Avanti?

[longlivetheZ]

Anyone ever heard of a car called an Avanti? I saw one today (which is amazing since my town isn't that big or ritzy or anything...strange to see rare stuff like that here) and I was wondering if I could get more info, but I can't seem to find anything about them. All I know is that they only make about 50 of them a year, they're out of Atlanta, Ga and they are related to Studebakers. Any info appreciated.

--Brent

[MagicRat]

Back in the early '1960's, Studebaker auto manufacturer company was in seriouc trouble.
Their sales were declining. They made strictly compact cars, this was fine in the 1950's when the big Three companies in Deteriot were making huge cars, but by the early 1960's the new compact cars Ford Falcon, the Chevy Corvair and the Plymouth Valiant were stealing sales.

Studebaker developed a radical performance GT car based on their existing Lark chassis, with terrific looks, V8 power (supercharger was optional) and excellent handling.
These cars were very advanced for their day; but its arrival could not save the company Avanti production stopped after one year (1964)

The company was out of car building altogether by 1966.
BTW Studebaker is still are around today as STP Tuning Products.

Anyways, private investors bought the South Bend, Indiana plant and all the Avanti tooling from Studebaker and started to build small numbers of these cars using Chevrolet small-block drivelines.

They went big on hand- making the cars, and you could get lots of special options, with any kind of colour and any kind of upholstery material

Sure, they were expensive, but, like Rolls Royce, they were hand made and could be tailored to anything the customer wanted.

This went on for decades, with regular updates to the car, but the basic appearance remained.

IMO they still look up-to-date today; something that cannot be said of any other 1964 american production car.

http://www.theavanti.com/

[longlivetheZ]

For sure...it caught my eye. I was driving down the road and he was getting gas at a station...I actually turned around to inquire about the car. Pretty cool cars.

[sub006]

My first car was a hand-me-down '62 Studebaker Lark Regal two-door with the Avanti 289 4bbl 225hp. It MOVED! Today I have four Chevies ('64 'Vette, '63 Chevy II, etc,-.) and four BMWs 1980-2004.

I've always thought the Avanti may be the coolest looking postwar American car (the Cord 810/812 holds pre-war honors). But I have to say the '64 1/2-'66 Mustangs will NEVER look old!

[longlivetheZ]

Old mustangs are great. My mom had one when I was a kid. It was the first year that came with factory air...whatever year that is...67...64...65...whatever. It was white and MINT in every sense of the word. If I were to get a mustang, I'd look for one of the older ones like that. I hate the 94-04 ones more than just about any other car on the road. They're way too common, boring looking, midocre cars with midocre performance yet EVERYONE LOVES THEM for some reason.

Oh...and, yes, I'm an import guy, but I've always liked Vettes, too. VERY good performers, Very good looks and VERY good value.