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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. |
Molded Fiber Glass Body Company ad. |
| A 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. |
A lunch tray of molded fiber glass promotes
the Avanti body. |
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