New Florida AOAI member with a '67

[MattB]

Hey guys.. Thought I'd write up a little intro and share what I think is a pretty neat car. 

I've had nearly a dozen different Studebakers (typically one at a time), and was on the lookout for a late '50's truck when this '67 Avanti came along and distracted me. This past March, a gentleman helping settle his late friend's estate reached out through our Studebaker parts store and asked if this car was something we'd be interested in. I humored him and asked what the price was, and was met with "make an offer, we don't have an asking price".. Generally that means that someone has an inflated value in mind so I let it go. Nearly a month passed and I found myself still thinking about the possibility of owning a pre-1970 Avanti II. After all, the RQA models have always been my favorite Avantis... And this one did look nice in the photos... What did I have to lose? I couldn't resist and I reached out again in mid April. I made a low offer, hoping get a response with an actual dollar amount. I figured that then I could sleep at night knowing it was well out of my price range. Well, much to my surprise, the response turned out to be, "Come get it." So we hooked up the trailer, drove to Charlotte, NC, and brought it home. 

1967 RQA-0135, 327 with Powershift. The car had an extensive body-off restoration about 15 years ago.. Every single part of this car was rebuilt or replaced and everything is literally like-new. I'll never know how much the previous owner spent on restoring this car, but it wasn't cheap. The sad part is that the guy was having the car restored as a gift for his wife, and shortly after they divorced. The car then sat for several years under a cover in a garage, being driven less than 300 miles since it was done. 

I've spent the last 5-6 weekends working out the bugs, and repairing things that have gone south due to sitting for so long. I've ditched the original Holley in favor of a new Edelbrock, installed a new fuel pump and fuel tank. Removed the coil spring spacers from the front end. Installed Hella H4 headlights and relays, and converted the backup lights into extra brake lights. Installed new wheels and tires. Along with a few other odds and ends.. I still need to get the a.c. system operational, and install the new flanged rear axles. I've only put a couple of hundred miles on it so far.. But I gotta say. I like it.

Matt Burnette, Gainesville, Florida

 

I did end up finding this "before" photo, posted online many years ago by the guy who did the restoration.

As far as how it appears today...

Edited May 31, 2018 by MattB

[studegary]

Welcome to the AOAI Forum, Matt.  I knew the, now deceased, owner of this Avanti that had it professionally restored.   I have known Matt for many years.  He is a fine young man and an asset to SDC and AOAI.  If I knew that this Avanti was available, Matt might not have gotten it ?.  Best of luck with it Matt and enjoy it.     

[murph the surf]

Looks like a really awesome car.

[lschuc]

Nice car, Matt!   These are more like the Studebaker Avantis and the best of both worlds.  

Happy motoring....    Viva Avanti.