Studebaker

Founded in 1852, Studebaker was based in South Bend, Indiana. After years of financial problems, the company merged in 1954 with luxury marque Packard to form the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Unfortunately for Packard, it turned out Studebaker's financial problems were worse than first thought. Packard was phased out - the company returning to the Studebaker Corporation name in 1962.

The South Bend plant ceased production on December 20, 1963 though the last Studebaker to roll off the assembly line was at Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, on March 17, 1966. In better times, Studebaker made some memorable and stylish cars - among them the beautiful Starliner coupe introduced in 1953, the GT Hawk and Golden Hawk and various Commanders, Champions and Larks. Going out with a bang, the company produced arguably its’ most memorable model just as it was going under - the V8 powered, fiber-glass Avanti coupe styled by the great Raymond Loewy.

Powering the Avanti was a modified version of Studebaker's dated but sturdy 289 Jet-Thrust V-8 developing 240 horsepower in standard R1 form, with 290 horsepower available in supercharged R2 guise.

A few supercharged R3 versions with 335 horsepower were made before production ceased - one officially recorded at 168 mph while a modified version reached 196 mph at Bonneville where the Avanti smashed 29 speed records.

Fortunately for Avanti fans, two former Studebaker dealers refused to let the futuristic GT die - buying the rights and tooling to continue production. Using small block Chevrolet V8 power, the Avanti became its’ own marque and continued to be manufactured up until 2006.