Called "the fastest production car in the world" upon its introduction, a modified Avanti reached over 170 mph (270 km/h)[8] with its supercharged 289-cubic-inch (4,740 cm3) R3 engine at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

"[18] "Loewy envisioned a low-slung, long-hood-short-deck semi-fastback coupe with a grilleless nose and a wasp-waisted curvature to the rear fenders, suggesting a supersonic aircraft.

[20] The Avanti featured front disc-brakes that were British Dunlop designed units, made under license by Bendix,[21] "the first American production model to offer them."

In December 1962 the Los Angeles Times reported: "Launching of operations at Studebaker's own fiber-glass body works to increase the production of Avantis.

The Avanti name, tooling, and plant space were sold to two South Bend, Indiana, Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman.

[29] They reintroduced a slightly modified hand-built version of the original Avanti using leftover Studebaker chassis and engines from General Motors.

[29] Following Altman and Newman's effort, a succession of additional entrepreneurs purchased the tooling and name to manufacture small numbers of increasingly modified variants of the car, including the Avanti II, through 2006.