chambers, and special flattop forged aluminum pistons filled the holes.

Custom exhaust headers were used on all R3's as was a Prestolite transistor ignition system. A Paxton supercharger provided the induction to make all this hop-up work. In everything but name, the R3 was a heavy-duty competition engine that would be equally at home on the dragstrip or the freeway.

After final testing at Grancor, the engines—whose blocks were painted red unlike any other Stude powerplant—were shipped back to South Bend for installation at Studebaker.

Those taking delivery of these cars could confidently expect to blow the doors off nearly all comers at the stoplight grand prix. Vince Granatelli claims the engines tested on the dyno at 400 gross horsepower, but even a more realistic 300 horses would make this the fastest production Studebaker ever available!

Combining these engines with the radically beautiful Avanti design was the brainchild of Sherwood Egbert, who took over Studebaker in 1961 and immediately gave the go-ahead to Raymond Loewy for the Avanti design project. The Granatellis took the first R3, completed in April 1962, to the Nevada desert where a timed top speed of 171.10 was recorded. Not bad for an unproven prototype; and for a time, Studebaker could boast of having produced what Egbert was pleased to proclaim as "the world's fastest production car." In September 1963, the brothers took an R3 to Bonneville where the car did a two-way flying mile at an average of 170.75 mph.

Chassis and bodies built for R3-powered cars were also modified. Chassis had heavy-duty spring and strengthened control arm bushings. Bodies were shimmed to clear the carburetor pressure box fed by the supercharger.

After setting the Bonneville records—and breaking 84 other USAC records with a fleet of other Studebakers—Egbert and Granatelli anticipated a rush of business from enthusiasts that would keep the local Studebaker dealers busy wearing out their pens writing orders. But it didn't happen.

Egbert, an eternal optimist, had misjudged Studebaker's customers. The young guy who was thinking of a GTO wasn't going to be caught dead in any kind of Studebaker, no matter how fast. The Corvette crowd wasn't interested, because the Avanti wasn't a sports car, possibly a large GT if you wanted to stretch the definition. And the price sticker was a definite stopper for most potential buyers. A new Corvette convertible was about two grand less than the R3, and even a new Chrysler 300 cost considerably less. R3 orders trickled in at a discouraging pace with the last one delivered on January 10, 1964, just about one month after the announcement of the end of US-based Studebaker production, and with it, the end of the Studebaker Avanti.

With virtually no recorded sales of the R3s, we have instead based the above prices on our best knowledge of what one might bring should it come on the market today. As with any collector car, condition and authenticity will have a large bearing on a car's value and the actual highs and lows may vary from our numbers. No matter what, the Avanti R3 stands as a tribute to the determination of a faltering firm to stage a spectacular comeback in the marketplace. That it failed does not diminish the car itself whatsoever.

1964 Studebaker R3 Avanti

Base price:	$ 5,980
Base weight:	3,195 lbs.
Body:	Reinforced fiberglass with steel roll bar
Frame:	Ladder type with X-member and four
Wheelbase:	109 inches
Length:	192.4 inches
Track (f/r):	57.4/56.6
Suspension:	Independent coil springs, tubular
Suspension (rear):	Semi-elliptic springs, tubular shocks and anti-sway bar
Brakes:	Front: hydraulic disc; Rear: hydraulic finned drum, power-assisted
Engine:	Overhead valve V-8, 304.5-cu.in., 400 hp @ 6000 rpm, 9.75:1compression ratio
Transmission:	3-speed Warner power-shift automatic

*$5,980 cost includes R3 performance package.