1964 Studebaker Avanti R3

[disabled modeler]

   Here ya go Mark. Nothing between you and it 'cept a (fairly Large) pocket full of Money!

http://www.paxtonauto.com

Ed...I wish I could afford one because Id buy it.  Our old truck needs about another 75 horsepower.  Years ago I had one I found on a old junkyard Ford Galaxie but no longer have it...bummer I got it for 100.oo back then and it worked.

[cobraman]

Outstanding !

[espo]

Outstanding detail thru out . I'm curious about the R-3 engine you mentioned. In the early '60s as a starving student at Santa Monica City College, I worked nights and weekends at a Union 76 station on Pico Blvd. Not far from the Paxton Products R&D. They would run many street going prototypes thru the station to get gas. I was able to talk to some of the drivers and they would often show me what was under the hood. They would use a standard Studebakers with the prototype engine and 4-speeds. One I really remember had a twin supercharger setup with two 4 barrels. I could be mistaken but I think the driver called it an R-3 prototype. Being a Studebaker fan I thought you may know more about that engine option.  

[mr moto]

Beautiful job. I have a resin '62 GT Hawk waiting in line. I'd like to try and replicate the'64 I once had. I love how your R3 turned out and your interior. Years ago I saw a .'57 Golden Hawk with an R3 in it.He said he found the engine in a crate in California in the late sixties or early seventies.

An R3 in a crate in California? Sounds like he found one of the original Granatelli Racing engines. Lucky find!

[ZIL 111V]

Absolutely outstanding work! a real beauty surely the best builtup of this tough kit I've ever seen.

[Mr. Metallic]

Very nice build. Nice detail work

[jdcar32]

I've seen a maroon R3 Lark on Youtube with those magnesium wheels and "the Stude Tomato" is an R3 Lark that runs in the Muscle Car drags. The Studebaker block was designed from the beginning with strength and durability in mind, perfect for the supercharger application. Never saw an Avanti ( model or otherwise ) with the alloy wheels, what a great addition. And the luggage is just too cool.  Really neat to see your kit bashed combination and how well the 1:1 car is represented. Very nice indeed !

[landman]

An R3 in a crate in California? Sounds like he found one of the original Granatelli Racing engines. Lucky find!

Could be. I had gone to that place to look at the white '63 in the background and there was this 57 GH with supercharger parts all over the place. I told the guy I hadn't realized the GT was R2. He said no, that's for the 57 and then he opened the hood. I bet it scoots.

[smellyfatdude]

Great job, and that's gotta be the sweetest color on an Avanti. Did you ever get any more work done on that R & R ' 56 Hawk?

[jdcar32]

Another note of interest, go to craftmanshipmuseum.com The Internet Craftmanship Museum and check out Model Builders / Roger Zimmermann. He has built a large scale Avanti in the same color from scratch. A lot of truly incredible work on this site that will be of interest to any modeler.

[Dave Ambrose]

That is a truly beautiful build. I fell in love with the Avanit (again) after seeing one at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was in the California Modern exhibit, and looked totally at home there.

[Ulbo]

I´m not big fun of Avanti but this is really nice one

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great looking model of a very special car. Lovin' that blown '57 GH too. 

[blunc]

great work on an outstanding replica.

[MrObsessive]

Manuel, you know that I'm kind of a Stude nut as well, and it's funny you made this post because as of yesterday, I got in the mail via eBay the latest Round 2 issue of the Avanti!

Your build is super-duper fantastic!! I LOVE that color, and yes, it is one of Stude's best colors!

Believe it or not, I once lived above what used to be a Studebaker dealership from 1995-2004. In fact, when I moved in '04, there was still sitting a Stude Hawk GT ('62-'63?) behind the garage door just collecting dust. My landlord never did anything with the car, and for all I know may still be sitting there collecting more dust.

I got to ride in one of these on a regular basis when I was a little kid circa 1965-66. I had no idea what it was at the time, but I do remember those fins and that wraparound rear window, especially sitting in the back seat. Years later I would find out from my Dad that he went to his wedding to marry my Mom in one of these (in 1959), and that it was owned by his friend and Best Man. 

Mom and Dad were divorced by this point, but Dad's friend who owned the Hawk must have still been friends with my Mom as I can certainly remember riding in the car from time to time. Looking at the pic, the car has the eggcrate grille inserts on the sides, which would make it a '58 (one of the very few changes between '57 and '58 on Golden Hawks), but it has the '57 wheelcovers. Not doubting the authenticity of the car at all, just some interesting things on it considering what it is.

MOEBIUS!! Here's one that I hope is soon to be on your computer files to produce down the road!

 

[Ron Hamilton]

I love it!!!!!

[landman]

Outstanding detail thru out . I'm curious about the R-3 engine you mentioned. In the early '60s as a starving student at Santa Monica City College, I worked nights and weekends at a Union 76 station on Pico Blvd. Not far from the Paxton Products R&D. They would run many street going prototypes thru the station to get gas. I was able to talk to some of the drivers and they would often show me what was under the hood. They would use a standard Studebakers with the prototype engine and 4-speeds. One I really remember had a twin supercharger setup with two 4 barrels. I could be mistaken but I think the driver called it an R-3 prototype. Being a Studebaker fan I thought you may know more about that engine option.  

The twin supercharged 2 fours was an R5 I think. It was developed to run on the salt. Here's both an R3 And an R4. This would make a nice find.

 

[mr moto]

Outstanding detail thru out . I'm curious about the R-3 engine you mentioned. In the early '60s as a starving student at Santa Monica City College, I worked nights and weekends at a Union 76 station on Pico Blvd. Not far from the Paxton Products R&D. They would run many street going prototypes thru the station to get gas. I was able to talk to some of the drivers and they would often show me what was under the hood. They would use a standard Studebakers with the prototype engine and 4-speeds. One I really remember had a twin supercharger setup with two 4 barrels. I could be mistaken but I think the driver called it an R-3 prototype. Being a Studebaker fan I thought you may know more about that engine option.  

Granatelli Racing/Paxton Products developed the R series engines for Studebaker and there may have been things they tried that never ended up in production. Here's a quick rundown of what did go into production:

R1 - 289 c.i., single four barrel

R2 - 289 c.i., supercharger and single four barrel. This is the engine in both the AMT and Aurora kits.

R3 - 304.5 c.i., supercharger and single four barrel. Sounds a lot like the R2 but there were also a lot of differences . The most noticeable ones are the airbox on the carb and the five breathers. Only nine of these rolled out of the factory but Granatelli converted some cars for private owners, there were crate engines that got installed later, some were converted by dealers with parts from stock, etc. Most of those conversions (clones) are not full spec R3's but mostly look like R3's.

R4 - 304.5 c.i., dual 4 barrels, NO supercharger. This was going to be their drag racing engine. None were ever factory installed in an Avanti. The only factory R4 was a Lark Daytona. These engines have been cloned quite a bit also. In the pic below there's an R3 crate on the left and an R4 on the right.

"R5" - Okay, there never really was an R5 but Stude guys often use the term to refer to the twin supercharged, fuel injected engine used for Andy Granatelli's "Due Cento" (Italian for 200) Bonneville car. Rumors say it would have become the optional R5 engine but there's no evidence to prove that. BTW, the competition engine in the AMT kit is a dead ringer for this engine. The real engine still exists and has been restored. Here's some pics now and back in the day.

 

[Belugawrx]

Nice job Manuel Cheers

[mr moto]

Manuel, you know that I'm kind of a Stude nut as well, and it's funny you made this post because as of yesterday, I got in the mail via eBay the latest Round 2 issue of the Avanti!

Your build is super-duper fantastic!! I LOVE that color, and yes, it is one of Stude's best colors!

Believe it or not, I once lived above what used to be a Studebaker dealership from 1995-2004. In fact, when I moved in '04, there was still sitting a Stude Hawk GT ('62-'63?) behind the garage door just collecting dust. My landlord never did anything with the car, and for all I know may still be sitting there collecting more dust.

 

I got to ride in one of these on a regular basis when I was a little kid circa 1965-66. I had no idea what it was at the time, but I do remember those fins and that wraparound rear window, especially sitting in the back seat. Years later I would find out from my Dad that he went to his wedding to marry my Mom in one of these (in 1959), and that it was owned by his friend and Best Man. 

Mom and Dad were divorced by this point, but Dad's friend who owned the Hawk must have still been friends with my Mom as I can certainly remember riding in the car from time to time. Looking at the pic, the car has the eggcrate grille inserts on the sides, which would make it a '58 (one of the very few changes between '57 and '58 on Golden Hawks), but it has the '57 wheelcovers. Not doubting the authenticity of the car at all, just some interesting things on it considering what it is.

MOEBIUS!! Here's one that I hope is soon to be on your computer files to produce down the road!

 

Thanks, Bill. I'm pretty sure that's a '57 and some owner just added the side grill mesh. The main grill is a '57 and the '57 wheel covers won't fit on the 14" wheels used in '58.

I definitely second your request to Moebius (or somebody!) to produce a few high quality Studebaker kits.

[vintagercr]

Oh come on who are you trying to kid that's a photo of a really car lol.  Nice work

[landman]

Ok Manuel, you got my attention. In which kit is the "dead ringer" for the R5?

[slotbaker]

R4 - 304.5 c.i., dual 4 barrels, NO supercharger. This was going to be their drag racing engine. None were ever factory installed in an Avanti. The only factory R4 was a Lark Daytona.

 

 

There is a survivor racing Cruiser down here fitted with an R4, and it sounds awesome.  The motor was acquired and fitted to the cruiser.

I can post YT vid if anyone is interested.

[Snake45]

Very very nice indeed! I think this is the finest model I looked at today--maybe the finest all week! Well done and model on!

[mr moto]

Ok Manuel, you got my attention. In which kit is the "dead ringer" for the R5?

The AMT (Round 2). BTW, that aluminum device that's front and center on the top of the engine is a fuel injection throttle body from a helicopter engine!