I'm relatively new to the Avanti gang, about one year, but I have noticed that my 1980 Avanti 2 windows do rattle somewhat. Dan over at nostalgic motor cars tells me there is something he calls an anti rattle gasket that can be installed to prevent just that. I'm just handy enough to be able to do that, but I haven't done so yet. As for the fit of the door, I found mine to be OK, the only problem being that the door glass is loose because of the aforementioned problem and I'm sure it would sound much better with the gasket, or whatever it is, installed. Further, the weather seal around the window in the door frame is worn out and could stand to be replaced, which would probably also improve the situation.
As to whether the original Studebaker Avanti's are better then the Avanti 2s, my feelings are "it depends." The originals are generally more valuable. Until much later, they are the ones that will have the round headlights instead of the squares. It might be a bit more difficult to get parts for the Studebaker engines instead of the Chevrolet 350 cubic inch engines, the latter having been installed in Avanti 2s from about 1965 to 1985 (there are variants installed in the latter years). The original Studebakers are the only ones that are gonna have the Paxton superchargers, and good luck finding parts for those since Paxton went out of business quite some time ago. The 2s do not have the "snob appeal" (don't take it personally y'all, it's just an expression), but might be more suitable for daily driving. Your gas mileage will suck in any case, but the 2s have locking bucket seats with (anti whiplash) headrests, seat belts with shoulder harnesses, four way flashers; and probably some other stuff I can't thin of right now. Further, as I mentioned above, the Chevy 350 engines are ubiquitous, and parts for those engines are very easy to find. For me, the advantage of the 2s is that I feel free-er to make modifications to them for which I would be tarred and feathered by the Studebaker collector's community for doing to an original.
