Holy Grail Studebaker Barn Find | Will It Start 1963 Supercharged Avanti R2 | RESTORED 

My Daddy was a Studi Man! The Avanti was his dream car. I almost cried when she fired up! Thank you!

1964 Avanti has been my pie in the sky, if money were no object, car my whole life. Can’t wait to see more, I’m learning a lot!

While working at "Lee's Auto Parts & Speed Shop" on Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica, myself & a guy named Lenny built all the prototype custom exhaust systems for the fleet of Studebakers destined to go to Bonneville. These parts (later duplicated by Studebaker) were ordered by Andy Granatelli & Paxton Products also from Santa Monica. I even snuck a test drive of the fastest record setting twin supercharged Avanti up Ocean Park Blvd. All I remember of that drive is the tall gear ratio, skinny tires, & lots of tire smoke. A few years later Andy Granatelli would bring us a small Mercedes bus to do an engine conversion on. They had removed the original small diesel engine and I installed a Ford 260 or 289 V-8 & 4-speed in it for him. This was destined to be the pit bus for the STP turbine Indy car. Fun stuff! Andy offered me a job with the STP race team at this point, but I had my Viet Nam era draft notice so had to decline. Great memories that still bring "what if" regrets too.

Rare find. Original wheel covers and Paxton super charger and relative unmolested interior you are one lucky person.

Phoenix has a restaurant called Avanti and they had an Avanti sitting out front for years. Always loved the look.

I was born and raised in South Bend a few miles from the Studebaker factory, both my dad and grandfather worked there. I took a tour of the Avanti factory back in the 70's when it was no longer Studebaker.

There's nothing better then to hear those old cars start back up after a long time of sitting.

GLAD you have this top notch STUDE in your shop!!! I remember the '57 Studebaker Golden Hawk also being supercharged..They were ahead of their time!!

A friend’s father had one of these beauties. These cars, in my opinion were the trend setters for the shape of cars. After these cars, the Mustang, Riviera, and Camaro came out with the same general shape. A short rear deck, curving down into a long sweeping hood. They were so ahead of their time that they still look fresh today. After Studebaker went out of business, a Canadian company produced them for a couple of years. I only wish I could have a fully restored version for my modest car collection.

The best ever Studebaker!! AVANTI !!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to think they started out making horse drawn carriages. Sweet engine and supercharger!! Well done on getting her running again!!!

The OEM battery was a Willard HDD3EE. Still pretty commonly available. I actually owned two Avantis in the 1960s-early 70s. One was an R2 and one was an R1. The dash panels all came from the factory with a fawn color, and chrome trim. The carpet kit has a large number of sections. You could buy the car with a 3 speed Warner T-86 or a T-10 four speed. To convert it to stick, parts from a 1961-64 Studebaker Lark are a direct bolt in. Engine is internally balanced. Clutch is a 10.5 inch Borg and Beck. Hurst offers a perfect fit 4 speed shifter. I used one when I converted my R-2 from automatic to stick. Most common rear axle was a Dana 44 with a 3.31 ratio. I went to a 3.73 for better acceleration. Cam is a flat tappet with solid lifters, and is gear driven, so be aware of distributor rotation. Dual points were standard. Rocker arm ratio is 1 to 1.75. Those stainless steel covers for the plug wires are to help reduce radio interference, as the body provides no shielding. Original spark plugs were Champion H14-Y.

She is a real beautiful old gal. You had a great score finding such a great Studebaker in really good condition.

My high school math teacher had a Chevy Nomad and wanted an Avanti, I called him about 8 years ago and asked him if he ever got his Avanti. He said wait, went down to his garage and started one up!!! He told me he had 2 of them. Unfortunately he passed away not long after I spoke with him, he was in the California Avanti club and realized his dream.

I was age nine when these Avanti cars were introduced. Think that my young eyes were dazzled?? Good video!

Long ago I worked with a group of people at the old Allis Chalmers plant outside Pittsburgh. I snuck into a huge factory room and found about 30 Avanti's covered in plastic. This was in about 1972.

It was the most beautiful object ever shaped by human hands when I first saw one in 1963 and nothing has ever surpassed it. Let's have a moment of remembrance of Raymond Loewy's Avanti design team: Studebaker engineers Bob Andrews and John Ebstein, and fiberglass fabrication expert Tom Kellogg. Loewy rented a house in Palm Springs early in 1961and almost sequestered the team until the project was complete. It was done in less than sixty days. Somehow they judged it didn't look quite right, so the last touch after the shape was finalized was to add about 3/4 inch of rake to the stance by shimming up the rear springs. It went into production that way. Also, let's remember Sherwood Egbert, President of Studebaker-Packard, who saw the potential of the automotive operations while the board of directors was ready to pull the plug. Egbert brought in designer Brooks Stevens ("The Seer Who Made Milwaukee Famous) to freshen up the Lark and Hawk models. Half the shoestring design development budget went into an attractive facelift of the steel body models, and the rest went into the Avanti. It would be unfair to call the efforts a failure, but Egbert's worsening health (stomach cancer) caused his forced retirement and the bean-counters were determined to close the South Bend Studebaker Main Plant. There were plans to build an entire line of sedans and wagons on Avanti design themes, and Brooks Stevens built some glorious prototypes as proposals for more conventional Lark and Wagonaire models, even a proposal for a Riviera-class coupe called The Scepter. I recently heard that the Studebaker foundry in South Bend had cast a prototype block for an all-new V8 of 340 cubic inches shortly before the December 1963 shutdown but it never was readied for assembly. So sad.

My father owned a Studebaker Avanti, 1963 white with red leather interior, normally aspirated. It was a beautiful car with a great engine note!

Thank you for sharing your time with us all on the Studebaker, fantastic, God bless you,Gerald from Feilding, New Zealand.

Thanks, Team, an oddly interesting START to a classic Car build! I do appreciates the complete, thouroughness (sic?), and Some History,& background. Us Car Fans were so excited with Studebaker in the 60’s with Avanti, Super Lark,etc..(( I,am WOLF LAKE HS 65 GRAD:, NOBLE County, IN)… PS ESP Thanks to Photographer , especially, After RAT INCIDENT!!!!!!!ps: I kind of envy working on an AVANTI…

I remember seeing one of these cars in junior high school. I rode the bus each day and looked forward to seeing the car during the bus route. Very cool car! Congratulations!

love the old studebakers.. avanti was way ahead of its time... i got a couple of those 289s in the back..in my dads 60s larks..rusting away at the moment.. he used to go thru the paper and pick up larks when he found a deal..miss that guy.

They come with a built in roll cage. When he took the photo of the interior. You can see it clearly. Way ahead of its time.

Thanks guys! @ 1970, my dad and uncle went to Longview to buy a '63 Avanti that was in a wrecking yard. Someone had tried to drive through a telephone pole and all the fiberglass (including the hood) were inside the car. It had electric windows, and because of recent rain, there was three inches of water in the floorboard - they almost went back to Central Texas without it. Dad always wanted one, so they loaded it up and headed back. The only replacement fiberglass at that time were from the company making new Avanti's, so they had to put a "square headlight" front panel on it. It was driven off and on until 1977 and has been parked ever since - other family members own it and do not seem too interested in doing anything with it. Studebaker was still using a tapered rear axle in 1963, so you will need the proper puller to get those rear hubs/drums off. Great job and glad to see another one being put back on the road.

There was a couple of the Avanti in my neighborhood, backing the day and they were very impressive Have a Great Day 👍Thanx for Sharing God Bless America 🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸

One of my all-time favorite muscle cars! Thanks for the upload. These cars were ahead of their time style-wise and still look great today!

That's a nice find. that car doesn't go out of style.

I got a 63 r2. I just sit and look at it. Beautiful

Between what you found and a 69 AMX are my all time favorites for old car lover's..... God bless you.. :)

I just stumbled upon this video (or RU-vid stumbled upon it for me). The thumbnail of the Avati caught my eye. The video itself is entertaining on its own, but what really caught my attention were the comments. I don't think I've ever seen so many comments from such knowledgeable and dedicated fans of a car brand and model as this one. So many people kindly shared their knowledge and their enthusiasm. It's great to see such great comments and a total lack of cynicism that plague so many RU-vid videos. I salute all of you. My one humble experience with an Avante was back in 1973 or '74 when a buddy of mine bought one. I'm sorry I don't recall the exact year of the car. I know it was non-supercharged but that's about it. Anyway, I was kind of a car guy back then (my attention turned to guitar later), so when the engine in the Avante went south, my buddy and I found a replacement from (I think) a Lark in a salvage yard (for a great price). It took us about 2 days to swap the blown engine for the good one. We took our time and were not in a rush. I remember being impressed with how straight forward working on the Stude actually was. There wasn't anything tricky about it. In my opinion, the cars were very well made and working on one was a breeze. Anyway, thanks again for all the useful (and civil) comments on this Avante project. 🍻✊

I graduated from high school in 1966, with another guy whose family drove nothing but Studebakers. Bruce drove a ‘58 Golden Hawk that had a 289 with a disconnected supercharger. This video has brought back good memories of good cars and 35 cent high test.Thanks guys. I will come back to see what you’re up to.

Awesome video! I am the proud owner of a 63 R2 myself. Great little cars! Hard to believe these are 60 years old when you look and drive them!

wow, I've always been a Studebaker fan, back from the 50s, i drove one one night up in the panhandle, because i was the designated driver that night. I was only 15-16, or so. i was having way more fun driving than they were drinking.

I'm old enough to remember when a friend of our neighbors in Massachusetts had one of these, back in 1965 when I was just 4 years old. Even back then I thought it was a really cool car. We would see these around as late as 1971. I believe he also had a 2 door Lark.

That's the sweetest deal to have to texts on one car and they know each other already😅😂🎉

Wow, that's unbelievable finding a 63 Avanti that's in pretty good shape for it's age! Can''t wait to see it when you get it all buttoned up and polished!!!

I admire how respectful this young man is with people ! Not something to overlook - Good !

Those cars are so cool. I know where a couple of them are in a sports car salvage yard

That is a beautiful automobile, great survivor! So glad you're brining it back to life.

That is way better than what you usually drag home, nice car and it runs fine.

There was one of these in Shreveport back in the late 80s. Walked past it every time I went to school. Had silver paint and the round head lights, so now I know it was a 63.

Never surprises me that you guys can get motors running. You’re a blessed man of God. Love you guys.

Hearing that supercharger whine on first start was really something. Pretty machine.

You have a ballast resistor on the coil and your starter solenoid has a resistor bypass on it. Thats why you were hearing spark jumping when you were cranking it over.

Sweet video! Christian would look great driving this ride! Give it to her!

A beautiful vintage sports car, and was the Corvette of Studebaker. A real car that anyone would be proud to own, and it seems to run well. 😊😊

Can’t wait to hear it w/ exhaust pipe replaced

Really nice car. I know some of the history of the Avanti, it was so advanced for its time. Have fun with this one!

That car is awesome, love watching y’all save these time capsules, God bless your family

In my younger days I would watch a TV show, Mr Edd the talking horse. Their commercial was always one of these cars !

Those studes were fast and sweet !! SouthBender Here !!!

I've missed new episodes! Welcome back!

Really cool car I always liked them

IMHO. This is the most interesting car so far on the channel. What a great find especially in the condition it's in. Thank you for the great content!

Happy that you found one of your dream cars. My uncle owned a 63 super charged standard shift Avanti it was silver and he found out through some research it was on an episode of the “Mr. Ed “ tv show!

I'm jealous! They are beautiful, great find! Have fun with it.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this car finished guy's. So keep up the good work . and thanks for sharing.

Yeah Buddy, that is definitly one to be proud of. Be nice to see it brought back to original color. Ty for taking us along

The fuel pump has an added port ABOVE the diaphragm, which connects to the small nipple on the blower output, to increase fuel pressure in proportion to the blower output. The electric pump addition probably accounts for the really rich mixture. The carb is a specially sealed Carter AFB. Edelbrock now owns the AFB line, and can probably source any parts you need. The factory pump IS rebuildable, and fastened together with real screws!

My father owned the only originally imported 56 Studebaker Golden Hawk in the UK when I was a kid; around 1963, he sold the car at auction (regretted that for rest of his life), but went to look at an Avanti in the London Showroom and later in life spoke enthusiastically about the car's layout and drive. He was tempted, but instead opted for a white Pontiac LeMans with a red interior; I remember that car well, a Friday lemon if ever there was. The 'ol man got so fed up with it, he returned it to the dealership after a few months (dealership couldn't get transmission to work properly) and ordered up a brand new Plymouth Fury instead. My brother was expected, so it had to be a 4-door instead of a 2-door; remember that car as well! Here's hoping you'll enjoy ownership of the Avanti; the Avanti Owners Club is a mindful of information as is also SDC, Studebaker Drivers Club, with over 12K members. Looking forward to your next installment. Richard

I heard this 2nd hand 40 years ago from a member of the Studebaker Club in California so take of it what you will. He said that there were some Studebakers that had R3 engines, and there was an enthusiast member who was working on upping the specs and making an R4, complete with badge. He also told me stories of guys with R2 Avanti's going around challenging other sports car owners and making out like bandits, until word got around.

Back in the 70's a friend of mine Bob Struckman, drove one as an everyday driver. He owned dozens of Studebakers, and Packard's. He had a few that were in magazines. My brother told me a while back that Bob had gone to that dealership in the sky.

I love this car, I built a model of this car when I was a kid. Great find.

The battery looks just like the one in a 1954 Buick Special I had. And the chrome covers around the distributor reminds me of the set up on a 1969 Corvette LT1 I also had. But you gotta love the Studebaker company for bringing different designs and features into their vehicles making them different, if not unique, from the other US car manufacturers.

I also have admired the Avanti since I was a child. My dad had a Studebaker Champion, don't remember the year.

What a beautiful vlog, just calm without shouting. I enjoy the technical treatises. Still something from my youth, the now classic cars. The Avanti Studebaker is worth a lot of money in the Netherlands, as much as 70K$.

OMG... Great stuff! I first saw one of these when I was 16 and did not know what was sitting in the driveway. A friend brought one by, he was a collector. Wow, just wow.

Great to see the Avanti.. I have a 67 and a 88 Avanti and also a supercharged GT Hawk . Nice driving cars .

I always loved these cars, so fascinating and beautifully designed

Just bought a 63 R2. Love that you are doing this with your father!

My Dad had a '63 R1, non-supercharged 289, when it was new. Gold exterior and tan interior. I have many pics of it. He really liked that car and he always regretted selling it. I believe he had it for about 15 years.

That was cool hearing that old motor roar back to life. Another great video guys !

Always loved those, so unique.

That car is ageless

Avanti sparked back to Life - wow - really Good Job - but never seen a Fuel Tank behind the Back Seat - that is really Unusual indeed but easy to work on ! Can't wait until Part 2 - we love to see it driving again on the Streets ! Cheers from Australia - Job well done and like they say in Australia GOOD ONE SON !!!!

Great, glad Kristine has a brake job to do. Orkin was good in taking care of Mice in our house. Don't forget to open the door a little to let some smoke out.

These old Studebaker's had some cool features and styling. I do like the Super Hawk's body style better, but the Avanti is no joke. They sure dressed up there engines bays and inside the cab more than other car manufactures of this time period. Very nice find and good job!

Sweet ride, this car and the Jenson Interceptor are two of my favorite old 60's cars

Now that is one classic find! And, it’s in pretty decent shape. Really looking forward to seeing the next chapter on this one! Thank you all for a fantastic video!

TRR, you all really lucked out on this one! When that thing fired it settled down to rock steady running as if it ran for the last time yesterday, not 20 years ago. Wow guys what a will it run? With that Marvel oil in there you would think the garage would have buried you guys in smoke! My dad drove a string of Packards back in the day and that motor sure reminds me of his '55 Clipper Constellation that was a really fast car! Great episode. keep 'em comin'.

Great episode, always cool cars the studebakers. Fairly rare with the supercharger fitted. 🇦🇺🇦🇺👍👍

This looks like one of the cleanest projects to date! I hope it doesn't have any hidden surprises to knock it off track. It is great to have ya'll back up and running, too!

Mr Cooper, my autoshop teacher in HS had one that looked just like that car, and I didnt have a car, and he let me do my assignments on his car. That guy was pretty cool to me, Thanks mr cooper!

This is one of my bucket list cars. I had a plastic model of one of these in about 1982. It has been a favourite ever since. Can’t wait to see it go.

The production is amazing.

I love these cars ! Rode in one when I was young and it was fast

My Dad worked at Studebaker in South Bend, IN. His first car was a 1950 Champion and it cost $999 with an employee discount. Car long gone but I still have the original license plate from it!

My dream car when I was a kid. Graduated highschool in '67. My girlfriend's dad had a 1963 Studebaker Hawk a/4 speed tranny. We had some fun dates tooling around in that baby...

Love the look of the Avanti! Will be following your progress on this restore job.

I had lark with R2 engine .The carberator is a special pressure type do not try to use regular one.Also the fuel pump is special .You must have a vaccum line hooked to top of fuel pump to keep the fuel from backing up under boost.There should be threaded hole on top of fuel pump for vaccum line.IF it is a real r2 engine top left side of will be stamped JTS and ser #

What a cool project, I'm pretty stoked about this one. Another great episode.

My first car was a 55 Studebaker with a 3on the tree and a overdrive .sad to say it is gone now .I miss driving it a lot.

Very glad you found this, she's a beauty. another one crossed off your bucket list Lance! excellent watch!

Brilliant video guy's.she sounds beautiful.cant wait to see it on the road.God bless you all 🙏 John from England.

HERE we 60 years later and NOTHING NOTHING can come cose ..so much better

I was in high school in '63. This is the car we all talked about (170-plus at Bonneville), but never saw in person. According to ''Bob's Studebaker Resource Website'', 2418 of the 1963 Avanti's were built.

You got a classy one this time. I'd love to own one. One of my favorite muscle car oddities ever since I saw the first one.

Looks like a fun project. I miss working on the stuff from the Duel Points era.

Cant wait to see it completely run greetings from Greece.

fantastic car studebaker were very innovate. super classy and apparently by Mr Dennis collins achieved 200 mph . GodBless the team at RESTORED

Cool little car, love the sound of that supercharger👍🏻 can’t wait to see it moving down the road.