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Killer Old Promotional Video: Andy Granatelli Setting Records in a 1963 Avanti at Bonneville


Killer Old Promotional Video: Andy Granatelli Setting Records in a 1963 Avanti at Bonneville

In our never-ending quest to ferret out every cool old promotional video we can, we’re happy to share this film made by Studebaker in 1963 promoting the awesome accomplishments of the Avanti at Bonneville. Sweetening the pot is the fact that Andy Granatelli was the lead man on the project and piloted the car to top speeds nearing 170 mph. It appears that he did so in a short sleeve shirt!

The Avanti was and is a cool car. Supercharged versions were the ultimate power players in the Studebaker lineup and this video proves that the Avanti was capable of bringing the thunder as hard as any muscular coupe sold in America at the time. The smallish-cubic-inch Studebaker motors were built like anvils and really liked some boost from the factory optional Paxton supercharger. Granatelli undoubtedly tweaked this thing to the furthest extent possible and his efforts were worth some good press. Jaws must have been hanging open when the news hit that Studebaker had a 170-mph machine on the showroom floor.

One of the commenters on YouTube, where we found this, claims that this video was shot after the actual runs, and used a production car rather than the real race car. We don’t care. It’s still greatness.

Watch and learn!


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One thought on “Killer Old Promotional Video: Andy Granatelli Setting Records in a 1963 Avanti at Bonneville

  1. Dan Stokes

    This is Avanti chassis # 6 – now in my friend David’s (Rack4U on here) shop! After Andy ran these runs the car was delivered to the Burke Brothers in California where it continued to set records for decades afterward. At some point Mike Cook became associated with the car and he set the engine back 25%. The car has run several old Hemis, BB Chevys, and additional Studebaker power. David is refitting the car with a Studebaker and is making the effort to bring the car up to current safety standards. ( The PO did a lot of that work but as standards keep changing it’s an on-going effort.)

    The car still hold a record that Mike set with a BBC in the car many years ago.

    Some of you may remember that David, David’s nephew Garrett, and I went out to California and brought the car back to Western NC for it’s race prep. We hope to get it to the ECTA track in the spring and Bonneville for future meets.

    Dan

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