Pic of Two Plastic Cars.....and one isnt a Corvette
#1
Le Mans Master
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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.
Last edited by gilbybarr; 08-09-2009 at 04:55 PM.
#5
Drifting
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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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#10
Team Owner
Nice looking Avanti.
#13
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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.
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.
#14
Safety Car
One of the great designs, Andy Granitelli drove an R3 to 198 MPH at Bonneville.
#16
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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.
The body is nice looking but I would think they would do better than copy the inside of a mustang.
#17
Le Mans Master
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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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St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12
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.