Avantis are a curious car, with different generations representing another chapter the model’s tumultous history. The genuine, Studebaker-built early cars perhaps carry the most prestige, as later models were built by a variety of ownership groups with increasingly ordinary engines that were a far cry from the Corvette-powered examples that preceded them. This 1970 Avanti II here on eBay is a recent New Mexico barn find with accident damage to the rear end; will it be fixed or parted?
Ouch! That was no small collision. What a shame, as this Avanti must have been quite handsome in the day with gleaming brown paint and chrome hubcaps. The seller notes that he doesn’t know much about these cars, and that what you see is what you get. The later years of the Avanti saw different owners try to preserve the car’s luxurious image and hand-built qualities, but no one group seemed to know how to keep the company or car alive.
The seller notes that the Avanti has a Chevy-sourced 350 engine and automatic transmission, but this is of little surprise: after the Avanti II lost its Corvette-sourced powerplant, it relied on the 400, the 350 and 305 for motivation in subsequent years. While not nearly as exotic or sporting, it does make parts hunting easier and it wouldn’t surprise me if this Avanti needs relatively little coaxing to run again.
The asking price is $4,875 and the seller has included the option to submit a best offer. This seems like a reasonable place to start the bargaining process to me, but it’s hard to gauge just how intrusive that rear accident damage is. The rest of the car seems solid enough, no doubt helped by its New Mexico location – but the trouble is, I don’t think the later cars are desirable enough (yet) that this one will be saved and repaired at the current asking price. Do you agree?
With a salvage title & needing a total restoration, it is a $1000 car, Avanti parts are among the most expensive parts out there because of their rarity, if it had a clean title & was in a little better condition, I would own it.
Have you ever had,while driving,any one ask you what kind of title you have? Half the cars out there have been restored from misc.parts not reported Why wine about a yellow title if the car is repaired correctly.
Even if the car is repaired correctly resale value will plummet. Because most serious collectors will not buy a salvaged car, investing a lot of money in one is usually not a good idea. However if you are going to keep it and drive it, there is no penalty. But everyone sells their car eventually. Or their estate does.
Most of these had buyer-specified interior and exterior colors; why would someone chose brown?
It was 1970. Just be thankful it isn’t Spring Green.
‘Root Beer Brown’ was a popular colour in 1970…
Too little, too late.
I was lucky enough to have one of these for a short time and let me tell you the driving experience is terrific. The car was a wild root beer brown with an orange and cream interior. What you might not notice is these are actually skinny cars and you sat elbow to elbow with your passenger. The pick up & the shifting was excellent. It was such a great car and super clean that I had for 4500 little dollars. I would do that one over again if I could
Damage to the nose as well. These Avanti II continuation models had to raise the front by an inch or so to clear the taller carbureted Chevy V8, and lowered the wheelarches accordingly to close the resulting wheel gap. I’ve often wondered how readily they could be retrofitted to the early round-headlight style and low-nose raked stance if a modern low-profile FI plenum were fitted, seems like one that already needs fiberglass repair to the nose would be a good candidate to explore that, though the rear damage seems pretty extensive here, so will probably wind up being parted.
A salvage title means different things depending on the state. Some do not permit the vehicle to be driven on the roads again. Ever. Many states require a major inspection of the car by a state MVA/DMV inspector or State Police vehicle inspector. No state allows an owner to license & drive a vehicle on public roads if it’s got a red salvage title, as the federal DOT guidelines consider a red salvage titled car to be unsafe.
The last Studebaker Avanti was 1964 with a 289 with varied attachments to vary the power. When south Bend ceased, Newman & Altman, a local dealer built Avanti with assorted pieces mostly NOS with GM engines
I am amazed nobody has whined about the automatic trans.
As an owner of a 76 and an 89 Avanti, I would think the car may be more suited for parts unless the buyer can do the repair work themselves. With the lack of a very high top end value for the after Studebaker versions, its all too easy to become up side down with a post Studebaker Avanti. If an Avanti is your thing, my advice would be to get the best one you can afford. They are beautifully unique cars. I personally believe the aftermarket versions had better build quality and later ones had updated steering, suspension and more reliable powertrains than the Studebaker originals.
As an owner of a 63 and an 87, I have to disagree on parts of what you ssid. Personally I am not impressed on the build quality of the 87 compared to my 63. I have previously owned 2 64’s and personally, I prefer the handling of the Studebaker suspension 63-85 models compared to the GM steering on the later ones. But the 65 thru 85 with the lighter engines handle better than with the heavier Studebaker power plant.
I have a GT with a salvage title l guess I’ll have to throw it away and until I do ,remind myself if l start to have fun with it and leave the title at home so no one can see it thru my clothes– at least it doesn’t have after market parts
There isn’t anything wrong with a properly repaired car, as a car. It’s just that with the high cost of restoration, thinking of it as an investment is inevitable. Funny thing is that a new car will depreciate down to almost nothing, but the owner thinks nothing of losing anything from twenty to fifty thousand dollars over that time. Even a salvaged car will retain better value over time. For the right person the salvage car be an opportunity to obtain a car that he might not be able to afford otherwise. Especially if he can do a lot of the work himself.
One more thing, so much carping is from pinheads that have never owned, driven, rescued or repaired an old car. They don’t offer anything positive, just take cheap pot shots about things that they have no experience with. Personally I respect the effort that an enthusiast puts into any car that they own, regardless of value.
I have three vehicles. An ’03 Corvette, 2010 and 2011 Prius and they all have rebuilt titles. Ain’t skeered!