ChuckLicata Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 Hey gang.. I got an email from Bob Lyle--the guy whom you ALL made feel very special with your emails... Here's part of that email.. Chuck - I really do appreciate the concern you and the other members of the racing community have expressed .. I am planning on attending the races at Thunder Hill tomorrow night. I'm even cleaning up my Avanti so that I can drive it out there! I finally got it back together last weekend and the mini-starter decided to start dragging on the flexplate! Geez...talk about NOISE! I swapped it out last night and all seems well again. Just FYI to the great folks at THR... Quote
abrungot Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 I will put Bob on my Guest list for tomorrow.... !! Quote
racerx Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 Aaron, if the VIP suite is too crowded, ask Brian to let him and his family use Pit Road Suite #3...just tell him to watch his speed and not to step on the hamsters. Quote
abrungot Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 Will do... I am rolling in my chair.. LOL I will make sure i get some hamster food for them... I am sure they will be hungry... Quote
Budman Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 If he's got a Avanti, let him make a parade lap in it. I'd like to see it! Quote
REBELRACER Posted May 6, 2005 Report Posted May 6, 2005 that would make him feel really special getting to take his avanti on the track in front of everyone.........hell let him be the pace car for the night................glad to see he was able to bounce back quickly and is going to be able to make it to the track Quote
Budman Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 For the uninitiated, an Avanti was Studebaker's version of the '60s muscle car. I think it was their last model, before they went belly-up. Pretty damn cool looking car though. I think it came with a Ford 390 in it. Quote
txtom Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 To add to Budman about the Avanti-- -It was designed by Ray Lowey, who also designed railroad locomotives, the layout for the original Air Force One Presidential plane, and a few other cars. -As designed it had a drag co-efficient in the 30's, when most of the cars of it's era measured in the 50's. -The early production cars suffered from having the back glass blow out of the car above 100 MPH. -Most Production Avantis were 289 CID, stock was the R1 10.25 to 1 compression version, and the R2 was the same engine, but 9 to 1 compression with a supercharger. They also made the racing R3, a very rare 9.5 to 1 compression 304 inch supercharged engine, but most cars had the R1 or R2 engine. The 289 is not the Ford engine. While not sold to the public, there was also the R4, a nonsupercharged 304, and the R5, a DUAL supercharged 304 that reportedly redlined at 7000 RPM, and produced 575 HP. Unofficial HP numbers were closer to 640. The supercharger was built by Paxton, which at the time, was a products division of Studebaker. It provided 5 lbs of boost. All were 4 bbl carbs. It would be great for Mr. Lyle to display this car, There are a lot of folks out there who don't know the Avanti. Quote
Budman Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 Txtom, Turns out I'm the uninitiated one, at least about the motor variants. Quote
Jason Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 TxTom has been around forever. Almost scary how much this old man knows.... Quote
txtom Posted May 7, 2005 Report Posted May 7, 2005 Have a good friend who used to own an R2 Avanti. Car did not look like anything else in it's time, but, like Budman stated, it still had a weird attractiveness about it. Quote
ProTree Posted May 9, 2005 Report Posted May 9, 2005 how was mr. bobs nite at thr?-hope he had a great time Quote
abrungot Posted May 9, 2005 Report Posted May 9, 2005 Honestly not sure.. I added him to my guest list however spent almost the entire night in the infield so i am not sure if he was there. When i email him to let him know, he had said that he didn't want special treatment... so he may have been in the shadows.. Quote
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