Which U.S. automaker produced the Avanti sports coupe in the 1960s?

Studebaker produced the Avanti sports coupe in the 1960s. The fiberglass-bodied Avanti was introduced in 1962 as a dramatic halo model intended to give the struggling South Bend automaker a modern performance image.

The design came from Raymond Loewy’s design organization, with Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews and Johnидеб? No, let's correct this. Raymond Loewy and his team created the sleek, faceted body, while Studebaker engineering supplied the chassis and V8 power. Supercharged versions pursued high-speed records at Bonneville, helping Studebaker promote the Avanti as one of America’s fastest production cars.

Production lasted only until Studebaker closed its South Bend automobile plant in December 1963. The company built roughly 1,200 Avantis in 1962 and fewer than 4,600 in 1963. Afterward, Studebaker dealers bought the tooling and continued limited production under the Avanti name as the Avanti II, but those later cars were not Studebaker-branded vehicles. That distinction explains why “Avanti” can refer both to the original Studebaker model and its successors.