History of Avanti #25

The proper way to progress through this post is to first read the article linked in the next paragraph and then read the screen captures. However, the screen captures are here and readily seen so if you happen read them first I can't fault ya.

Here's a page leading to a Hot Rod article featuring #25 (under Post Production Road Tests, click the 4th link): http://theavanti.net/road_tests.html#. Any time the article references a 299 cu. in. engine, the prototype R3, or the 1/4 & 1/2 mi. acceleration tests (except for the brief R2 figures), they're talking about the car which eventually became my dad's.

E-mail of correspondence between my dad and Vince Granatelli late last year.

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E-mail of correspondence between my dad, Vince, and Andy G. a few days later.

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↑ is why I can't wait to get out to Maine and restore her. A GoPro camera is on my to-purchase list when I get there; I'll post some stills and video of the restoration. My goal is to restore her with proper paint, take her to the Bonneville Salt Flats and shoot some poster quality images. It's too bad Riverside International Raceway is now a strip mall and houses, else I'd take her back there too.

Out of the Hot Rod article stems a Forza 4 challenge: Match or beat 128.94 miles per hour and 21.3 seconds in the half mile and note what it takes to do so. In limited tests I can say the game's Super Stock Dart does beat both figures and the article includes a Super Stock Plymouth's speed as a comparison. I have beat 128.94 miles per hour in other cars but those cars don't beat the elapsed time. I used Sedona's drag strip though there are other 1/2 mi. sections in Forza 4.

I'll stuff it in here tomorrow (hah, enjoy the pun and the very nondescript pronoun "it").

Yesterday my dad and I flipped the car 180° in the hanger though I didn't wear my GoPro head mount. I should wear it tomorrow, walk around the car, narrate, and show you all the gnarly stuff barbed wire does to fiberglass at about 35 M.P.H.

There is a chance I extend my vacation by 9 days or so. The extension would give my dad and I the opportunity to attend the huge national Studebaker swap meet in South Bend at the end of July.

Edit follows:
Had a change of plans. We worked on a different car so it could pass state inspection. There is still more work to do on it though I should be able to slap on the GP camera and record some fiberglass carnage videos tomorrow.

Well, I don't know why our embedded YouTube movies sometimes act up though we can deal with that by posting the plain URL

Avanti walkaround

Pretty cool video sir! Makes me want to do 2 things: Get a GoPro camera, and work on a car. Let me know when you'll be in Wisconsin, I'm sure I'll have something for you to restore by then

The GoPro Hero2 is awesome. It has an elastic head-mount similar to those lights one would see mechanics or bicyclists wearing. In addition to the headband type strap, the Hero2 mount adds one strap that goes fore-aft over the top of your head. This further secures the camera, leaves your hands free to do other things, and allows you to document what you're doing.

Wisconsin eh? I'll meet you in Elkhart Lake at R.A.

On a side/related note, I should wear my Hero2 camera next time I go to the ALMS event at Laguna Seca. That'd give viewers a good reference to its landscape. The track may 'only' be 2.238 miles though walking around inside and outside the track gets tiring.

w00t! I just sold the Me-Otter. Yes it's after midnight Eastern time though #AvantiRestoration may officially commence!

I'm already two weeks into my five week trip so I have suspicions that I'll be back to Maine at a later date though I'll cross that bridge when it comes. I'm just happy I can start a spending spree on my favorite stuff, CAR PARTS!

Well thats good!!! One of the best things ever is havin a fistfull of cash and the undying desire to blow it on a car or truck Also good that you no longer have to roll around in that bright pink Miata getting weird looks as people chastise the guy in his 30s in a Pink Miata all the while you yell out "Its Not Pink Its Lightish Red" to make yourself feel manlier

Win Win

Ex US Squid wrote:Well thats good!!! One of the best things ever is havin a fistfull of cash and the undying desire to blow it on a car or truck Also good that you no longer have to roll around in that bright pink Miata getting weird looks as people chastise the guy in his 30s in a Pink Miata all the while you yell out "Its Not Pink Its Lightish Red" to make yourself feel manlier

Win Win

My name is Geoff and I approve this message. You're awesome Squid. Ha ha!

My Maine vacation: I extended my trip until August eighth.

Anybody in or around South Bend, Indiana? Anybody not around South Bend who would be at the end of July? I'll meet up to hang out, shoot the shit, drink beers and talk cars. I ask because the 2012 National Studebaker meet is in South Bend and I hope to be in attendance at least Tuesday 7/31 - Thursday 8/2. I say hope to be in attendance because I found out recently one must be a current member of at least one Studebaker or Avanti club to register as a guest. Here's to doing what I can between now and then.

I would hope that given the rich history of the car in your possession, it would almost be mandatory you show up.

Yeah, no kidding huh. We have the ticket & club member issues sorted out, now to finish fixing the tow vehicle (needs to pass state inspection). I'm in contact with a Texas seller on EBay and he's considering bringing a donor chassis to the meet. It could be we cut off fiberglass parts we need and one-way a U·Haul trailer back here.

I'll definitely be clearing my memory cards for shooting pics/vids. This show can't beat the southern Cal. Ford show Stalker mentioned in terms of sheer volume, though it matches it in terms of nostalgia as Packard will also be represented.

But Geoff at least you can take solace in knowing Stalkers boyfriend Gary wont bet at your carshow cause hes retarded and doesnt know what an Avanti or Packard is for, sadly, all Gary knows is his Ferd Fteenthousand and to Stalkers delight, Gary just grew another ball!!!

Gary aka Squid, I'm glad you grew another ball, now I can call you trident....

Methinks Lance Armstrong needs to buy a Ferd Fteenthousand so he can grow another ball. Oh damn, sorry Lance. Too soon?

Avanti 63r1025 wrote:Methinks Lance Armstrong needs to buy a Ford Fteenthousand so he can grow another ball. Oh damn, sorry Lance. Too soon?

Anyone see the movie Ted? Found out where Lance's ball went...

Progression news: We should be able to get the car to the point of twisting the key and reawakening the horses before I go back to Cal. I'll have to make some videos of that for some auditory pleasure.

That's awesome, can't wait to hear it!

Yeah, me too. For awhile when I was driving it the radio didn't work. I was okay with that as I'd always have a window rolled down. In wet weather I'd just swing out one of the rear quarter windows and one of the front vent-wing windows.

I recall a trip returning home from S.F. I had just dropped off my step-mom at work and was in the counter-commute direction on the bay bridge. The bridge's walls are steel and I was on the lower deck so the sound was already bouncing off the upper deck. I got into the fast lane to place my window closest to the wall. I kept goosing the throttle to hear the blower whine and the music coming out of the pipes. That was a fun trip.

With a few exceptions this trip is turning out to be a "parts acquisition" trip. The powerplant wasn't really affected in the wreck aside from the water pump and the radiator which have already been replaced/repaired. Selling the Miata after I'd already arrived threw off the timing.

My next trip here will be the "put it together" trip as I still need a windshield, some E·T III wheels, and fiberglass pieces. If I leave it grey for now it could be on the road after my second trip. To revert the interior to stock and the exterior to turquoise paint would (more than likely) take two more trips.

Sounds like you might have to move out there.

NE(thats North East for the mentally handicapped aka Avanti who get confused by this abbreviation) haha Yea I bet the NE or really most places in general beat Cali to live

Ah, you were going with the geographical location, I was going with the two letter state abbreviations.

It's not bad in Maine. I do like California for a few reasons and one everyone has already heard is the weather. I also like that neat little GMT -8 feature. 9pm ET is only 6pm PT and this comes in handy during sporting events. In my eyes AK and HI residents are some lucky astards-bay because they're GMT -9 and GMT -10 respectively.

California politics do suck, especially for being a car-guy. In my humble opinion, the California Air Resources Board can form a ring of bent-over people, each with their head shoved up the ass in front … and I won't be satisfied until they all asphyxiate on anal gas. I nominate Hancock (Will Smith) to be the overseeing steward and referee.

Avanti 63r1025 wrote:I do like California for a few reasons...

I assume you mean the S.F. men and the parades?

I was out on the road. My dad and I made the drive to South Bend on Monday and arrived early Tuesday morning. Tuesday and Wednesday were so #awesome they were #winning

While at the hotel the Internet connection was slow. I logged in on Tuesday afternoon but decided, "Fuck this noise. I'll get on once I return to Maine."

I gained a lot while in South Bend. I picked up a used windshield for a steal of a price, learned a new way to repair fiberglass (using no rivets or backing plates) and networked. I now have many more resources for Studebaker parts/knowledge and when I come back to Maine my dad and I can make more headway on the repair.

We got out on the road early Thursday morning and got back to Maine early this morning.

No, this isn't car #25, though it is something that can be done to an Avanti. I follow the Avanti Owners Association on Facebook and one of the guys has an R5 setup. When Studebaker closed its doors they had some complete kits built but not installed on cars and were selling them for pennies on the dollar. This guy (Karl Sparks) and his dad were visiting a Studebaker swap meet in San Luis Obispo, CA (some time in the late '60s / early '70s) and a guy had a kit in the back of his truck. This build is the result of their purchase.

Along the audio pleasantries front-
Gear drives are sometimes called the "poor man's supercharger" because they can sound similar to a centrifugal blower. Studebaker engines were gear driven and the R2/R3/R5 Avantis were also centrifugally blown, so she's got timing gear whine and blower whine coming from under the hood. Also, the factory exhaust was glasspacks. She sounds like a little slice of heaven if you enjoy V-8 ruckus.

My nickname for the car (I was ≈4) was "Blue Noisy." Usually said while covering my ears. My dad has a saying, "One thing she does well is turn octane into decibels." Leaded 102 super-premium was still around in the early and middle '60s.

I saw a video of a Mustang doing a burnout and the video editor utilized a slow motion feature. You could hear individual cylinder detonations coming from the exhaust tip as pulses. That would be interesting to do with #25. I'd really like to wind her out to eight grand again and hear the pulses fire, though I would need new valvetrain to spin 'er that tight today.