1981 Other Makes Avanti II GT

Coupe

350 crate engine

Automatic

12AAV1234B1003204

Clear

Gasoline

*FOR SALE 1981 AVANTI II, serial # RQB 3204. This car has the original fiberglass GT body designed by Raymond Lowey. It was built in South Bend at the former Studebaker factory by Nate Altman’s Avanti Motors, the successor company to the Studebaker Avanti legacy. This particular car was restored as a “driver” to enable it to be driven in all weather without worrying about having to protect a show car from the public. In appearance it is almost identical to the original Studebaker-built 1964 square headlight model, but under the skin it is mostly easy to obtain and service Chevy mechanicals. As such, it is a powerful “Old Skool” daily driver that incorporates muscle-car era mechanical improvements with the creature comforts we are acustomed to today, aiming at insuring long life and reliability. This car has approximately 78,000 total miles overall with less than 30,000 on the crate engine and transmission rebuild.. In the last years all major systems have been upgraded or rebuilt at a cost of approximately $17,000 plus. “Big Red” has: • A remanufactured Chevy 350 Jasper crate motor, now with about 27,000 miles on it running a 4 barrel Edelbrock carb. It has a recent tune up, belts, wiring, rotor, PS hoses, etc. The car starts easily in all weather and runs perfectly. In my opinion it could be driven anywhere in the country right now. Just gas up and go. • A rebuilt GM 700 automatic transmission which, coupled to the Power Shift linkage, delivers smooth shifts in either manual or automatic modes. • Turner front disc upgrade and new rear brakes. • Power Brakes, Steering, Windows, Locks, etc. - all working 100%. • Air Conditioning was gone through completely and converted to R134 at a cost of over $1300. • Many, if not all, front end common wear parts, bushings, tie rods, etc. have been repaired or replaced. • Solid underbody. “Hog Troughs” replaced with stainless steel at a cost of over $4000. • The gas tank was removed, cleaned, lifetime coated and replaced. • Auxiliary electric cooling fan installed with manual switch control. This car never overheats. • New underhood soundproofing. • Hidden battery cut out switch installed for theft deterance. • Recent Magnum 500 wheels with new tires. • Recent exhaust system with dual Flowmaster mufflers. It has a rumble! • New 1964 Avanti stainless steel grill. • Upgraded brake lights using former back up lights in the trunk light sockets (now four brake lights) and new, brighter back-up lights installed at sides of license plate holder - looks and operates much better than the original set up. • Newer front parking lights. • New front chromed bumper, with all new rubber inserts. • New front/rear emblems, plus new 1964 era side emblems and Raymond Lowey asymmetric hood ornament installed, as on the Studebaker originals. • New overhead rocker switches (all six- $44 each!.) New shiny dash end caps. New quartz dashboard clock. New wiper switch. GM tilt column. New “engine-turned” applique on console and new Momo custom steering wheel. New AM/FM/CD radio and front speakers. It sounds very good. Power brake booster rebuilt last month. • Pontiac Trans Am 2001 bucket seats, drivers side is power. These are much more comfortable than stock low-back Avanti seats. New back seat upholstery to match, new trim to match, and dashboard and trim dyed to match (graphite.) • New lap seat belts. Complete new interior and trunk carpet with extra jute underlay to kill sound. • New black headliner and roll bar cover with extra insulation added throughout. This car was built to be and is driven on the street. Hence there are stone chips, some small stress cracks, etc. Despite that, it is still the traffic stopper it always was. Take this to a car show and you’ll be amazed at the attention it gets. This is a good looking, reliable muscle car with all the creature comforts. It’s red and it’s ready. I would not hesitate to get in and drive this car to either coast on a moment’s notice. If you are looking for a $50,000 and up trailer queen this is probably not the car for you. But if you like to go out to the garage, turn the key and drive off in a car that you can show anywhere, that is fun, distinctive, unique and different yet thoroughly reliable and modern, and can be serviced anywhere, this is a car you should consider. I just turned 75 and life has taught me “It’s later than you think." So out and have some fun - while you can. Be different - Drive an Avanti! Johnny Carson, Shirley Bassey and Frank Sinatra all owned and drove Avantis, along with dozens of other celebrities such as Julius “The Doctor” Irving, Indy-winner Roger Ward, TV’s Barbara Walters, race car owner Andy Granatelli, etc. I think this car is “the most bang for the buck” that you can get, and still have a reliable car you can go anywhere in, day or night, in the heat or cold, and be comfortable. This car cost over $20,000 new in 1981. It has had lots of TLC and over $17,000 invested in restoration and refurbishment. About the Studebaker Avanti and the Avanti II - This is a classic Avanti II, designed by Raymond Lowey and built in South Bend, Indiana, USA. Despite their unique good looks Avantis like this one are hard-charging muscle cars that ask no quarter and take no prisoners. Avantis were designed to run, and run fast. The very first Avantis went to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set 29 new national stock car records in a period of just 12 hours, including a ten mile run at an average of 163.90 mph! The Avanti was, at that time, America’s fastest production car, and in recent years modified Avanti’s just like this one - four seat, full fendered coupes - have clocked better than 200 mph! Since then, the Avanti has broken another record for the production life of a single model - Avantis were built and sold almost continuously from June 1962 through December 2006, and the car still has a strong cult following along with a well organized network of enthusiasts. The Avanti’s unique and timeless shape was designed by a team of stylists employed by legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy, and incorporates safety with groundbreaking aerodynamics and body design. Avanti is Italian and means "forward" or "advance", and the Avanti was always ahead of its time. While Jaguar began offering production-car disc brakes in 1957 on the XK150, the Avanti was the first American mass-produced car to feature standard disc brakes. The Avanti's emphasis on safety, with seat belts available as a dealer-installed option (but almost always fitted), Mercedes-Benz-designed safety door-latches, fully padded dash and a roll-over protection bar was also very advanced. The Avanti's classic design originated in an intense five-week session in a rented house in Palm Springs, California near the home of lead designer Raymond Loewy. It’s styling was developed by the team of Bob Andrews, Tom Kellogg, and John Ebstein. The waist has a coke bottle shape, which holds up a thin-section roof which incorporates an integral roll bar. Loewy achieved the look of a mid-engine sports car by replacing the conventional grille with a bottom breathing functional air intake placed under the front bumper, a styling feature that finally reached the family sedan only in the 1980s with the Ford Taurus. The driver looks over an asymmetrical hump in the hood. The padded cockpit features four bucket seats, the rears mounted a few inches higher than the fronts to present rear seat passengers with a startlingly clear view of the road ahead. This timeless design was the most advanced offering of its day, and still manages to look young and fresh after nearly half a century. This car is powered by a smooth and powerful Chevrolet 350 Jasper crate motor with approximately 28,000 miles on it. The car is dead reliable and can be driven and serviced anywhere. The original Avanti was heavily promoted, and was named the Official Pace Car of the 1962 Indianapolis 500-mile race. Only one design change was ever made - the cars built in 1962 and sold as 1963 models had round headlights - all Avantis produced after July, 1963 featured square headlight bezels as on this car. Sadly, Studebaker, a company that made vehicles for 105 years, was financially too far gone for the Avanti to rescue it, and on December 9, 1963, Studebaker announced the end of car and truck manufacturing in South Bend, and the consolidation of all vehicle manufacturing in its Hamilton, Ontario, Canada plant. At that point, the company dropped the Avanti, the Gran Turismo Hawk, and all pickups and trucks in order to focus on sedans, coupes and station wagons. Only 4,643 Studebaker Avantis (not including prototypes, some of which were assigned serial numbers at the end of the run) had been produced by the time Studebaker closed the South Bend factory on December 20, 1963. Studebaker died, but the Avanti lived on. The Avanti II Following the closure of the South Bend Studebaker plant and the halt of Avanti production, two dedicated Indiana auto dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman, purchased the Avanti name, the body molds, remaining parts, tools, jigs, and a portion of the South Bend factory to continue making the Avanti. These hand-built Avantis, called the Avanti II, were initially given Chevrolet 327 Corvette engines and were meticulously built to customer order in very small numbers. The company operated with no dealers and always managed to make a profit. This car - Avanti RQB 3204 was one of just 170 built by hand in 1981. The Avanti has been shown at many shows and venues including the Museum of Modern Art. A red Avanti like this one was recently featured on the cover and in an extensive article in Hemmings Classic Car (August - 2009) and another article was the feature of the Design Cues section of the prestigious Automobile Quarterly, The Never-ending Story of America’s Great GT (Vol. 49, No. 1 - First quarter 2009). This 1981 Avanti II was hand-built by a team of five veteran Studebaker master craftsmen in the original plant. Nothing like it was built at the time and nothing like it exists today at anything near what I am asking for it. Transport-Shipping I am happy to be an active part of this process from start to finish but the buyer is ultimately responsible for pickup or shipping of this vehicle and any pre-purchase inspections need to be done BEFORE auction ending. If you wish to have it shipped using a service, I will gladly assist in loading and be present for the transport condition form or other reasonable help. Locating a transporter is the buyers responsibility. Vehicle transport has become very reasonable .Dependable Auto Shippers (D.A.S.) is a transporter that eBay recommends. My location zip code is 60546. Additional Terms This vehicle is being sold as is, where is, with no warranty, expressed written or implied. The seller shall not be responsible for the correct description, authenticity, genuineness, or defects herein, and makes no warranty in connection therewith. No allowance or set aside will be made on account of any incorrectness, imperfection, defect or damage. Any descriptions or representations are for identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type. It is the responsibility of the buyer to have thoroughly inspected the vehicle and to have satisfied himself or herself as to the condition and value and to bid based upon that judgment solely. The seller shall and will make every reasonable effort to disclose any known defects associated with this vehicle at the buyer's request prior to the close of sale. Seller assumes no responsibility for any repairs regardless of any oral statements about the vehicle.