The Classic Avanti Automobile – Overview

In the spring of 1961, Sherwood Egbert, the new president of Studebaker, hired Raymond Loewy to revitalize Studebaker’s public image to attract younger buyers. Loewy agreed to take on the job, despite the short schedule allowed to produce a finished design and scale model. Loewy recruited a design team consisting of experienced designers including former Loewy employees, John Ebstein and Robert Andrews, as well as a young student from Art Center named Tom Kellogg. The team gathered in Palm Springs and sequestered themselves in a house leased solely for the purpose of developing the new car design. The Studebaker board approved the design and the Avanti went into production a few months later. It was only a Studebaker for less than two model years but continued as the Avanti II until 1983 then later versions extended production into the 21st centeury.