Avanti (car)

The Avanti (including the Avanti II) is an American performance sports coupe based on the Studebaker Avanti and marketed through a succession of five different ownership arrangements between 1965 and 2006.

After Studebaker's December 20, 1963, closure of its South Bend factory and effective discontinuation of the auto with the 1964 model year, cars carrying the Avanti nameplate were initially produced from leftover Studebaker components, and later by the Avanti Motor Company from General Motors and Ford chassis and engines. A small and often interrupted stream of increasingly modified cars was made before all production ceased in 2006.

Avanti II

Altman and Newman

After Studebaker ended production at South Bend on December 20, 1963, the "Avanti" model name, tooling, Studebaker truck production rights, as well as parts and plant space were bought by local Studebaker dealers, Nate and Arnold Altman and Leo Newman, who incorporated as Avanti Motor Corporation and hand-built a small number of cars.[1]

Avanti

Michael Kelly

The Avanti Motor Company was purchased by Michael Eugene Kelly, whose ownership was very brief because the company's ownership changed in 1987.[10]

The "II" was dropped from the car's name and all subsequent cars were called the "Avanti". The company then had second-generation Avanti styling originated by Tom Kellogg, the youngest member of the original Studebaker Avanti design team.[11]

John Cafaro

The company was acquired and run from 1987 until 1991 by John J. Cafaro.[12][13] With the financial assistance of the State of Ohio, he moved all Avanti production from South Bend – its birthplace – to Youngstown, Ohio. In 1988 and 1989, Avanti made two-door coupes and a convertible. The 1988 Avanti was called the "Silver Year" models, marking 25 years since the Avanti's introduction.

In 1989, Cafaro lost faith in the original coupe and introduced a four-door version, of which 90 were built. Only 405 Avantis were made in four years at the Youngstown plant, which closed in 1991.[14]

Kelly repurchase

Kelly repurchased the company in 1999. He moved its operations from Ohio to Georgia and produced redesigned Avanti automobiles in Villa Rica from 2000 to 2005. From 2004, Ford Mustang chassis and engines were used. In October 2005, an Internet report said, "Avanti Motors [had] recently announced a new relationship with Ford Motor Company and was planning a big comeback".[15]

In early 2006, Kelly moved Avanti production to a new plant in Cancun, Mexico. Still, the company floundered after Kelly's arrest on fraud charges in December 2006 over a large Ponzi scheme he was running.[16] [17] The last Avanti rolled off the line in Cancun, Mexico in March 2006. All the Mustang-based Avantis used V8 engines, with the option of a Ford V6. Only one 2006 Avanti was built with a Ford V6 engine. The factory and showroom were emptied in 2011 and have been sold. Many extremely rare Studebaker and Avanti concepts and racing vehicles on the second floor of the building in Cancun have been moved elsewhere and/or sold.[18]

body style	2-door coupe 2-door convertible 4-door sedan
related	Studebaker Avanti
layout	FR layout

Avanti II

Altman and Newman

Stephen Blake

Avanti

Michael Kelly

John Cafaro

Kelly repurchase

Further reading

External links

References