The car is still under its original Manufacturer's Statement of Origin. Whoever buys this 21 year old car will be its "first owner."
	

Although it would be a stretch to claim that I am selling a "new" car, it nevertheless is true that the car has never before been titled, and it is also true that I have just completed putting a low mile "late model" Avanti through the most extensive restoration I have ever performed on a car.



I am the owner and operator of Avanti Northwest. I am 54 years of age and started tinkering with Studebakers and Avantis since before I had a driver's license. I have been capable of performing a first-quality automotive restoration since I was in my late teens.



We obtained this car in 1985. At first, there was the intent of reselling it, but then it became our demonstrator car and/or our corporate car, and we ended up keeping it. Look to the bottom of the listing for copies of the documentation from when we first acquired this car.



You are looking at several pictures showing where this car has been parked for almost the last ten years. In dry and "semi-heated" (as in, "it has never been allowed to get cold") storage for almost the last ten years.



At one point quite a few years ago, the car was vandalized by someone who really wanted the stereo. After that incident, we parked it inside for a number of years before we got around to working on it.



I repainted this car in 1999. During the ensuing seven years, I kept waiting for a friend of mine who said that he would help me finish the car or maybe help out around the office to allow me time to work on the car myself. Said friend never showed up - at least not for purposes of working on the car - so I finally finished it up during my spare time during the last sixteen months months or so.



I spent a lot of time block sanding this car to give it its mirror finish. Photographer's note: The finish on this car reflects so perfectly that my Canon D60 kept wanting to focus on the reflections rather than on the car itself.



I reground all the side gaps on the bumpers so that they would not rub against their corresponding body panels. Anyone who is familiar with an Avanti or most any fiberglass car will know what I am talking about.



New headlight covers! I used to make these on contract for Avanti. Part number 175591. I sold them as many as 50 pair during some weeks. I brought the mold out of retirement to make two for this car.



I replaced all the side trim with new old stock parts.



There are NO chips on the paint. We used a flash on some of these pictures, and it lights up dust like it was the 4th of July.



The tires were new in 1992, but realistically have only a few miles left on them. There is more wear in the front than there is the rear. Tires are not rotatable, since the sizes front and back are different (245 rear, 215 front - as original) and they are directional on top of it.



We might note here that we shot pictures of this car on two different cloudy/bright days using two different digital cameras and experimenting with no-flash, fill-flash, and full-flash. This will explain some of the lighting and color variations.

We also experimented with a polarizing filter, in an effort to cut down on reflections. This car is so highly polished that it has become a mirror. All the polarizing filter allowed us to do is to move the reflections around. We could maybe get rid of them on the door panel, but then they would show on the hood. Dial them off the hood, and they would show again on the side panel. Is there such a thing as pancake makeup for cars?



Believe it or not, this car actually GETS this mileage. Why not drive an economy car! Especially, a heavily-built economy car with a roll bar that might permit you to survive if you got in a wreck.



No pits, new gaskets, door handles properly centered in door panels.



Same here!



This car has the 5 liter - 305 cubic inch - Chevrolet High Output engine that has been detailed in all respects.

The coil and module were changed per a General Motors recall.

Please note new windshield washer bottle - with fluid in it!



I replaced all radiator and heater hoses with original equipment.

I upgraded the electric fan motors to new Flexolite heavier duty units. Flexolite made the original fans for Avanti. Also removed the fuse assembly and installed a circuit breaker for the fan motors.



Virtually all engine compartment bolts and plated hardware were replaced.



The battery is six months old with proper hold downs to keep it from bouncing around and sliding into the air conditioner, AND a brand new air conditioner compressor to make the air blow cold. As I sit here and write this, TODAY was the day that we installed the new air conditioner compressor.



New fan temperature control switch. And the previously-mentioned new battery.



Original hood pad in excellent condition, but note rub marks.

All paintable surfaces on the engine and in the engine compartment have been repainted and/or retouched to better than factory original.



Notice the moonroof fit. You won't find one like this any place else.



Original trunk carpeting in pristine original condition.

Please note that the somewhat uneven color of the tan carpet is because of uneven flash coverage. The carpet is perfect.



Note the original tire-changing tools and nearly as-new spare tire. The tire has been on the ground, but probably has not broken a thousand miles.



The tools reside in the original tool pouch on the back panel of the trunk up under the package shelf.



We got the tools in the trunk, and then we have the spare and the tools in the trunk, and then we have the front side of the spare, and then we have the back side of the side of the tire, and then . . . . I am running out of things to say about the trunk. It's a trunk! You carry stuff in it.



Please note original as-new jack.



Instructions for changing tire: Have someone else do it! Or get AAA. That little orange sticker is the caution sticker for the twin-traction.



Hood is as beautifully refinished as is the rest of the car, goes up like it should, and down like it should, and it opens from the front, just like with all other Avantis.



Call this mood lighting. This is almost how car looks inside at night with the interior lights on. Of course, a few gazillion hours refinishing the wood didn't hurt.



The plastic shift indicator is new.



I can't remember whether or not the ash tray is new. Doesn't matter - the car has never been smoked in!



Not much you can say except that everything is perfect.

Windows and mechanisms were removed, restored, rebuilt and repainted - and I did this on both sides.



The left seat bolster has a few "character lines" from where Marv Olsen, our corporate secretary, insisted on sliding his fat butt to get in and out of the car.



The leather on the upper and outer bolsters was replaced.

I called Recaro to obtain those little round replacement inserts that go in the seat adjustment knobs. Recaro said they didn't have the little round inserts - everyone else had lost theirs too, and Recaro was out of them - but that they could send me complete knob assemblies. I asked if they could send me two sets, and they did. Now, I have new knobs in this car and in my car too. I might note that the original knobs were round, while these replacement knobs are triangular, as Recaro currently uses.



Let's talk about the carpet here: All carpets were replaced with original Mohawk carpet, except for the door panels, which remain as new. Edges were bound, as with the original, with cloth binding. Marv used to be kind of sloppy with his coffee and used to get it all over himself and the carpet. We have replaced both Marv and the carpeting.



I changed all four speakers to accomodate the higher wattage of the new Blaupunkt CD player, while retaining the original speaker housings.



New panel board, new chrome, door carpeting as new.

Note replacement door light switches from pre-1983 that actually work.



Rear seat and belts are as-new are about as-new. The gas tank - and this is relevant because it resides in back of the rear seat - has been totally resealed.



Probably some of these pictures are a duplicate, but it's better to have too many pictures than not enough, right!!



Ok, so maybe we DO have too many pictures of the rear seat. The back seat is in good shape because Fat Butt never sat back there.



I want to remind you once again that the hood hinges at the front. Let's say this about that: All stainless has been polished, original replacement floor mats, and the biggest doors you will ever see on an American car - bigger even than on the Toronado.



I am really proud of this. Please note fit and finish to an area not meant to be seen that rivals the rest of the car in fit and finish. No overspray on screws or rubber. This is better than anything you will ever see coming out of Detroit!



Oh, great! Marv and his "mood lighting" again. How do you like that wistful, romantic fogginess? Note that I removed that original tacky paste-down that went on the center of the wheel. I will put it back if you want it, but most people would prefer the Nardi emblem.

I replaced all dash bulbs and installed those red filters over the dash bulbs, thereby producing the aircraft cockpit red glow for which the original Avantis were famous. I did this while I had the dash disassembled and the gauges out so that I could refinish the wood and repaint the gauge housings.



The original resin-coated wood was recoated in lacquer with flexible additive to allow for the predictable outcome of dropping coffee cups, falling burgundy glasses, misplaced legal briefs and the like. It IS beautiful wood, but the original finish was kind of brittle. I refinished it with something that is a little more flexible and tolerant of abuse.



Don't you love that steering wheel? $300 to $400 to replace it. Note new brake pedal pad, not that Marv ever used the brakes anyway!



Refinished and recarpeted glove box.



Note the brochures for the new speakers and the new stereo.



And here's a picture of the stereo. Figure about $250 installed at the local car hi-fi rip-off shop. Note a quite high output that should take away any temptation to add an auxiliary amplifier and/or subwoofer.

The original Sacramento stereo was stolen, so I ordered a late 1985 thin-mount DIN bezel from the factory and installed it. Everything matches up the way it should.



The speaker grills are original, but I repainted them.

We also replaced the automatic electric antenna.



The light switch cluster is like new.



The headliner is a correct and brand new replacement.



The leather on the roll bar is original. It appears as new.



I have removed, cleaned, and regasketed the moonroof.



The moon roof works perfectly . . . . .



. . . . . . and the four corners . . . . . .



. . . . fit perfectly.

Here we have the original window sticker. Since the photo is a little hard to read, here is what it says. Suggested price of $37.995. 305 cubic inch V8 engine with computer command control and electronic ignition, 4 speed automatic overdrive GM transmission, quick ratio power steering, power font disc brakes, power winders, power door locks, power mirrors both left and right, power trunk release, air conditioning, full instrumentation, electronic cruise control, intermittent wiper control, tilt steering wheel, premium Blaupunkt sund system, etc., automatic antenna, tinted windows, rear window deicer, Recaro seats, wide body side moldings, steel belted radial tires, wire wheel covers, sound deadener, urethane paint, rectangular halogen headlamps, limited slip differential, power moonroof, Nardi wood steering wheel, wood trim package, and leather interior.
	

Please note that the original radio with cassette player has been replaced with a similar radio with CD player. The wire wheel covers have been replaced with the wheels shown in the pictures.



Note the pristine gas cap, key set, original 1985 key ring with original Avanti keys, and note that the area around the fuel filler is as clean as if it was just painted. I tore out the Mickey Mouse Avanti gas flap when I repainted the car. The damn thing just gets in the way and causes other problems. BUT, if it is something that YOU absolutely have to have, then I can make one up and reinstall it.



True three-piece wheels.
Four of them.
Not fake.
As-new.
On all four corners.



No, we did NOT wipe all the oil for the pictures. The car simply does NOT leak . . . . . not oil . . . . . . not fluids . . . . . not water . . . . . not anything.



Original power steering lines and gee, golly, gawrsh, Batman, look at all those new shiny bolts.



Note that the backsides of all four wheels have been cleaned and ARE clean.



Note the new bolts and hardware on the A-arms. Almost forgot the new three-way adjustable Gabriel shock absorbers. They are new on all four corners - a premium shock at a premium price. I got stuck paying real money for these shock absorbers just like anyone else!



Marv reshot the hog troughs several times. Neither one of us is satisfied with the resulting pictures. I suppose if they were dripping rust, THAT would show in the pictures.



So how do you successfully photograph something that is shiny black acrylic enamel and from UNDER the car? Well maybe you don't, especially when there is nothing to show but a perfect and perfectly-painted black hogh trough.



Doesn't much matter. The hog troughs were perfect when I started - this car was never on the road enough for the bottom side to rust - and they are perfect now that I am done, but NOW they are PERFECT and they are freshly PAINTED.



Emergency brake assembly, catalytic converter, exhaust, mufflers, etc., are as new.



These are the original mufflers and they are as new.



White spots here and there are from the flash catching highlights here and there. There is no dirt. Marv and I have been afraid to drive this car ever since I finished.



Note hog trough drain hole. Round, painted, not rusted.



The following information is a word-for-word quote (less subject headings and without paragraph breaks) fromhttp://www.avantisource.com/hogtroughs.html: Known technically as "Underbody Sill Reinforcements" or "Torque Boxes", the hog troughs are an integral part of an Avanti's structural integrity. Before you buy an Avanti, always check the hog troughs for rust. Replacing hog troughs is difficult and expensive. You don't want to do it if you don't have to. The Hog Trough is a part that runs under the door sill of the Avanti from just behind the front wheel well to just behind the back wheel well. It is riveted to the floor pan, bonded to the door sill, and bolted to the roll bar. Bolts also go into the hog trough from the frame as an additional way of holding the body to the frame. The hog troughs add strength to the body, hold the body to the frame, provide mounts for the seats, provide support for the roll bar, and support the sill (or rocker panel) under the doors. During a side impact crash, the hog troughs also provide added safety to the passengers. Roughly... that is what they look like. They are high gauge steel pressed into a trough-like shape. Hog Troughs can rust out. The trough shape makes them strong and adds great strength to the body of the car. Unfortunately, this shape also can retain water and rust. Hog troughs have drain areas, but if clogged or installed improperly, there is no drainage. Owners have been known to drill drain holes to prevent rust.

You can also get more hog trough information at http://patriot.net/~jonroq/Html/troughs1.html. There are numerous other sites and sources that discuss the care, feeding, and repair of the Infamous Avanti Hog Trough.



EXCEPT the hog troughs on this car are perfect.



Believe it or not the exhaust is original. I did everything I could to clean and polish it and bring it back to as-new. I replaced all the clamps with stainless steel.



I don't believe I painted all this stuff, but I did. There is a thin line between perfectionism and insanity, and this goes over into insanity. This is better than original.



Marv is really proud of this picture. The unbelievable part is that he was actually sober when he crawled under there to get this picture.

The rear axle is running Amsoil 90 synthetic lubricant.



I am REALLY round of the hood seams. Note the even and equal spacing at all four corners - something the factory never ever achieved.



Part of the trick is in grinding and filling the corners of the hood and the corners of the body so that everything fits and matches, and part of it is in seeing that the hood is properly mounted on the hinges and that the hinges are properly mounted on the body.



Sexy!!!!!



Here is a scan of the original wholesale car invoice:



There wasn't a whole lot of dealer profit built into these cars.



Isn't that the cutest rear end you have ever seen on a car!

And here is a scan of the final delivery report . . . . .



. . . . . meaning that it was never turned in because we never sold the car and there was never any reason to turn it in.



It was hard for us not to take too many pictures. Just a terrific paint job.

Here is a diagram that the factory mistakenly sent us with the car that shows issues with the paint.



Avanti Motors was in financial trouble at the time and desperate to get cars out the door. I can't believe that they shipped this car knowing of these deficiencies, and I can't believe that they mistakenly sent that diagram along with the car.

And here is a list of deficiencies that I personally typed up when I took delivery of the car.



That list is meant to make things look far worse than they really were since it was something I typed up at the time in support of my claim to receive a partial reimbursement back from the factory. Most of the items would not have been noticed by the typical consumer. However, in the ensuing years, everyone of those gripes - whether major, minor, justified, or unjustified - have been fixed.

Marv always talks of the myth of the hand-built car. When you first obtain one, you expect it to be special, and it typically is, usually in terms of luxury, performance, and/or styling. And some times there is a level of fit and finish there that you will not see in the usual Detroit product, but usually not and therein lies the problem. We are not talking a mass produced car where every left front fender is identical to every other left front fender, and every left door is identical to every other left door, and everything predictably fits perfectly. Nope! with the hand-built car, everything is hand-made and hand-fitted, and the resulting car can either be a masterpiece or more likely an almost-masterpiece with a lot of little nagging details that are not quite right. Even an extremely expensive mass-produced specialty car such as the Corvette - which is also made of fiberglass - will typically be delivered with a lot of little problems for the dealer to attend to before the customer takes the car out and trashes it.

Myth of the hand-built car aside, everything about this car has been made perfect as is possible.





The taillights are perfect. One portion is stainless steel, while the other is chrome over aluminum Everything has been disassembled, cleaned, polished an reassembled.



The 1984 and 1985 versions of these taillight assemblies had two bulbs in them and would often melt the ruby red plastic lens. I have replaced the standard tungsten bulbs with low temperature light-emitting diodes. They fit into the original sockets and no wiring was changed. If for some illogical reason you want to go back to tungsten bulbs, you are free to do so. My modification looks great, they are bright, and they are meant to last.



This car is just simply a no-disappointment situation. Whether it hits top dollar or not is up to the eBay bidders, but I can't imagine any top-dollar bidder being anything other than overjoyed to own this car.

It will be up to the high bidder to get a $1,000 deposit to us - PayPal is preferred, but anything else that works for you is going to work for us - within three days of the close of the auction.

The high bidder will have to pay us in full within ten days of the close of the auction.

The high bidder is to pick up the car within thirty days of the close of the auction.

Although we will not be responsible to transport or deliver the car, we will do most anything reasonable to help you get it, such as arrange professional shipping at buyer's expense, pick you up at the airport, help coordinate transportation if it is a local sale, etc., etc.

The car is located one the south side of Tacoma, Washington. We are about 10 minutes from either I-5 or Highway 512. Here is a map that will help you find us.

Arrangements to view the car can be made by emailing us at avantinw@hotmail.com, or by calling me on my cellular phone at 253 405 4321. The car is typically available to see any time from late morning into early evening between now and when the auction closes. We are a legally licensed Washington State automobile dealer. Washington State residents MUST pay usual sales, transfer, and licensing fees at the time of sale.
HAPPY BIDDING!!