History

This Avanti was purchased new in 1963 by Dave Bloomberg, aka the Avanti Kid. He originally raced it in somewhat stock condition and decided that his goal was to modify and race his car at speeds of over 200 mph. Dave's recollections of his racing days reads like the old adage of 1 step back for every 2 steps forward. He never let those steps back get him down, he simply learned from the various mistakes and situations and overcame each of these problems and came back stronger each time.

Dave felt his car to be capable of a maximum of 230 mph and on several occasions reached speeds in the 220 mph range. Finally, after a 55 year love affair with speed and his Avanti, which saw him participate in over 50 race meets, Dave decided it was time to retire and donated his prized Avanti to the Studebaker National Foundation who, in turn, loaned it to the Woodland Auto Display where it would be seen and appreciated by thousands of visitors.