1980 Studebaker Avanti II

Coupe

V8-350 hp

Automatic

RQB3094

Clear

Gasoline

800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This is a private party 2nd owner car. I purchased it in 1986. The car has 46,800 original miles. My selling price is $21,000. Studebaker closed its USA plant in 12/1963 and its Canadian plant in 3/1966. Avanti’s continued to be produced in the original South Bend, Indiana plant after the Altman brothers purchased the plant from Studebaker and started production again in 1965. They continued making the same car but used new mechanical components mainly from General Motors. This is not considered a kit car. The Avanti sports coupe with its stream-lined design was to save Studebaker from growing difficulties. It has fiberglass body panels similar to Corvette, but has rear seating. The car is in excellent condition. It has an original Corvette 350 HP V-8 engine, power steering, power brakes, automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, power steering, and power brakes. The clock and cassette player do not function . The color scheme on this car is very nice with a cream exterior (same color repaint in 1984) and dark brown interior. It has a classy interior and exterior appearance. I purchased this car indirectly from the owner’s daughter who lived in Glencoe, Illinois and who had just traded it in for a new car at a local auto dealer. Her father had retired to Florida where the car was located for many years. I had been looking for an Avanti for many years when I came across this one locally. The Avantis from 1965 to the early the early 1980’s had a mechanical make-up that appealed to me with its classic 1960’s-look similar to Corvette and Jaguar but with the relative ease of obtaining or rebuilding mechanical components that were used in the post-1965 Avantis. Similar to other Avantis from the post 1966 time period this one has original equipment Corvette 350 V-8 engine, a GM Borg Warner automatic transmission (rebuilt unit in 1986), GM air conditioner (retrofitted with new parts and R-134a freon in 2005), Ford master brake cylinder, chrome Corvette Mag ‘500’ tire rims (tire size P205/7.7R.15), and other components that were mass produced by United States major auto companies and for which parts are still readily available today. The car has a fiberglass exterior similar to Corvette. I had the steel frame and undercarriage rust-protected in 1987 with a waxy undercoating formerly offered by the Ziebart Company. The interior instrument panel and center shift console are covered with a real wood veneer of birds-eye maple (not printed plastic). I have all the original owner’s purchase paperwork from 1980 and full documentation of all preventative and other repairs since my purchase of the car in 1986. The cassette radio is a Blaubunkt model CR-2001. Other features of the car are front bucket seats and rear seating for three (can be used as a family car). The car has never been run in the snow and has been garaged since I have owned it. It has been an annual guest at the local July 4th parade. When weather has not allowed it to be run outdoors, I have run the car once every 3 weeks for about 20 to 30 minutes to permit its mechanical components to be lubricated and exercised. It has never sat in long-term storage. The photographs show the excellent condition of the exterior and interior driver/passenger compartments. There is a small section of the driver’s side seat that has an area about 3 inches by 5 inches of fraying of the seat covering. The engine compartment has not had its visible mechanical components polished. The car has always passed the Illinois Emissions Control tests. Following is some additional history on Avanti for those interested: The original Studebaker Avanti was a sports coupe built at the South Bend, Indiana plant. Under the Studebaker brand, it was built there between June 1962 and December 1963 with round chrome headlight surrounds. It has classic lines similar to the Corvette and Jaguar from that same time period. The Avanti was designed by the world-famous industrial designer, Raymond Loewy, and his design team. The name is an Italian word meaning “forward or advance”. Studebaker closed its plant in December 1964, but the Avanti continued to be constructed at the same plant with most of the same employees under the ownership of the Altman brothers with the 1965 model then referred to as the Avanti II. The front chrome headlight surrounds were changed to a square pattern. The Avanti and Avanti II were advanced cars for their time including safety features not yet offered on other cars. This included seatbelts, safety door latches, disc brakes, padded dash board, and a roll-over bar protecting the occupants with its fiberglass body parts. The car with its classic lines including chrome bumpers stayed in production with this same appearance from 1962 to about 1982. Later versions changed the bumper and body style until the last model was produced in 2007. Payment to be by wire transfer or local cashier’s check cashed at local bank.