1971 Avanti II
edited by David Barth, 3 January 2010.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in January 2010.
This information is from the Rocky Mountain Avanti Chapter of the Avanti Owners Associations International
(AOAI):
The Studebaker Avanti was a sport coupe originally built by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend,
Indiana.
All Avantis manufactured by Studebaker were powered by a V-8 289 cubic inch displacement engine, and many were
equipped with a Paxton Supercharger.
All Avantis are of Fiberglas construction.
Studebaker built 4,643 Avantis during the 1963/1964 model years. In December of 1963 Studebaker announced that
production would cease at the South Bend Plant. Later, the rights to build the Avanti and a portion of the original
Studebaker plant were sold to two South Bend Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Neuman. Altman and Neuman would
restart Avanti production and they would be designated as "Avanti II’s" and would be powered by Chevrolet V-8 engines.
All Avanti II’s were built on a Studebaker chassis until 1987. The 1987/1989 models were based on General Motor’s
G-platform, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
In October 1982 the rights to the Avanti II were sold to Stephen Blake, who introduced the convertible. Blake declared
bankruptcy in 1986, and Michael Kelly purchased the company. Kelly then relocated production to Youngstown, Ohio. In
1988 Kelly sold his interest to J. J. Cafaro who developed the four-door "luxury touring sedan" which was never very
successful. By 1991 Avanti II production would fizzle out and a fire at the factory would end production.
Stephen Blake would reacquire the rights to the car now called "Avanti."
A second generation of the Avanti would be styled by Tom Kellog, one of the original Avanti design team members. This
car was based on General Motor’s F platform of the Camaro and Firebird.
At the time of the edit of this document, 25 January 2010, Avanti Motors is based in Cancun, Mexico, and the latest
Avanti is being built on a Ford Chassis.
