1963 Avanti   R-2483 History   -   Jan 2026

I purchased my 1963 Studebaker Avanti from the estate of Ron Strasser in 2023. The car is a factory R2 with four-speed, but was converted long ago to R1 and air-conditioning was added. The story goes that the original owner thought the car was "too fast, and too hot", and so returned the car to the dealer and had it changed to R1 engine and added air-conditioning. I knew this when I bought the car, but my dream was always to have a supercharged Avanti with four-speed, and so I undertook to have the vehicle returned to factory original. The dealer was a little bit thorough in changing the car to R1 specifications and even changed the heads to higher compression R1. It has taken a couple of years but the car is now back to R2 specs completely, with the air-conditioning removed. I hope now to fully restore the car cosmetically and keep the faith.