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Pic of Two Plastic Cars.....and one isnt a Corvette

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Old 08-09-2009, 04:53 PM
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gilbybarr
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Default Pic of Two Plastic Cars.....and one isnt a Corvette



Attended a small Lions Club open car show here yesterday to benefit the visually impared. My buddy and I parked next to one another in the shade...I left the Corvettes home and took out the '63 Avanti for some exercise.

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Old 08-09-2009, 05:00 PM
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mpuzach
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Damn, that Avanti is beautiful. I was a kid when they came out and remember them vividly. I have to admit, I didn't remember that their bodies weren't made of steel.
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Old 08-09-2009, 05:12 PM
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Very nice
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Old 08-09-2009, 05:17 PM
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rpoz06
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Just beautiful!

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Old 08-09-2009, 05:19 PM
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I also remember the Avanti's vividly. I knew they had a Corvette engine, a 327 I believe. I didn't remember them being a glass car???
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Old 08-09-2009, 05:32 PM
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ncvette_1FUNRIDE
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Beautiful cars. I rode in an Avanti decades ago but I remember it felt fast at the time.
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Old 08-09-2009, 05:44 PM
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Avanti's are still being made:



Avanti Motors
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Old 08-09-2009, 05:54 PM
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There is a lot of Ford in that Avanti.
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Old 08-09-2009, 06:18 PM
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capicciuti
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Originally Posted by Zymurgy
Avanti's are still being made:



Avanti Motors
Do you have a more up to date web site - 2007 models are all I could find at this one. Thanks
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Old 08-09-2009, 06:28 PM
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Nice looking Avanti.
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Old 08-09-2009, 06:37 PM
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4.6 "OHV". Not the SOHC that Ford uses?

Really a low budget internet ad.
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Old 08-09-2009, 06:47 PM
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I'm sorry, I have had a couple of buddys that had these and I have always thought it was the most hideous looking thing......
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Old 08-09-2009, 08:05 PM
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Zymurgy
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Originally Posted by capicciuti
Do you have a more up to date web site - 2007 models are all I could find at this one. Thanks
That is the company website. However, it seems that they are no longer in business. The following is from Wikipedia:

An October 2006 brief report said the company had established a new factory at Cancun, Mexico and planned to produce 400 vehicles per year. A brief chronology of relevant events from 1961-2005 was published but all production of new vehicles has apparently ended. As of 2007 they planned to produce 150 cars per year. An "Avanti Motors" website still exists, which appears not to have been updated since 2007.

Michael Eugene Kelly, owner of Avanti Motors Corporation, was arrested by the FBI on Dec 22, 2006 in Florida. Kelly is suspected of running a $400 million Ponzi scheme from 1992–2004 and is in jail without bail facing mail fraud charges.
Full wiki entry Wikipedia reference-linkStudebaker_Avanti
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Old 08-09-2009, 09:11 PM
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Originally Posted by whiteboy
I also remember the Avanti's vividly. I knew they had a Corvette engine, a 327 I believe. I didn't remember them being a glass car???
The original Avanti had a Studebaker engine (289 CI), the Avanti II had GM drive train.

One of the great designs, Andy Granitelli drove an R3 to 198 MPH at Bonneville.
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Old 08-09-2009, 09:21 PM
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Stunning cars! OMG! Great to see them together!
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Old 08-09-2009, 09:52 PM
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I looked at their web site and looked at an interior dashboard shot. If the steering wheel didn't say 'Avanti', I'd swear I was looking at the dash of a mustang! I had my wifes car in the shop the other day and all they had was mustangs (oh the embarrassment of it) to drive. It had the same dash , steering wheel, shifter, radio and a/c vents.
The body is nice looking but I would think they would do better than copy the inside of a mustang.
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Old 08-09-2009, 10:01 PM
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The last Avantis (if we could call them that) were actually rebodied Mustangs. Prior to that they used Firebirds as their basis. I also have an '89 Convertible Avanti that is based on a cut down Caprice chassis. in the 80's and 90's they built them out of Monte Carlos, El Caminos and Caprices. The Avanti's that appeared after the "turn of the century" were done by yet another successor company (in a series of rebirths) that rebodied GM then Ford cars. Cost was upwards of $75k! Here is a pic of my '89 Vert.....it drives great and can be fixed at any GM dealership. Its an 18,000 mile car.

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Old 08-09-2009, 10:11 PM
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jetcybertorch
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Cool pic, it's been a while since I saw an Avanti, I kinda forgot about them. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 08-10-2009, 12:21 AM
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Very nice!
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Old 08-10-2009, 04:42 AM
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Originally Posted by mpuzach
Damn, that Avanti is beautiful. I was a kid when they came out and remember them vividly. I have to admit, I didn't remember that their bodies weren't made of steel.
They were metal. I drove one when they first came out. It was always my opinion that Studebaker was ahead of their time, it was darn shame when they went out of business. They were an innovative company.
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