Studebaker Avanti R2
In the early ’60s, Studebaker invested in a luxury coupe to fight poor sales. They thought a new, fancy upscale model would attract customers and turn the attention of the automotive public back to them. So in 1962, the very sleek, modern-looking Avanti was introduced. The innovative design, construction, and technology were exciting, and the car received praise from the motoring press. The base version could have been more powerful, but soon Studebaker introduced a supercharged R2 option, which delivered 289 hp (via Silodrome).
The R2 version didn’t come with an automatic transmission, only being available with a close ratio manual gearbox, and air conditioning was not available. Besides that, many performance upgrades were standard equipment. The R2 model even broke 28 world speed records, achieving a top speed of 170 mph, which was a big deal in 1963. The acceleration numbers were good and the R2 could sprint to 60 mph in 7.3 seconds. Unfortunately, Studebaker had problems with production. The Avanti had limited availability, which affected its popularity. So, by 1964, this model was discontinued. Today, the Avanti R2 is one of the coolest ’60s cars and an early luxury muscle car. During its short production run, just over 4,600 examples of Studebaker Avanti left the factory and only a handful were the incredible R2s.