If I had to vote on some fictional creation that I’m certainly glad does not exist in reality, I think “zombies” would merit serious consideration. Pretty much any undead thing that mingles and attempts to feast on the living, and is yet impossible to kill, isn’t something I have any desire to ever encounter.
Unfortunately, that idea hasn’t been written into the rules of the auto industry. I present to you, a creation of Studebaker – the Avanti coupe.
The Avanti (meaning “forward”, in Italian) was a creation of the last regime at Studebaker Motor Corporation, hoping to turn the auto market on its ear with a combination of style and performance quite unlike any other. Chevy had its Corvette at the time, Ford has its Thunderbird; thus entered Studebaker with the Avanti.
The original Avanti was actually a sort of novel idea. Like the Corvette, the body panels were formed from fiberglass. Based on the Lark sedan chassis, the idea was essentially to create a medium-price point muscle car, but with an upper-tier luxury interior. It was the idea of a Mustang before the Mustang came to fruition (although the Avanti cost considerably more). The original Avanti received a modest, lukewarm welcome, and maybe if the car had seen better engineering, and lower costs, it could have extended the life of Studebaker. But Studebaker failed. Not so with the Avanti, who got a new lease on life when the tooling and nameplate rights were purchased by local Indiana businessmen. The car continued to be hand-built in part of the old Studebaker facilities still standing in South Bend for almost two decades afterwards, at the rate of just under one car per day. The car changed very little in that time span, and developed a cult-like following – mostly old Studebaker fans who probably hoped to one day see a return of the old marque. In due time, however, the company ran afoul of financial problems and had to be sold to new investors. And it is at this point in the mid-80’s, where Avanti took that big ugly step from “nostalgic timepiece” to “omg kill that beast”.
A new owner, Michael Kelly (this name is important for relevance to the AoAH) bought the company and immediately instituted major changes. The first step (or misstep, if you will) was to rip the car away from it’s South Bend/Studebaker roots and relocate to the broken-down steel town of Youngstown, Ohio. Kelly also felt the car needed an update to its 20-something year old design, and introduced a new front fascia (to the chagrin of Avanti fans). Kelly also introduced concept designs and plans for a ragtop model, a 4-door Avanti sedan, and even an Avanti stretch limo. (This was still the 80’s, so an Avanti SUV or minivan idea hadn’t been tapped yet.) Kelly’s grand marketing ideas did give the car a tiny bump in sales, but the company continued to bleed cash and forced Kelly out of business a few years later. Like zombies in a bad story, though, the Avanti was not dead yet.
The Avanti went dormant in the 90’s, but the company came up with the not-so original idea of using a General Motors F-body chassis (Camaro/Firebird) and attaching newly-designed fiberglass panels to create a “modern new look” Avanti. The end result, as seen in the photos above, was actually something more akin to a Camaro that had undergone bad kit-car treatment. The windshield, roofline, window pillars and doors all but screamed “Camaro” at the time. Michael Kelly – remember him? – re-entered the picture and purchased the company back, hoping to market the new F-body based AVX. Kelly once again moved the company, this time to a spot west of Atlanta, where the kit cars vehicles would be produced. Avanti’s owners thought they had something really special, as the car was marketed with a stellar asking price of almost $80,000.
Eventually, the problem with using someone else’s platform arose – GM cancelled production of the Camaro and Firebird. This, however, did not mean the death of Avanti… just yet. Avanti production was moved to Ford’s Mustang platform, resulting in yet another re-design that didn’t look repulsive for the first time in a couple of generations. In fact, the ‘Stang’s shorter wheelbase resulted in a look that yielded some lines very similar to the original 1963 Avanti. As a bonus, the Mustang-based Avanti also gained cool Mustang technology like Ford’s powerful 4.6L V8 and well-sorted chassis. Kelly moved production once again, this time to Mexico, in 2006, hoping to cut costs and reboot the company’s image. A few months later, Kelly was arrested on federal charges of operating a Ponzi scheme (separate from the Avanti operations). Avanti Motor Corporation ceased operations for good in 2007, although the company’s web site is still active.
At long last, the zombie had finally been laid to rest.
Terrific history on Avanti here: Ate Up With Motor
Archive of Automotive Horrors 