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Studebaker
president Sherwood Egbert and chief
engineer Gene Hardig agreed that the
Avanti body should be built of fiberglass.
The fiberglass
body, with its relatively low rigidity, would work well
with Lark convertible X-frame that had been chosen for the Avanti
chassis. This glass fiber-reinforced plastic body was
made for Studebaker by the Molded
Fiber Glass Body Co. of Ashtabula, Ohio. The company was
familiar with this type of construction through its experience
building Corvette bodies for GM. The cost for each individual
body would be greater with fiberglass, but tooling costs would
be less. The first production Avanti body was delivered in just
over ten months from the time management decided to use fiberglass
and tooling costs were less than one million dollars. In steel,
the same results would have required 15 months and an estimated
$17 to $20 million. Fiberglass was also dictated by the production
schedule of 1,000 units per month, substantially below the 1,700
to 2,000 units considered economical for steel. |
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complete Avanti body, as delivered from MFG,
was made up of 100 molded parts and 36 pieces punched or sheared
from a fiberglass sheet. MFG assembled, finished, and painted
Avanti bodies for Studebaker and
also shiped parts that Studebaker
assembled into bodies in their own plant. Fiberglass bodies
are lightweight and the reduced weight above the cars frame
results in a lower center of gravity that promotes better handling
characteristics. Body glass thickness for the Avanti varies
according to requirements but the average panel is .100-inch
thick. The completed body weighs 510 pounds, 355 of which are
fiberglass parts that are molded and/or riveted into the body
to give reinforcing or tapping plates for parts attachments. |
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