The Avanti remains an underappreciated classic in my book, especially as it relates to the kind of car you can buy for short money and maintain on a relatively tight budget if need be. The running gear is dirt-cheap to operate, and while the looks are subjective in terms of how much you enjoy the wide-eyed expression, there’s no denying the lineage of an Avanti. The seller describes this late production model as a driver-quality example, and while it has a rebuilt title, there’s no clear reason why it was totaled at some point in the past. Find the Avanti here on eBay with 97,546 miles and a listed price of $11,750 or best offer.
As someone who has owned cars with the dreaded title brand that indicates a vehicle was declared totaled by the insurance company, I don’t get too worked up over cars with rebuilt histories. These days, it doesn’t take much for an insurance company to declare anything north of five years old totaled, so there’s a chance it was a very minor accident that caused this Avanti to earn the undesirable title. Now, you may be like me and not all that worried about this designation, but the downside is future buyers – should you decide to pass it on – will try and ding you on the asking price because of the rebuilt title.
As mentioned earlier, the mechanical bits are quite easy to live with, and while the venerable Chevy 350 engine and 350 automatic transmission may not be the quickest combo out there, it will provide adequate acceleration and comfortable cruising. The seller claims it fires up easily, drives without issue, and leaves no leak spots in the driveway. No details are offered on any recent maintenance history, but with under 100,000 original miles, one would assume the 350 has plenty of years left. In general, it looks tidy under the hood, but some details on fluid changes, belt replacements, and the like would be nice to have.
The interior is a mixed bag. The seats from a later model Corvette are a nice upgrade, but they don’t match the rest of the cabin. The carpets are new, and coordinate with the dash, but there’s still some wrinkles that need to be straightened out for the carpet to look factory-fresh. The air conditioning works but the sunroof no longer opens or closes, and while there are new seals on the windows, the seller notes that the odometer reading can’t be trusted as true mileage is unknown. These are all relatively easy issues to either fix or ignore, but do they make the seller’s asking price a tougher sell? Thanks to Barn Finds reader Larry D. for the find.
I personally have never bought a car for it’s resale value. Regardless of the history what you have here is a clean car that someone can have some fun with, which unless you are a used car salesman, is what you do with vehicles like this. Using cars like this to enhance your income is what has taken the fun out of being a car enthusiast. Got a friend with one of these and he uses it for weekend gatherings and car shows. Seems to be a lot more fun owning it than flipping it. This is a nice car.
If someone plans on keeping the car forever the salvage title shouldn’t matter. However, if for some reason the car is put up for sale down the road there is a significant percentage of potential buyers that will give it an automatic pass unless it’s heavily discounted compared to an equivalent car with a clean title.
I have a couple of friends with body shops, they buy and fix salvage cars all of the time, that’s what they gave their kids to drive. It was a cheap way to get their kids into late model cars, they also knew the history since they only bought cars that came to their shop for estimates prior to the insurance company totaling them. They also knew the cars wouldn’t be able to get certain types of insurance coverage and the resale value would be reduced by 30-50% when their kids moved on to their next car.
Steve R
Rebuilt/salvage titles don’t necessarily mean the vehicle isn’t road worthy or useless. Several years ago I won a 1992 Saab 900 in a raffle at our local tech school. It came with a salvage title. Put close to 100K miles on it.
It’s much easier to write off an interesting car even with minor damage than it is to sweat out an estimate and find out half way through repairs that the parts are actually unavailable in general commerce. Write the guy a check for most of the value of the car and let him keep the salvage to do with as he sees fit.
A salvage title is a way of just sloughing off the expense of repairing a perfectly viable vehicle simply due to the inconvenience of repairs and purely a business decision as far as a insurance company goes. I love my “OLD” cars as well as the unique and quirky. Just in retrospect can’t or shouldn’t a good portion of these antique cars and specialty vehicles be considered “salvage”? I don’t consider most in that category simply because of their age and or rarity then again how much of the vehicle is actually serviceable from the start making it actually worthy of being considered a genuine Antique.
A few years back my son in law needed a car and of course had a very limited budget. Normally I wouldn’t consider “rebuilt” titles but proceeded to look, not ruling them out. We found a late model Camry that had been hit in the rear – in my estimation at 5mph! No damage to quarters. All I had to do was get the trunk lid to close better and he had a nice car for little money.
This Avanti may well be in the same general condition. A quick inspection while on a lift will tell the tale.
I don’t think the car is a 1963 model. Everything seems to point that this isa an Avanti ll, year unknown to me but in the 1970’s.
Why doesn’t it have the Avanti II script?
They dropped the II designation when new owners took over in I believe the late 70’s.
The ad says 1983.
Steve R
It says it is a 1983. The II was dropped in 1983
This is not a Studebaker built car but a continuation Avanti-2 with a Chevrolet built 350 and having square head lights.
It’s still a Raymond Loewy designed classic but made after the demise of Studebaker 😪
They dropped the II designation sometime in the 70’s when the company changed hands. Also several 64 Studebaker Avanti’s were built with the square headlights.
The II was dropped in 1983 With the new owner Stephen Blake
This car is definitely a 1983 by the serial number 3625. If stock the engine is a GM 305 V-8 not a 350 V-8. GLWTS
A few years ago I bought a wonderful Volvo 240GL in Memphis for my kid. Salvaged title but $1500 and only 90,000 miles. The homemade fender repair was laughable but I didn’t care so I drove it to Georgia without checking about getting it registered here. Turns out there are only a few places in the state that can inspect it (usually it’s just an airbag check but previously flooded cars from hurricanes are common scams) but they can only take 100 cars once a month. Each facility was filled by 5am (they didn’t open until 8. It was an hour drive from my house. It passed fine but it took me 6 tries and it was soooooo inconvenient.
Looking over the comments, there seems to be something fishy going on. I would just be careful dealing with this seller.
If the seats are from a Corvette, When did Vetts get a back seat. Pull the bowtie and put a FORD in it and double your money.
A madd Maxx style fixx would be very suitable for this body style its very nice.