Avanti II's...any knowledge?

I was at a car show yesterday and spotted a Studebaker Avanti in the car corral. Closer inspection identified it as an Avanti II. It was pretty clean, had the 327/4 speed combo, and the asking price seemed reasonable. Have any of you guys ever owned one? Likes/dislikes? Anything specific to look out for?

I've never really thought about purchasing one of these up until now...for some reason I'm drawn to this one, so any info is appreciated.

I'm fuzzy on these, but was it an actual Stude, or a fiberglass shell/continuation car? Gramps has had a few and the originals are great but the later ones weren't, IIRC.

Avanti II should be the continuation one.

@Cotton, I'd recommend you buy it and tell us what it's like so we can make an informed decision ).

Continuation, but right after studebaker folded, so the same molds and frame, but with the 327 out of the vette since they couldn't reliably get the Studebaker 289. I got a lot of good info out of this link: http://www.avantisource.com/history.html

BoxheadTim wrote: Avanti II should be the continuation one. @Cotton, I'd recommend you buy it and tell us what it's like so we can make an informed decision ).

It's tempting. The owner wasn't around the car yesterday, but I saved the info and gave him a call today....no answer, so left a vm.

I told the wife about it, then sent some pictures, and she said it looked "funny". lol

The Avanti II didn't use exactly the same mold. The 327 was taller than the 289, so the fenders and hood are a couple of inches higher. You can see it when you compare the area directly above the front wheel arch on a real Avanti to that of an Avanti II.

The Avanti is a car that I've always felt as if I'm supposed to like, but I could never really warm up to them. Whenever I go to a car show with my dad, he's always to the Studebakers, even though he's never owned one.

The Avanti, which had a wonderful Studebaker motor was truly a great car and far ahead of it's time in many ways. Your choice of A/C or supercharger was an interesting option. (Each occupied the same space and the same pulley off the crank. So you couldn't have both.)

A good friend of mine was a Studebaker and Datsun dealer in the 60's-70's. While having body damage repaired on a Pl-510 Datsun he provided me with an Avanti he had taken back in trade as a loaner. Wow! That supercharged 289 was truly a flyer!

Years later I spent a few weeks driving an Avanti II as a "loaner" after another not my fault accident, this time I had been driving a Maxima.. The Avanti II looked almost the same & certainly was attractive to the crowds in a metro driving scenario. But I didn't feel it drove nearly as well as the Avanti that preceded it.

I owned a '53 Studebaker Starline Coupe and loved the motor. That is the motor in the Avanti. The Chevy small block and Chevy parts in the Avanti II were fine. But to me at least, the II wasn't half the car the original Avanti was.

Here you can see the difference in fender height between a rea Avanti (which happens to be Raymond Loewy's personal car) and an Avanti II.

my buddy has an avanti 2 for sale. custom coachwork in mims. fugly car, but they go like stink for what they are.

A lot of the original Avanti's sat high in front. I suspect Loewy's had been massaged. And rightfully so.

Here's Ian Fleming and his Avanti:

I wonder if an Avanti would have made it into a James Bond novel had Fleming lived longer?

I can't really like that car for some reason. I should - I just don't. It's proportions are off somehow that makes me not just dislike the look but flat out hate it. I'm not sure why though.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I can't really like that car for some reason. I should - I just don't. It's proportions are off somehow that makes me not just dislike the look but flat out hate it. I'm not sure why though.

They never really turned my head either until I saw this one. Not sure why, but I really like it. A little odd becausae the colors are pretty lame, white with brown interior, but it seems to work on this car.

In reply to slantvaliant:

Woody's talking about the thickness/height of the fenders above the front wheels, not the front end "stance". The II clearly has more meat in the entire noggin than the original.

Rupert wrote: The Avanti, which had a wonderful Studebaker motor was truly a great car and far ahead of it's time in many ways. Your choice of A/C or supercharger was an interesting option. (Each occupied the same space and the same pulley off the crank. So you couldn't have both.) A good friend of mine was a Studebaker and Datsun dealer in the 60's-70's. While having body damage repaired on a Pl-510 Datsun he provided me with an Avanti he had taken back in trade as a loaner. Wow! That supercharged 289 was truly a flyer! Years later I spent a few weeks driving an Avanti II as a "loaner" after another not my fault accident, this time I had been driving a Maxima.. The Avanti II looked almost the same & certainly was attractive to the crowds in a metro driving scenario. But I didn't feel it drove nearly as well as the Avanti that preceded it. I owned a '53 Studebaker Starline Coupe and loved the motor. That is the motor in the Avanti. The Chevy small block and Chevy parts in the Avanti II were fine. But to me at least, the II wasn't half the car the original Avanti was.

Hey Rupert, thanks for the feedback. This is probably why the original Avanti is more valuable that the Avanti II...even the non supercharged cars bring more than the Avanti IIs.

Talked to the seller. Seems like a real nice guy. He said the car was originally dark green, but was recently repainted white. I'd much rather have the dark green, but at least the respray is high quality. Other details:

327 recently rebuild, new exhaust, new tires.

muncie 4 speed

low geared...said it's running high RPMs on the interstate and he had planned to re-gear it for better highway manners.

says it has some rust in the "hog troughs". I wasn't sure what they were so did a search and found this article. http://hogtrough.blogspot.com/

All in all it sounds like a decent driver, but I'm not sure if I'm okay with his asking price, especially with the repaint. I may wait a couple of weeks and if he still has it I'll go drive it and make him an offer.

Avanti II's have always struck me as being hard to sell. It seems as if whenever I see one for sale somewhere, it's around for 18 months. Scope out the whole market and hit someone with a lowball offer. Don't be afraid to walk away, but be sure he has your number.

Great link to the "hogtrough!"

I agree with Woody. Unless you have a merciless itch to scratch, I'd certainly make a lowball offer. The Avanti II series are not that uncommon.

Having said that, if I came across a decent Avanti complete with the factory Paxton, I'd be tempted to sell the home-place!

In '63 my dad and the owner of the local Studebaker dealer were friends and we were going to a KofC breakfast. We met the dealer at the dealership and he took us for a ride in the showroom Avanti. Lusted after one ever since but it just has never happened.

My dad was a Studebaker dealer. An original Avanti is the one car that my wife said she would never say "No" to, no matter how many other cars we have. Maybe I should take her up on it.

car39 wrote: My dad was a Studebaker dealer. An original Avanti is the one car that my wife said she would never say "No" to, no matter how many other cars we have. Maybe I should take her up on it.

I agree!!

Let me set the record straight: same car, same mold with one slight factory modification. Newman & Altman who bought the Avanti out of Studebaker's demise felt the front rake was too severe to be a "gentleman's GT" so they shimmed the front end up and put a filler panel in the fender well to compensate for the higher stance. I'd suggest you go to the Avanti Owners International Association's site AOAI for more tech info. I own a 1963 Indy 500 Pace Car edition the same that was awarded to Roger Ward in 1962 for winning the 500. He was the first Avanti owner. It's a niche vehicle love it or hate it and no in between. But the value and price are rising. One just sold for $75k. Avanti II's were all custom built to the owner's desire, so you can do the same and not effect the value. It turns heads everywhere I go. Buy it! Only the later Avanti's produced after 1985 had a different body or were a conversion. 1986-1991 were GM chassis ranging from Caprice-Monte Carlo with an Avanti body dropped on it. Last one's were Firebirds or Mustangs converted to look like Avanti's.

Mr 500,

Thanks for the info and the AOAI site link. I went there and found it to be great. One article I just read there said that all cars made as Avanti IIS including the first 250 would have 327 cubic inch engines and 100 more horsepower than the original Avanti R1.

I believe the change from the Studebaker engine to the Chevy engine is a huge change! And according to AOAI all the IIS had the Chevy motor.