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Ernie

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Posts posted by Ernie

  1. Avanti Going Back in Production

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    Chhabria to unveil desi supercar at auto expo

    TNN | Jan 5, 2012, 01.34AM IST

    CHENNAI: The select super car club, which boasts names like the Lamborghini Murcielago and the Ferrari Enzo, will now have an all-Indian member. Auto style guru Dilip Chhabria's DC Design is using its expertise in customizing and prototyping luxury cars to launch India's first ever desi supercar which will be showcased at the Auto Expo and unveiled by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. DC has set up its own production unit in Pune from where it plans to bespoke manufacture around 300 super cars for the Indian market.

    To be called the Avanti-a throwback to the Studebaker car of the same name which ruled the roads back in the '60s-the car's biggest USP, say sources, will be its pricing. The DC Avanti will likely be priced at around Rs 25 lakh, almost cheek by jowl with the Rs 28 lakh tag to be sported by the Caterham super cars that Dabur is launching in India. DC boss Dilip Chhabria is clear about the kind of business this segment can fetch. "Currently the Rs 30 lakh plus category sells around 22,000 units a year in India while the Rs 1 crore plus category sells around 1000 cars. A product with the right specs that's also priced right should be able to grow this affordable super car niche to about 500-1000 units a year."

    Benchmarked in terms of dimensions to the likes of the Ferrari Enzo and the Lamborgini Murcielago, the DC Avanti will be built using practices and processes similar to OEMs. It will go through a homologation process, and will have safety compliance features like airbag and ABS. The car will be hand-built in DC's new, upcoming facility in Pune, and will be totally self-reliant on production of chassis, body, trim, interior, assembly, with a large customer interaction area for bespoke customizing. "This project has been committed an investment of Rs 60 crore by way of internal accrual, debt and equity infusion," said Chhabria. "This investment will cover production, testing, and services upgradation."

  5. Auto Theft from Show

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    Sad Ending to the week

    This past week the Buick World held their annual get together at Beech Bend. Their homecoming lasts Tuesday through Saturday. It would be comparable to our National shows, but with alot more activity, drag racing is the hi-point of the week. You get to see more Black Gran Nationals running the streets of Bowling Green than any other place in the USA. Late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, a total of 5 trucks, trailers, and cars were stolen from different hotels around the city. Sounded like a very organized theft ring that had plans for all cars.

    Just wanted to bring this to the attention of everyone who trailers their cars to any event, it can happen. Of what I have heard all of the stolen vehicles were just driven away, even with the vehicles all locked up.

    Edit: Police report on 10/24/11 lists 2 trucks, 2 trailers, and 2 Buick Gran Nationals were stolen. Another truck, trailer, and car was broken into but not stolen as reported earlier.

  6. avanti shooting brake?

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    Car Culture

    The New Avanti Estate Wagon

    08.14.2009

    avanti_golf - I finished rendering my Avanti Wagon and entered it into the Studebaker Design Museum show. I haven’t done much 3D before but Google SketchUp was really simple to use. It didn’t give me everything I wanted though, so I ended doing some vector drawing on top of the model to get it to look right. Not quite as cool as Top Gear’s Porsche Shooting Brake but I’m happy with how it all turned out.

    I wrote some marketing copy and created two ads for the 2-door Avanti Estate. The ads were loosely based on these illustrations posted on theavanti.com. I love the rough, vignetted edges on those marker drawings and the colorful rendering given to the backgrounds.

    avanti_speed - I’m ashamed to confess my previous ignorance of the Avanti’s designer, Raymond Loewy. He was THE industrial designer of the mid-20th century. In addition to designing for Studebaker, he designed buses for Greyhound, logos for Nabisco, Shell and Exxon, and even the iconic bottles that distinguished Coca-Cola from other sodas through the end of the last century. His design for the exterior of Air Force One is still in use today.

    While I was working on the renderings I discovered thatAvanti Motors still exists and creates a limited run of new cars out of Mexico and Canada. I don’t think they’re planning a wagon though.

    CORRECTION: A reader informed me that Avanti ceased production in 2006. An interesting note from Wikipedia:

    Michael Eugene Kelly, owner of Avanti Motors Corporation, was arrested by the FBI on Dec 22, 2006 in Florida. Kelly is suspected of running a $400 million Ponzi scheme from 1992–2004 and is in jail without bail facing mail fraud charges.

  7. Security Exchange Commission v Michael Kelly, etc

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    And it continues -- June 22, 2011:

    U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

    Litigation Release No. 22016 / June 28, 2011

    SEC v. Michael E. Kelly, et al., Case No. 1:07-CV-4979 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

    Court Enters Final Judgment Against Georgia Resident William K. Boston, Jr., Texas Resident Warren T. Chambers And Their Business, Century Estate Planning, Inc.

    The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on June 22, 2011, Judge Elaine Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a final judgment against William K. Boston, Jr., of Canton, Georgia, Warren T. Chambers, of Leander, Texas, and Century Estate Planning, Inc. (Century Estate), their business. The final judgment: (1) enjoined Boston, Chambers and Century Estate from violating Sections 5(a), 5© and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(B) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 10b-10 promulgated thereunder, and enjoined Boston and Chambers from aiding and abetting violations of Rule 10b-10 of the Exchange Act; (2) ordered Boston, Chambers and Century Estate to pay disgorgement in the amount of $1,347,601.44 plus prejudgment interest of $617,269.01, for a total of $1,964,870.45; and (3) ordered Boston and Chambers to each pay a civil penalty of $120,000,and Century Estate to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $600,000.

    The SEC’s complaint in this matter charges that Michael E. Kelly and 25 other defendants, including Boston, Chambers and Century Estate, participated in a massive fraud on U.S. investors that involved the offer and sale of securities in the form of Universal Leases. Universal Lease investments were structured as timeshares in several hotels in Cancun, Mexico, coupled with a pre-arranged rental agreement that promised investors a high, fixed rate of return. The SEC’s complaint alleges that from 1999 until 2005, Kelly and others, including Boston, Chambers and Century Estate, raised at least $428 million through the Universal Lease scheme from investors throughout the United States, with more than $136 million of the funds invested coming from IRA accounts. The SEC further alleges that a nationwide network of unregistered salespeople who sold the Universal Leases, including Boston, Chambers and Century Estate, collected undisclosed commissions totaling more than $72 million. The SEC also alleges that Kelly and others ran the scheme from Cancun, Mexico, through a number of foreign entities in Mexico and Panama. According to the SEC's complaint, Kelly and others told investors that Universal Leases would generate guaranteed income through the leasing of investor timeshares by a large, independent leasing agent. In fact, the complaint alleges, the leasing agent was a small Panamanian travel agency controlled by Kelly, and for most of the scheme, its payments to investors came from accounts funded by money raised from new investors. Further, the complaint alleges that Kelly and the other defendants, including Boston, Chambers and Century Estate, failed to disclose key facts about the Universal Lease investment, including the risks of the investment and that Kelly was paying commissions as high as 27% to the selling brokers. The SEC’s action against the remaining defendants is pending.

  8. Security Exchange Commission v Michael Kelly, etc

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

    Litigation Release No. 21994 / June 8, 2011

    SEC v. Michael E. Kelly, et al., Case No. 1:07-CV-4979 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

    Court Enters Final Judgment against Coppell, Texas Resident Mark G. Meyer and his Company Mark Meyer & Associates, Inc.

    The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on June 7, 2011, Judge Elaine Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a final judgment against Mark G. Meyer, of Coppell, Texas, and Mark Meyer & Associates, Inc. (MMAI), Meyer's business. The final judgment: (1) enjoined Meyer and MMAI from violating Sections 5(a), 5© and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(B) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 10b-10 promulgated thereunder, and enjoined Meyer from aiding and abetting violations of Rule 10b-10 of the Exchange Act; (2) ordered Meyer and MMAI to pay disgorgement in the amount of $1,162,729.13 plus prejudgment interest of $565,204.12, for a total of $1,727,933.25; and (3) ordered Meyer to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $120,000, and MMAI to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $600,000.

    The SEC's complaint in this matter charges that Michael E. Kelly and 25 other defendants, including Meyer and MMAI, participated in a massive fraud on U.S. investors that involved the offer and sale of securities in the form of Universal Leases. Universal Lease investments were structured as timeshares in several hotels in Cancun, Mexico, coupled with a pre-arranged rental agreement that promised investors a high, fixed rate of return. The SEC's complaint alleges that from 1999 until 2005, Kelly and others, including Meyer and MMAI, raised at least $428 million through the Universal Lease scheme from investors throughout the United States, with more than $136 million of the funds invested coming from IRA accounts. The SEC further alleges that a nationwide network of unregistered salespeople who sold the Universal Leases, including Meyer and MMAI, collected undisclosed commissions totaling more than $72 million. The SEC also alleges that Kelly and others ran the scheme from Cancun, Mexico, through a number of foreign entities in Mexico and Panama. According to the SEC's complaint, Kelly and others told investors that Universal Leases would generate guaranteed income through the leasing of investor timeshares by a large, independent leasing agent. In fact, the complaint alleges, the leasing agent was a small Panamanian travel agency controlled by Kelly, and for most of the scheme, its payments to investors came from accounts funded by money raised from new investors. Further, the complaint alleges that Kelly and the other defendants, including Meyer and MMAI, failed to disclose key facts about the Universal Lease investment, including the risks of the investment and that Kelly was paying commissions as high as 27% to the selling brokers. The SEC's action against the remaining defendants is pending.

    http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2011/lr21994.htm

  9. Studebaker National Museum

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    Updated: 12:06 AM May 13, 2011

    Teachers Credit Union President/CEO inducted into Studebaker Hall of Champions

    South Bend, Ind.

    The man responsible for championing the facility in 2005 was inducted into the Studebakers Hall of Champions on Thursday.

    The man responsible for championing the Studebaker National Museum facility in 2005 was inducted into the Studebaker Hall of Champions on Thursday.

    Present and CEO Richard J Rice chaired the capital campaign to build and furnish the Studebaker museum. Rice is retiring from 35-year career at TCU and said Thursday's honor was humbling.

    "This means something special to me to be honored by the Studebaker National Museum," said Rice. "I'm not sure I'm really worthy of it, but I'm going to accept it and I really do appreciate, I really do appreciate the accolades."

    Rice has been previously recognized for his work throughout the community, even receiving the Governor's Distinguished Hoosier Award.

  11. Death of AOAI Member

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    Mr. Thomas Howard Elliott, Sr., 55, of Fayetteville, passed away on May 4, 2011 due to complications of ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

    Mr. Elliott was a loving father, devoted husband, dependable friend and a warrior in the fight against ALS. He retired after working 34 years with Delta Air Lines. He was an avid Studebaker aficionado and member of the North GA and National Studebaker Drivers Clubs and the Avanti Owners Association.

    He is preceded in death by his first wife Cathy Brigmon Elliott; father Howard A. Elliott; sister Teresa Ann Elliott.

    He is survived by his wife of fifteen years, Maureen Elliott; children, Thomas Howard Elliott, Jr. and his wife Robin of Fayetteville, Lisa Ann Elliott of Atlanta, USCG Bradley Neil Lloyd and his wife USCG Nohealani Lloyd of Springfield, VA, Alyssa Grace Thomas and her husband David of Newnan, Jessica Lee Shelton and her husband U.S. Army Specialist Brian Shelton of Ft. Bliss, TX; grandchildren, Jacob Wingo, Austin Lloyd, Brendan Lloyd, Hailey Thomas, Colin Lloyd; Mother Betty Jo Elliott of Fayetteville; family friend and full-time caregiver Gwen Moore.

    A funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 2:30 PM in the Chapel of Mowell Funeral Home, Fayetteville. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Mausoleum. The family will receive friends on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the ALS Association of GA, 1955 Cliff Valley Way - Suite 116 - Atlanta, GA 30329 www.alsaga.org, ALS Guardian Angels, http://alsguardianangels.com/, or to the Emory ALS Clinic, http://neurology.emory.edu/ALS/.

    Mowell Funeral Home, Fayetteville – www.mowellfuneralhome.com

  12. Celebrity Avanti Owner

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    This is his Bio:

    David James Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the late 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy. He is set to star in the upcoming fourth installment in the Scream series, Scream 4, along with original cast members Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell. He has since had several television roles, including playing "Jason Ventress" on ABC's In Case of Emergency. In addition to his acting career Arquette took a brief foray into professional wrestling in early 2000, competing for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). During his tenure, Arquette would become a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, an angle which has been cited by prominent professional wrestling commentators as being pivotal to the degradation of the title and the demise of WCW.[1][2]

    http://www.celebritycarsblog.com/2011/04/david-arquette-keeps-it-vintage-in-his-avanti/

    ErnieN

  17. Car & Track - Test - 1969 Avanti

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    The "monstrosity" comment may have been true as Nate Altman Avantis were designed to focus more on being a Luxury GT and not a hot rod. Tires are so much better today, however, I've looked at that video quite a few times during this last year and it looks like the "twin traction" is not working.

    I thought the same thing, Paul, but every-so-often it appears that both wheels are spinning.

  22. Security Exchange Commission v Michael Kelly, etc

    in Avanti Pub

    Posted

    ANOTHER 3 MILLION DOLLAR FINE!

    U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

    Litigation Release No. 21793 / December 23, 2010

    SEC v. Michael E. Kelly, et al., Case No. 1:07-CV-4979 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

    Court Enters Final Judgment against Bulverde, Texas Resident George “Lin” Phelps

    The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on December 21, 2010, Judge Elaine Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a final judgment against Bulverde, Texas resident George L. Phelps (Phelps), also known as “Lin” Phelps and also doing business under the name “Safe Estate Plans.” The final judgment: (1) enjoined Phelps from violating Sections 5(a), 5© and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(B) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 10b-10 promulgated thereunder; (2) ordered Phelps to pay disgorgement in the amount of $2,002,766.66, plus prejudgment interest of $919,732.93, for a total of $2,922,499.59; and (3) ordered Phelps to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $120,000.

    The SEC’s complaint in this matter charges that Michael E. Kelly and 25 other defendants, including Phelps, participated in a massive fraud on U.S. investors that involved the offer and sale of securities in the form of Universal Leases. Universal Lease investments were structured as timeshares in several hotels in Cancun, Mexico, coupled with a pre-arranged rental agreement that promised investors a high, fixed rate of return. The SEC’s complaint alleges that from 1999 until 2005, Kelly and others, including Phelps, raised at least $428 million through the Universal Lease scheme from investors throughout the United States, with more than $136 million of the funds invested coming from IRA accounts. The SEC further alleges that a nationwide network of unregistered salespeople who sold the Universal Leases, including Phelps, collected undisclosed commissions totaling more than $72 million. The SEC also alleges that Kelly and others ran the scheme from Cancun, Mexico, through a number of foreign entities in Mexico and Panama. According to the SEC's complaint, Kelly and others told investors that Universal Leases would generate guaranteed income through the leasing of investor timeshares by a large, independent leasing agent. In fact, the complaint alleges, the leasing agent was a small Panamanian travel agency controlled by Kelly, and for most of the scheme, its payments to investors came from accounts funded by money raised from new investors. Further, the complaint alleges that Kelly and the other defendants, including Phelps, failed to disclose key facts about the Universal Lease investment, including the risks of the investment and that Kelly was paying commissions as high as 27% to the selling brokers. The SEC’s action against the remaining defendants is pending.

    For further information, see Litigation Release Nos. 20267 (Sept. 5, 2007), 20573 (May 14, 2008) , 20578 (May 15, 2008), 20579 (May 15, 2008), 20664 (July 31, 2008), 20679 (August 12, 2008), 20708 (Sept. 9, 2008); 20709 (Sept. 9, 2008), 20799 (November 6, 2008), 21003 (April 15, 2009) and 21481 (April 8, 2010); 21583 (June 29, 2010); 21620 (August 6, 2010); [sEC v. Michael E. Kelly, et al., Civil Action No. 07-cv-4979 (N.D. Ill.]

    http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litrel...10/lr21793.htm

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