Avanti, Studebaker!

Sherwood Harry Egbert, president of Studebaker-Packard, barreled down the test track at the company's South Bend plant one day last week in a sleek sports coupe, the likes of which no U.S. motorist has ever seen. Still shrouded in deep corporate secrecy, the new car was nonetheless already the talk of Detroit. Christened Avanti (Italian for "Forward"), it is finless, aerodynamically clean, and fast; it may well prove the most talked-of car turned out by any U.S. automaker since Ford Motor Co. introduced its first Thunderbird.

The Avanti is harddriving, flamboyant Sherwood Egbert's own brainchild. Ever since he took over faltering Studebaker-Packard in February 1961, Egbert has been painfully aware that the company badly needs some avanti pointing. Stuck with his predecessors' designs, Egbert saw Studebaker sell only a paltry 72,155 cars last year, managed to turn a $3.1 million loss into a $2.5 million profit only by selling off the company's plastics division to Monsanto.

Loewy's Wave Length. As a first step toward turning the company around, Egbert had the 1962 Lark enlarged and face-lifted. This March was Studebaker's best sales month in two years, and despite a 38-day strike (TIME, Jan. 26), production of the 1962 models has already surpassed Studebaker's entire 1961 output. But for Egbert this was only the barest beginning; he long ago decided that to win a real new lease on life Studebaker must overcome its total identification with the plain-feathered Lark by bringing out an entirely new and daring car.

To get what he wanted, Egbert turned to famed Industrial Designer Raymond Loewy, who was responsible for the handsome 1947 Studebaker that had an important influence on the style of postwar U.S. autos. Flying to California early in 1961 to meet Loewy, Egbert roughed out a small sketch. "I knew at once," says Loewy, "that we were on the same wave length."

The Power Look. The Avanti, says Designer Loewy, "looks power." Its sloping, grill-less hood bears only single, recessed headlights, a single bar bumper, and a low-slung air scoop. Its high, rounded rump tucks under at the bottom like that of a rabbit in full flight and the waist of the car is slightly indented in Coke-bottle fashion--a design feature previously used only on supersonic jet fighters. Inside, reflecting Egbert's love of flying, the Avanti resembles a plush airplane with instruments set in neat, easy-to-reach groups, has two bucket seats in front, and a bucket bench for two in the rear. With a fiber-glass body mounted on a steel chassis and an engine of 300 h.p. or more, the Avanti will go from standing to 60 m.p.h. in a scant 6.7 sec.--a performance rivaling that of the hottest European sports cars. It is expected to sell for about $4,500.

Studebaker (which plans to drop the Packard half of its name at the end of this month) will introduce the Avanti on April 26 at New York's International Automobile Show. By designing and producing an entirely new car within only a year, Egbert and Loewy have set a new record for U.S. automakers. Some nervous South Benders fear that the Avanti is too radically styled to sell well on the inherently conservative U.S. market. Its failure could jeopardize Studebaker's automaking future. But Egbert is firmly convinced that the Avanti will carry Studebaker forward.

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