Randy Atkin

Wanted 2006 or 2007 owner's manual.

The 5 mph crash requirement was reduced to 2-1/2 mph in 1982 so I believe the original bumper was able to pass that requirement.

Great article. Please keep them coming. I agree that raising the rotary knob controls makes for a much better layout.

Ron - I'm curious - what are the four round plugs(?) or fasteners(?) spaced along the face of your Avanti's front bumper? I have never seen these on any 2001 thru 2007 Avanti. Nice job on the headlight openings. I have seen some 2001 - 2005 with and some without this area blacked out.

It's actually a 2005 Avanti converted from a 2004 Mustang. If you want a 2005 you have few choices as I believe only 6 or 8 were produced and this one would likely have the fewest miles of all. Yes, there will be issues due to age and this one was in Kuwait so it may have been subjected to very high weather temperatures while not being used. If you look carefully you will see lots of shrunk vinyl in the interior indicative of hot weather which might be not repairable short of replacement. Also it could suffer from coagulated and dried up old fuel in the tank and lines causing fuel starvation and corrosion in the tank, stuck fuel gauge sender, damaged fuel pump, etc. These are just a sampling of what might need attention. So yes it's a beauty but be prepared to do some work on it. I suppose the price is OK considering mileage and rarity. I think it started out at $50,000 on ebay. It's been for sale for several months. Hope this helps you in making a decision.

I assume you know a '71 would have come from the factory with a 350 and 4 barrel Rochester Quadrajet carb. The transmission was a Borg Warner 3 speed automatic, basically the same trans Studebaker used.

Blake actually started in '83 and it was pretty much unchanged from the previous year Altman model. Most of his changes began with the '84's.