1963 Studebaker Avanti Supercharged R2 - Reader Ride

By: Marie Judd, Photography by: Alastair Brook

Date: 28.08.2018

Marie Judd's '63 Avanti Supercharged R2

1963 Studebaker Avanti Supercharged R2

I have been around cars my whole life. My father and three brothers were car mad and that just rubbed off. I have been in the Studebaker club for over 25 years and have owned several Studebakers. I’ve had my Avanti for 22 years and I’m the third owner and possibly the only female (original) Avanti owner in Australia. It’s a factory-black car, which is rare because although black was available, it wasn’t offered because they had a lot of trouble [with that colour] on the fibreglass body. Apparently only seven black cars came out of the factory and were special orders.

Rear window looks very Jensen Interceptor

I bought the car in Indiana, I looked at a few when I was over there but this one took my fancy. I have all the paper work and everything on the car is original except for the Cragar wheels. I did about 10,000 miles in it in America, which was fantastic, and apart from the clutch giving out right at the end it ran faultlessly. It’s had a ground-up restoration over the last five years and my friend Guido did most of the work for me.

I love the styling and they are beautiful to drive. Mine’s a four-speed manual, which is the desirable R2 version. Most people don’t know what it is, they think it’s a European car. My favourite part of the car is the rear end, it’s very sexy. Because it’s black and fibreglass and they do run hot and it can be a little uncomfortable to drive on a warm day, but I’ve had it for more than 20 years and I have no intentions of parting with it.

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