The Studebaker Avanti was a car that refused to die. When the company shifted all automobile production to Canada at the end of 1963, the two-year-old Avanti personal luxury car didn’t make the cut after just 4,600 examples had been built. But two Stude dealers came to the rescue and a resurrected Avanti (II) would live on for another 40 years. This 1984 edition looks solid overall and is being auctioned with no reserve. Located in Carthage, Illinois, this 45k-mile Avanti II is available here on Big Iron Auctions where the current bid is just $2.024. 10% will be added to the winning bid for their services. Bravo, Rocco B., for this stellar tip!
After Studebaker gave up on U.S. operations, two dealers (Altman and Newman) thought enough of the nifty and fast Avanti to want to keep it going. Forming a new company, Avanti Motor Co. bought up all of the leftover inventory and dies and began making the car on a limited production basis in 1965. As the supply of available Studebaker drivetrains was exhausted, they contracted with Chevrolet to begin supplying engines and transmissions. The Altman/Newman run lasted until 1983.
Along came real estate developer Stephen Blake who bought the firm and continued forward until running out of money a couple of years later and the company was sold yet again. That was the period when this Avanti II was built, now using a Chevy Monte Carlo chassis, which uses most of the same bodywork. A 305 cubic inch V8 should reside under the hood with a Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. We don’t know the history of this car, other than it appears to have been well taken care of.
Each of these cars is said to have taken up to two weeks to assemble (mostly handwork) and only 200 copies were produced in 1984. This car seems to have everything you would want from a personal luxury machine, including Recaro contoured bucket seats. Other than a possible small paint glitch on the driver’s side door, this “Studebaker” looks marvelous for being 41 years old. If you can’t have an original 1963 or 1964 Avanti, this could be the next best thing!
Did Avanti choose the 305 over the 350 due to fitment ?
They are the same size.
Steve R
Thanks Steve maybe weight ?
Why choose the 305.
Weight would be nearly identical, probably only a few pounds.
Steve R
Monte Carlos in the US only had 305’s not 350’s. I’m sure EPA rules played a part, but it was easier for Avanti to buy a EPA approved drivetrain from Chevy with the frame
Same reason GM used more 305s, emissions requirement and CAFE standards. This was never meant to be A RACER ANYWAY, JUST A GREAT FREEWAY CRUISER.
no. that car was basically a knock off ,avanti body on gm chasis drivetrain an electronics our dealer could not give them away
Pretty sure these were still built on the remaining supply of NOS Studebaker Lark convertible chassis, same as the originals, up until that stock ran out in ’85. Looking closely at the underside photos on the original listing page, I think I can spot elements of the central X-bracing of the Lark chassis, which the later Monte Carlo chassis didn’t have.
IMO the Blake-era cars are prolly the nicest of the Avanti II continuation run, as he tried to take the cars a bit upmarket with Recaro seats and nicer trim and finishings, even a leather-upholstered dashboard on the ’83 Anniversary Edition and later, which also introduced the body-color wraparound bumpers and rectangular headlights seen here (and IMO nicer than those elements on the later ’87-on cars).
I suspect Blake’s attempts to overcome depletion of those Lark chassis may be what bankrupted the company as of February ’86. He recruited former Pontiac engineer Herb Adams to develop a custom backbone chassis with torque tube and fully independent suspension using a C3 Corvette rear end; however, this project evidently came to nought, as no production Avantis were ever made with this chassis, and the money apparently ran out to pursue any other alternative.
Avanti production took a break for ’86, then resumed for ’87 under Michael Kelly’s ownership, using Chevy Monte Carlo chassis for the first time with a more heavily revised body and all-new interior, probably a result of adapting production to the new chassis. I tend to consider these and later cars as mere Avanti “tributes”, sharing nothing but the general body shape with the original Studebaker cars.
I had a 1989. It was a Caprice chasis. My 2002 is a Firebird chasis and drivetrain, and my 2004/5 chasis and drivetrain is a Mustang.
Yup, they used the Monte Carlo chassis for one year only, as GM ended production of the RWD G-bodies in ’87, so following years switched to the closely-related Caprice A-body chassis until 1991.
I really liked the early ’00s Avanti revivals based on the Firebird F-body, derived from the “AVX” (AVanti eXperimental) concept drawn up by original Avanti stylist Tom Kellogg. I consider these less a “tribute” trying to replicate the originals, more of an “homage” to the original styling cues and a “reimagining” of what a modern Avanti might look like if the model had remained in mass-production all along for multiple generations.
The 4th-gen F-body readily supported that adaptation, as its Fiero-like spaceframe could simply be rebodied with new plastic body panels. Apparently the AVX team were delighted to find that a mold they pulled off the tail of an original Avanti fit perfectly around the tail frame of their Firebird development mule.
I still have the Car and Driver of that era that did a road test on that model. Chevrolet supplied the H.O. 5.0 and THM 700-R4’s from the Camaro’s. GM had abudant suppliws and were easy to certify for emission reg’s for passenger car applications
Easy swap to a 350 TPI in one of several performance specifications with a T700R4. And no hog troughs to rust out? I would rate this a good buy, even if it is not the original.
Why a manual shift was not offered has always confused saddened me.
I built the engine out of one of these for a friend in about 1985. It was a 1970 model (it was also called an Avanti II) and had, as original) a 350 V8 engine with about 300hp and a Borg-Warner automatic. It sat on a Lark convertible chassis and was a pretty decent car though the seats weren’t much. I always sort of regretted not buying it off of him when it finally sold. As far as I recall, after Studebaker was out of it they all had Chevy engines.
I’ve seen a couple of the later ones at GM car shows in the last few years. Very impressive car to say the least. If you ever get the chance to drive an early one with the lights on, find the switch first (hint: check the roof console).
The Avanti design never aged.
They seem odd looking, but cool looking at the same time