Studebaker Avanti 1963: the fastest production car in the world (13 photos)
Developed in just 40 days by a team led by Raymond Loewy, Studebaker Avanti was luxurious, fast, technical advanced and beautiful. Unfortunately, body production from fiberglass proved problematic, and production was limited. 
"Are you at the Studebaker?"
“You can consider our car a Studebaker,” said Ostap viciously - but until now it was called "Lauren-Dietrich." Are you satisfied?
But the amateur driver was not satisfied.
“Excuse me,” he exclaimed with youthful importunity, “but in run there are no "Loren-Dietrich"! I read in the paper that there are two Packard, two Fiats and one Studebaker.
“Go to hell with your Studebaker!” shouted Ostap.
Who is Studebaker? Is this your cousin Studebaker? your dad Studebaker? What are you stuck to man?! They speak Russian to him that Studebaker was replaced by Lauren-Dietrich at the last moment, and he shakes the head! Studebaker! Studebaker!
The young man had long been pushed aside by the stewards, while Ostap waved his arms for a long time and muttered:
- Connoisseurs! You need to kill such connoisseurs! Give him a Studebaker!
© Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, The Golden Calf. 
The Studebaker company, known in our country for its immortal the work of Ilf and Petrov, as well as US6 trucks supplied by the USSR to during the Lend-Lease War, repeatedly teetered on the brink bankruptcy and in the early 1960s threw all her strength into the development of a new Avanti sports coupe models. 
Introduced in 1962, the Studebaker Avanti was advertised very aggressive. The automotive press was full of headlines "Maximum Car", "Space Age Car" and, perhaps, most importantly - "The fastest production car in the world." And these were not just words: in the salt flats of Lake Bonneville, 29 world speed records! Avanti was really fast, but here's an unusual one styling without the traditional grille has been controversial to say the least... 
Since the biggest bet was made on the car, the work attracted industrial design legend Raymond Loewy, best known whose work is without a doubt the classic bottle of Coca-Cola. Lowy had already been designing Studebaker cars in the late 1940s, but conclusions, apparently, were not made ... Of course, they do not argue about tastes, but Avanti stood out radically in the stream of American cars of the early 1960s, and after the bankruptcy of the company, refused to die and through the efforts of enthusiasts produced in small batches until the 2000s! 
The car was equipped with two variants of the 4.7-liter engine, 240 horsepower in the atmospheric version and 289 horsepower with Paxton supercharger. To save weight, the body was made of fiberglass, which also made it possible to look favorably against the background of the main American sports car Chevrolet Corvette, which used the same material. Avanti received front disc brakes, front independent suspension, anti-roll bars - handling is quite fit the dynamics! The journalists of the publication Road & Track dispersed Avanti supercharged to 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds and reached speed almost 200 km/h. 
As mentioned above, Studebaker has always had problems with money, so Avanti was released for only two years (1962-1963) and sold less than 6,000 copies. In 1966 Studebaker published last breath and ceased to exist. It looked like Avanti gone, but Studebaker dealers Nate and Arnold Altman and Leo Newman, having bought the rights to the model and production equipment, returned the car to life. Avanti II was originally equipped with a Corvette engine, but in In the course of production, the suppliers of the units changed several times. survived several restylings, appearing in coupe, convertible and even four-door sedan, the car was produced at the very least until 2006 of the year. 
Pictured is an original 1963 Avanti. The car is certainly interesting, though not without nuances. 
