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fiotorwo News, December 13, 1962 Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper. The Challenge Of The Hills ?╟÷See Pages 6 & 7 MotorinaNews THE WEEKLY MOTORING NEWSPAPER No. 301 Thursday, December 13, 1962 Price 6d. THE ONLY NEWSPAPER CATERING EXCLUSIVELY FOR fHE MOTORING ENTHUSIAST FIRST FULL COVERAGE OF THE PREVIOUS WEEKEND?╟╓S SPORTING EVENTS AT HOME & ABROAD THE EVOLVING OF THE AVANTI How the 110-year-old firm of Studebaker dealt with the problem of giving its cars a "prestige image" YOUNG Presidents, it seems, are fashionable in the United States these days. Perhaps the ?╟ú new frontier ?╟Ñ President Kennedy described when he came to office is stretching into the flat, featureless plains of the American motor industry as well, for the conception of the Avanti, which, five or even three years ago, would have seemed as foreign to the average American firm as that of shop stewards, came from the youngest president in the United States motor industry, Sher- wood H. Egbert of Studebaker. Studebaker has always been a name prominent in motoring; and it is a very old one, for before it made its first venture into the manufacture of motor cars, it was noted for its horse* At the first annual meeting of the corporation he attended as president, then, Egbert listed four main lines of policy which he intended to follow. Firstly, as " Studebaker is in the automobile drawn coaches and wagons. In business to stay,?╟Ñ improved recent years, however, it grad- models would be produced as ually fell upon evil days. The quickly as possible. Secondly, relentless pressure of the giant ne^f firms would be brought firms?╟÷General Motors, Ford and under the wing of the corpora- Chrysler?╟÷and a series of un- tion, to give it added strength and inspired models served to force stability. Thirdly, a determined its share of the American market attempt would be made to place down and down, and it only at least 20 per cent of its total survived because the larger firms business in the profitable field of began to chase each other down military contracts; and last, sales a blind, alley of more and more efforts in foreign markets would power, size and chrome. This ne expanded, through an Inter- left Studebaker to achieve a national division, modest but steady success with By the end of 1962?╟╓s first their medium-priced, medium- quarter, advances had been made sized Hawk and Lark models. on all fronts. In spite of a 40- Drnin day strike in the car factory, LSram the ?╟ú automotive division ?╟Ñ re- The arrival of the ?╟úcom- ported a loss of $2,600,000 on pacts ?╟Ñ and ?╟ú large compacts ?╟Ñ sales of $72,609,000, compared from the bigger producers, how- ??f?^93>000 on sales ever, began to undermine even ??* $61,581,000 in the comparable this small success. During the period of the preceding year, first six months of 1961, for Factory sales totalled 21,734 example, the corporation lost cars and lorries, compared with $8j840,000. Such a drain on the the 18,198 vehicles sold during firm?╟╓s resources could obviously the January-March period of ?╟≤not be allowed to continue, and ?·961. The next quarter was so Sherwood H. Egbert was m the black, appointed as its new president, Progress has been made along with the difficult task of turning all four lines of policy planned in the downward trend of sales up- the previous year. The firm?╟╓s wards once more. range was remodelled (the new Gran Turismo Hawk, with de- cidedly attractive Italian-inspired lines, was produced in 18?· weeks), sales were increased, and a stronger dealer network de- veloped ; two new firms were acquired; military contract busi- ness rose from practically nil to $45,500,000; and Studebaker- International was formed to ex- pand foreign sales. In this field (in defiance of the notorious ?╟úDetroit agreement?╟Ñ) teams of Larks were employed in both the ?╟ú Shell 4000 ?╟Ñ Canadian rally and the Argentinian G.P. of the Roads, using these international competitive events as proving grounds and publicity ventures, in the European style. First designs There was also the new Avanti. Egbert had found, after a quick tour of the corporation?╟╓s dealers, that Studebaker had a reputation for good quality; and as a result, on March 6, 1961, on a flight to Los Angeles, he made several rough sketches and perspectives of a new car, listing the special features which he felt were needed to give Stude- baker a ?╟ú performance image ?╟Ñ as well as a high-quality one. With these two attributes as a back- ground, he felt that a greater percentage of the market was almost certain to be forthcoming. Three days later, he returned to South Bend, the Studebaker headquarters, and called in Ray- mond Loewy, perhaps the most futuristic of present-day stylists and the man who had designed the firm?╟╓s successful 1953 range of cars. Loewy', with two other designers, John Ebstein and Robert Andrews, then got to MIT KOMPRESSOR. In its ?╟úhot?╟Ñ form, the Avanti?╟╓s 4.7-litre engine is supercharged. The fibreglass body is mounted on a heavy duty X-member steel frame. HEAVE! ?╟ú Andy ?╟Ñ Granatelli corners an Avanti, Though publicity claims for its handling me generous, reliable U.S. magazines report that a good deal of sorting-out has yet to be done in this field. BEWARE OF THE INJUNS. A Studebaker Avanti slides round a corner on a dirt-track toad, way out in the wilds of the United States. Note the full-width air scoop below the rubber-tipped front bumper. 24 inches deep. Quite a saving in time and strength of construc- tion is involved, for in steel this part would have required the production and assembly of at least a dozen component pieces. Other major body parts include the two doors (these are 46?· inches wide, probably the widest on any passenger car in the world), the one-piece top, front panel, rear panel, bumpers, rear quarter and sill panels. All these fibreglass parts are permanently bonded together, so that the complete body has the strength and rigidity of a single, one-piece moulding. The only bolts used are for hinges and so forth, for none are used in structural assembly. Altogether, the 130 fibreglass body parts weigh a total of 400 pounds, with steel parts (includ- ing a very strong roll-bir) adding another 150 pounds. Studebaker estimates that this means a saving of at least 200 pounds as compared with a con- ventional steel body, with a natural improvement in- perfor- mance and fuel consumption. Inside the car another 15 fibre- glass parts, weighing some 20 pounds, are used as bucket seat shells and for the rear seat back, instrument panel, glove compart- ment, and so on. The body is finished with a coat of acrylic lacquer, and is first dry sanded, then sprayed with primer and baked ; then it is wet sanded, a cdlour coat is applied and it is baked again; then comes a second colour coat, a solvent flash, a third colour coat and a final baking. Choice A choice of three gear-change units is available-?╟÷with three- speed and four-speed normal floor changes, or with a manual- change automatic transmission. The gearing unit for this type is essentially a manually-shifted 0 Continued on page eight. work, building first a ?· scale clay model for Egbert?╟╓s approval and then, only three weexs after the original sketches had been made, producing the. final drawings and a finished scale model. Basically, the Avanti?╟╓s chassis and engine come from the well- tried Lark model. The body styling, however, is most unusual and distinctive. Publicists found it hard to settle on the most suitable adjective, wavering between the ?╟úwedge look?╟Ñ and the ?╟úcoke-bottle look,?╟Ñ _while to Loewy himself is attributed the rather startling pronounce- ment that ?╟ú Avanti?╟╓s front is avid; its rear end is sudden . . .! ?╟Ñ Outside views on the finished design seem to range from strong approval to mild abhorrence, but it seems generally agreed that, from the point of view of sheer originality of appearance, the Avanti is a landmark in U.S. i.ar body design. Certainly it has succeeded as far as Egbert is con- cerned; the car now stands out as distinctively Studebaker, and can- not be confused with the pro- ducts of other companies. Supercharger While the designers and engineers were working away, Egbert himself began to decide on other unusual features of the car?╟÷an ?╟úaircraft cockpit?╟Ñ design for the interior, disc brakes (made under licence from Dun- lop, and a first-ever for an American production car), an anti-roll bar and very con- siderable safety padding protec- tion for passengers. Perhaps the most startling innovation of all, however, was the result of his drawing the Paxton Corporation into the Studebaker organisation. . This firm, headed by ?╟ú Andy ?╟Ñ Granatelli, the stock-car and Indianapolis driver and developer of the well-known Novi racing engine, specialised in ,?√ß building superchargers; and a super- charger- was, accordingly, listed for the Avanti, as a most unusual optional extra, to give it a shattering performance if neces- sary. Another unusual, though not unique, feature of the Avanti is the body itself, which, like those of the Lotus Elite and Daimier SP 250, is built in moulded fibreglass. The body parts?╟÷ there are 100 contoured and 30 flat sections . involved ?╟÷ are moulded and assembled in the Ashtabula. Ohio plant of the Molded Fiber Glass Co. The largest single part is the floor LARGEST EVER fibreglass car part yet put into production in the pan, which includes the rear United States is this floor pan, for the Avanti. It is 126.5 inches wheel housing; this is 126.5 lone. 67.5 inches wide and 24 inches deep. In steel, it would have inches long, 67.5 inches wide and '* production and assembly of more than a dozen pieces.