"Avanti: America's high performance 4-passenger luxury car. Over 150 mph during evaluation tests at Bonneville. No other U.S. car at any price obeys Avanti's racing-type disc brakes … struts Avanti's head-turning aerodynamic wedge shape. Under $5,000. Avanti: the Maximum Automobile."

The Studebaker Avanti was portrayed as a "high performance, luxury car." Ford Motor Company introduced this concept with the 1958 Thunderbird, but the elegant new 4-passenger T-bird was too tame. The 1963 Buick Riviera was to become the T-bird's main competition. Ford's Mustang was introduced as a 1965 model in the spring of 1964. The Mustang was cleverly-and very successfully-marketed as a sporty economy car. The base price of a new Mustang was under $2,200 approximately half the price of an Avanti, yet Mustang was destined to develop its own high performance image. Studebaker, on the other hand, aggressively promoted the Avanti's high performance capabilities. No real competition for the Avanti would even be marketed until 1967 with the introduction of the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird.