The original Studebaker Avanti was produced for only two model years, 1963 and 1964. The company canceled it when its auto production shifted to Canada. A couple of Studebaker dealers quickly revived the personal luxury car, and it lived another 40 years under several ownership groups. The seller’s 1984 Avanti is being sold out of an estate and is a rolling project with its motor on a lift. Located in Mead, Washington, this limited-production machine is available here on craigslist for $4,000. Another tip brought our way by Curvette.
Five ownership groups controlled Avanti II production (later shortened to Avanti). The Altman brothers, who began Avanti Motor Co. in 1965, sold the company to real estate developer Stephen Blake in 1982-83. Their run lasted just three years, and as many as 589 examples of the car were produced then, including the Avanti’s first convertible (Studebaker did not build one). The car’s looks began to change, too, with the chrome bumpers fore and aft replaced with rubber/plastic covers, as was becoming common in the industry.
Chevrolet continued to supply the chassis and drivetrains for the 1984 Avanti. That should include a G-body Monte Carlo frame, 305 cubic inch V8, and TH-350 automatic transmission. As the story goes, the seller’s deceased brother bought this Avanti in 2010 as a project, so it may not have been a running car for more than 15 years. The mileage is said to be 62,000, and the engine is on a hoist; its mechanical condition is unknown. We’re told the transmission may have been rebuilt.
The fiberglass body may be okay, and the paint is old. The rear bumper is off but saved, and a spare trunk lid is in the mix. There is some rust to deal with, especially in the hog troughs. Until it was brought out for photos, the seller says the Studebaker knock-off was always stored inside a shop. Other than this, the seller has no further knowledge of this automobile. Avanti II’s are usually cheaper to find than the Studebaker versions, but are often worth less restored, too.
I’m not terribly fond of these cars. Some of them seem to be styled after the hull of a rowboat. Not the prettiest Studebaker I’ve ever seen.
Avantis only dropped the “II”, switched to Chevy chassis, and started offering a convertible variant as of ’87 with the start of Michael Kelly’s production run, first with a Monte Carlo chassis (likely cos the wheelbase was nearly identical), then switching to shortened Caprice chassis from ’88-on when GM canceled the RWD G-bodies after ’87.
Up through the end of Blake’s production run in ’85 (he resigned in early ’86), Avantis still used NOS Studebaker Lark convertible chassis until the hoard of those finally ran out, along with the original interior (seat variations aside) and other original running gear aside from the SBC powertrains that the Newman-Altman Avanti IIs started using since ’65, and the original body molds with minor alterations to accommodate the SBC’s taller intake stack.
Looks like this one probably had some front-end damage repaired, IMO too bad they didn’t take the opportunity to backdate it to the original round-headlight style, always wondered how readily that could be done to a later Avanti.
At first was Nope on this, but since it’s the continuation version and never going to be collectable, there’s little reason to keep it stock. Build out the engine, or go modern, a better transmission as well, and upgrade the suspension. And yes, backdate the headlights.
I think it would make a great project. And priced correctly. If not buried in projects I would be hitching up the trailer and headed north to retrieve this car.
Why do they have to be so far away
I wonder if the deceased owner would have accepted $4K for it when he was still with us?
I understood that the Avanti did not use the G body frame until Mike Kelly ran Avanti Corporation, which wasn’t until the ‘87 model year. Blake’s company went bankrupt during the ‘85 model year because of paint issues and there no ‘86’s made.
Well that, plus running out of NOS Lark chassis, and Blake then investing a lot of money into developing a bespoke new backbone chassis with a torque tube and independent suspension, then apparently running out of money to actually produce many (if any) actual cars with it.
These engines were lumps and the transmissions were boat anchors , so its a winning situation, an LS with a multispeed auto with paddle shifting would wake it up , rust being an issue to look at beforehand