RE: Studebaker Avanti II: Spotted
Discussion
Ian Fleming had an Avanti. He said:
"It has a very nice, sexy exhaust note and will do well over a hundred and has got really tremendous acceleration"
In the years 1962-1963 this car was special.
Some in this thread mock the look... But the Avanti was celebrated precisely because of its Jet Age design. Shortly after launch, it was whisked away to the Louvre for an exhibit on modern industrial design -- along with such Jet Age wonders as the IBM Selectric (the typewriter with all the characters fitted on a single ball).
Studebaker bet the company on Avanti and their strategy was correct. The car set speed records. At Studebaker dealerships, punters filled the forecourt. But, as we now know, there were larger market forces at work, and it was not to be.
My POV is all about the meaning of the car:
Avanti -- as originally designed -- was an American interpretation of a sort of debonair, vaguely Continental, lifestyle. It's an optimistic look reminiscent of a particular time: Jackie and John F. Kennedy, Mad Men (the US television programme), the Boeing 707, Googie architecture, "Time-saving household appliances" and so on.
For many people, including for me, the Avanti story begins and ends with the original production model. The car featured in the PH article is what one might call a continuation -- thus the name Avanti II (the original was simply Avanti). IMO, this II model looks woeful on its jacked up suspension and with a wheel and tyre combination that disfigures the original design language. Also, the photos provided to PH for this article are unfortunate in their perspective / parallax.
Ian Fleming and his Avanti:
.
.
"It has a very nice, sexy exhaust note and will do well over a hundred and has got really tremendous acceleration"
In the years 1962-1963 this car was special.
Some in this thread mock the look... But the Avanti was celebrated precisely because of its Jet Age design. Shortly after launch, it was whisked away to the Louvre for an exhibit on modern industrial design -- along with such Jet Age wonders as the IBM Selectric (the typewriter with all the characters fitted on a single ball).
Studebaker bet the company on Avanti and their strategy was correct. The car set speed records. At Studebaker dealerships, punters filled the forecourt. But, as we now know, there were larger market forces at work, and it was not to be.
My POV is all about the meaning of the car:
Avanti -- as originally designed -- was an American interpretation of a sort of debonair, vaguely Continental, lifestyle. It's an optimistic look reminiscent of a particular time: Jackie and John F. Kennedy, Mad Men (the US television programme), the Boeing 707, Googie architecture, "Time-saving household appliances" and so on.
For many people, including for me, the Avanti story begins and ends with the original production model. The car featured in the PH article is what one might call a continuation -- thus the name Avanti II (the original was simply Avanti). IMO, this II model looks woeful on its jacked up suspension and with a wheel and tyre combination that disfigures the original design language. Also, the photos provided to PH for this article are unfortunate in their perspective / parallax.
Ian Fleming and his Avanti:
.
.
Edited by unsprung on Tuesday 19th September 23:32
unsprung said:
Ian Fleming had an Avanti. He said:
"It has a very nice, sexy exhaust note and will do well over a hundred and has got really tremendous acceleration"
In the years 1962-1963 this car was special.
Some in this thread mock the look... But the Avanti was celebrated precisely because of its Jet Age design. Shortly after launch, it was whisked away to the Louvre for an exhibit on modern industrial design -- along with such Jet Age wonders as the IBM Selectric (the typewriter with all the characters fitted on a single ball).
Studebaker bet the company on Avanti and their strategy was correct. The car set speed records. At Studebaker dealerships, punters filled the forecourt. But, as we now know, there were larger market forces at work, and it was not to be.
My POV is all about the meaning of the car:
Avanti -- as originally designed -- was an American interpretation of a sort of debonair, vaguely Continental, lifestyle. It's an optimistic look reminiscent of a particular time: Jackie and John F. Kennedy, Mad Men (the US television programme), the Boeing 707, Googie architecture, "Time-saving household appliances" and so on.
For many people, including for me, the Avanti story begins and ends with the original production model. The car featured in the PH article is what one might call a continuation -- thus the name Avanti II (the original was simply Avanti). IMO, this II model looks woeful on its jacked up suspension and with a wheel and tyre combination that disfigures the original design language. Also, the photos provided to PH for this article are unfortunate in their perspective / parallax.
Ian Fleming and his Avanti:
.
.
An interesting take on it. Certainly the Avanti (II or otherwise) seems to divide opinion."It has a very nice, sexy exhaust note and will do well over a hundred and has got really tremendous acceleration"
In the years 1962-1963 this car was special.
Some in this thread mock the look... But the Avanti was celebrated precisely because of its Jet Age design. Shortly after launch, it was whisked away to the Louvre for an exhibit on modern industrial design -- along with such Jet Age wonders as the IBM Selectric (the typewriter with all the characters fitted on a single ball).
Studebaker bet the company on Avanti and their strategy was correct. The car set speed records. At Studebaker dealerships, punters filled the forecourt. But, as we now know, there were larger market forces at work, and it was not to be.
My POV is all about the meaning of the car:
Avanti -- as originally designed -- was an American interpretation of a sort of debonair, vaguely Continental, lifestyle. It's an optimistic look reminiscent of a particular time: Jackie and John F. Kennedy, Mad Men (the US television programme), the Boeing 707, Googie architecture, "Time-saving household appliances" and so on.
For many people, including for me, the Avanti story begins and ends with the original production model. The car featured in the PH article is what one might call a continuation -- thus the name Avanti II (the original was simply Avanti). IMO, this II model looks woeful on its jacked up suspension and with a wheel and tyre combination that disfigures the original design language. Also, the photos provided to PH for this article are unfortunate in their perspective / parallax.
Ian Fleming and his Avanti:
.
.
Edited by unsprung on Tuesday 19th September 23:32
For me, there are 3 main problems: the wheelarches are too big and swept back; the front looks like it comes from a rear-engined car (I realise a grille-less design was Loewy's aspiration); and the window line droops in the middle, a little like an E-Type would were it not for the chrome window frame. In fact it looks like the whole car was designed with sharp, crisp lines then left in a shower for too long - a bit like Mercedes' current droopy design language.
The interior's great, however, and the early cars do indeed look way better than the later ones.
To continue the Fleming theme, it leaves me shaken, not stirred. Sorry
B210bandit said:
B10 said:
Note to editor.
Can we use cubic centimetres for engine size and not cubic inches in all articles. Just because the US use ci it does not mean we have to when talking about US cars.
Note to editor.Can we use cubic centimetres for engine size and not cubic inches in all articles. Just because the US use ci it does not mean we have to when talking about US cars.
Can we just use metric for everything, for all else is utter foolishness (including this whole "near side/off side" piece of British obfuscation?)
Don't get me started on people saying 'under the hood' or rotors on non wankel engine cars.
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