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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / April 2005

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'53/'54 vs. Avanti

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Dan White - 21 Apr 2005 03:44 GMT
Maybe one of you guys can answer a question I was asked by a long-time
Studebaker friend of mine.  We were talking about the recent article in
TW concerning last years running of Jim Lange's Avanti on the Salt
Flats.  He said why would someone run an Avanti when a '53 or '54 would
give you much better aerodynamics?  I said it is probably the class
that they were running, but he has a good point.  I know that several
folks have run a Hemi in the '53/'54, but I am not sure if anyone ever
set a record with a Stude powered one.
studehdtp53 - 21 Apr 2005 11:00 GMT
Dick Datsun ran some info on this very issue in one of the old issue's
of his publication. Seems that the Avanti has better areodynamics than
the 53 body.
jack767@highland.net - 21 Apr 2005 14:55 GMT
Hi Dan,

The Avanti is more slippery aerodynamically than the '53 / '54 body
plus it has a smaller frontal area.

Jack
hoxiepoo@cox.net - 21 Apr 2005 18:33 GMT
It would take some extensive searching of the SCTA records to find how
many Stude-powered records have been set at Bonneville. Ron Hall's
Avanti efforts were covered well in past TW's. I believe Dave
Bloomberg's (Avanti Kid) has set records with Stude power. The
"Salt2Salt" team recently set a record in a '53 powered by a Champion
motor. I'm sure there are other records out there, perhaps even by a
Stude motor in a non-Stude body.
itraseecab@aol.com - 21 Apr 2005 22:28 GMT
  Unfortunately, most land speed records are listed by team or driver
name, not by type of car, so determining which is a Stude powered
Stude, let alone Stude powered anything else will be difficult.
However, n othing is impossible, as they say. I would imagine a talk
with some of the old timers at Bonneville and/or the dry lakes would
help track down such records if they do/did exist. There was a record
held by Truett Ray in his R2 GT at Maxton. He ran in D/BP. Of course
this record went away as soon as the blown production Mustangs came
along.
  The problem with using a Stude engine in lsr is that you would
almost have to run in a non-production class, even when using a Stude
body of some sort. Production might be out of touch as to be even close
to competitive you would have to do enough extesive work that the
engine would no longer qualify under production, in anything other than
an Avanti.  The way the rule book reads, I believe, the 'R' type heads
would make a 53-54 sedan illegal in production class. You could legally
run a 259 or 289, or bigger, engine, but the heads have to be similar
or the same as stock. Remember that with a 289 engine you would be in
'D' engine class which runs from 260 to I believe 305 cubic inches,
thus you would be competing directly with some very hot small block
Chevy powered cars. Class 'E' engines run from 184 to 260 cubic inches.
This, of course, includes the early 224 and 232 V8's as well as t he
259.  (Remember as well there is no forgiveness even on older motors
for them being bigger than class size.)
 It would seem to me that the Stude motor would be most competitive in
the E/PU class. A well built 259, might just be competitive there, but
there are still some fast small, small blocks out there. Now if you ran
in E/BPU ( E engine size, Blown Modified Pickup) there might be even a
bigger chance for a record, as you could run a modified 258 engine set
up like a R3 or something.
   One more note -- Stude bodies are now classified in the "Classic"
class. These are cars (not trucks) produced in 1981 or earlier. (Avanti
II's would fit nicely here!) This may or may not help as of course the
class would also include some slippery Camaros and Firebirds.
   I would personally thing that competing against the small block
Chevy engines would be very costly for someone campaigning a Stude
engine. Of course part of the fun is not necessirly getting a record,
but simply going fast with something out of the ordinary.
Joe (Staring at the rule book once again) Roberts
 
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