Bob Preston

Understood. Thanks for providing photos of the invoices. I had a similar experience with the vendor that sends out the printed invoice. Haven’t ordered from the vendor that uses the hand written one. Both were easy to identify. While I won’t say that I’d never order from either of them, or the other one that sent unacceptable parts, those 3 are now the last 3 that will be given an opportunity to earn my business. As fate would have it, those 3 are the closest to my location in Michigan. However, I’ve received parts in a more timely fashion from Arizona and Florida.

Would you care to share which supplier sent the dried out, rusty parts? I’ve recently ordered from 5 different suppliers in Indiana, Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts plus a few miscellaneous items from the local NAPA. One sent unacceptable rusty components (brake discs) that were returned for a refund, less shipping and a 15% restocking fee. Another sent worn, corroded parts (control arm bushings) and incorrect parts (stabilizer bushings). So far I’m just eating the cost of those parts. Ordered from another supplier and the parts are new and correct. In fact the stabilizer bushings are marked USA.

Hemmings. There’s also a ‘63 R1 that just listed for $32,500. It says “all original” but the 2-tone rear seats, pin stripes, gauge console and radio suggest otherwise.

While our cars have some peculiarities, they don’t require a specialist for most work, including an engine and/or transmission rebuild. I’d seek out a reputable shop for the engine rebuild and see if they might recommend a good mechanic.

Thanks. I have a truck on consignment and they add a flat $3900 to the price the seller wants out of the vehicle plus they charge a couple hundred to run the ad and store the vehicle for up to 4 months. That amount is pushing 25% of the price I’d like to get, which I believe has made the price too high, thus no buyer. Once the contract is up I’ll look for a consigner that charges the 12.5% fee which would be closer to $2000. Of course for someone selling a $100,000 car the fee is less than 4%.

Brad Bez 573-318-8948. What sort of work are you looking to have done?

It’s possible that he has already done this. We really don’t know that much about his doings.

Too bad there’s no mention of the vehicles history in the description. What sort of commission or fees do they charge to consign?

Gateway Classic Cars in San Antonio just listed a Red ‘89 convertible for $26,000.

R4179 is listed as a 1964 R2 and is up on a no reserve auction for 5 more days, current bid is $5000. It’s being sold by the original owner who bought it in 1965. There’s another R2 in Beverly Hills that’s listed as an R1 for $17,500.

My opinion of the platforms that you’ve mentioned is that you’ll likely get fair market value from each one. Pick one, sell it and donate the proceeds. If your objective is to maximize the dollar amount of the donation, you may want to consider working with one of the organizations to include the vehicle as part of a fundraiser. Frequently at these events participants will pay considerably more than what the item is actually worth because they know the money is going to a good cause. Essentially, they’re making a donation and getting something in return. Alternatively, you could simply donate the car, take any applicable tax deductions, and avoid the whole process of selling.

Recently, I’ve seen a few price reductions on Avanti’s that have been on the market for quite awhile. The one I looked at last October in Ohio has dropped $5K from $54,900 to $49,900. At the time the seller said there was no room for negotiations because he didn’t want to sell the car. An R1 that I’d inquired about just dropped from $43K to $39K. This isn’t unusual, since a seller typically wants to get as much as possible and a buyer isn’t likely to offer more than the asking price, so starting a high, but reasonable price is to be expected. I do believe that there’s some spaghetti being thrown at the wall and this could be driven by the possibility that the sellers saw a single car sell for a handsome price and they’ve priced theirs similarly. As an example, the seller of the one in Connecticut specifically mentioned one that had sold for $57K and his is priced at $58K, even though the car most recently sold for $37,500 and is a $45K-$48K car at best. He has a multi-million dollar car collection and a $50K car is little more than a rounding error in the big picture, but his asking price is preventing car from being sold, driven and seen.

I wrote it. The entire post was about information that I read on another forum (see paragraph 1). I felt the information was relevant to this discussion so I shared some of what was said on that forum. Is that clear?

The post wasn’t about you.

There’s a similar discussion going on on another manufacturer forum. It’s more about the current market and I’d say that the market is similar for all 60’s “muscle cars” in general. One point mentioned was demographics. Many owners of cars from the 60’s were teenagers back then and are now in their 70’s and 80’s. They probably have one or more cars already and given their age aren’t in the market for another. The speculation was that younger folks with disposable income, looking to buy a vintage car might be in the market for cars from the 70’s-90’s. Another point was that a large percentage of owners have made their cars trailer queens and they’re only seen at car shows, if that. The idea here was to leave a few concourse points off the renovation and take the thing out so people can see it. One more thought was that people see a 1965 Fill in the Blank sell at Mecum for $100,000, so they’re all worth $100,000. This is along the lines of sellers believing they have a car that is one number higher than the actual condition would indicate The person who opened the discussion had his car listed for months, with little to no action. He lowered the price as well as stating that it was also OBO. One complication with OBO is that the seller has to actually commit to selling it for the best offer. If it’s listed for $30K but he won’t sell for an offer of $25K even though that is the best offer received, it isn’t really for sale for the best offer. It’s for sale for a price that’s fixed in his head and he’ll wait until that offer appears.

My interpretation is that it would have been something other than the listed colors. During production Black was discontinued as a “Standard” color, being replaced with Gray. However, Black was still available as a special order at an additional cost and the number of Black cars produced in both ‘63 & ‘64 is provided in the Production Data booklet.

Starting with R-4835 32 Black 153 White 138 Turquoise 104 Gold 224 Red 77 Gray 80 Maroon 1 Special

I’d call it “correct” rather than original. I think some of the suspension bushings and rubber parts on mine may have been “original”. It wasn’t that pleasant to drive with those old parts.

One thing is for sure, your acquaintance won’t be attempting the record in a Studebaker. Do you know the category he’s entering?

Sure, there’s always going to be that guy. Probably 99 out of 100 owners of drivable ‘63-‘64 Avanti’s have them in a “mostly” original condition. Unless your buddy chimes in, we aren’t likely to hear stories of drastic modifications. I’d like to see Mr Saltflat try it the same way Granatelli did, by building out the engine and strapping on a helmet rather than making the attempt in a Corvette.

I spent several years browsing the market for a ‘63-‘64. One had a GM transmission, a few R1’s had been converted to R2’s, even more had undergone an engine rebuild and had been bored out. Some may have actually had the same displacement as an R3. Few, if any had received the moderate suspension upgrades seen on the R3. The car doesn’t lend itself to HotRod modifications, not that someone won’t try. It’s an interesting and stylish coupe that landed on a truck chassis. Had Studebaker remained in business and followed the Big 3 with similar performance upgrades throughout the 1960’s, we might have a market full of big blocks with 3 carburetors. That could be why we don’t see too many 10 second Avanti’s with parachutes. I wouldn’t touch the bodywork on the original. That goes for both round and square headlights.

What constitutes 100% original? Does it need to have the original shocks, engine mounts, leaf spring bushings, gaskets and light bulbs, for example? If the original engine has been rebuilt and bored is it still “original”? Mine has the roof drip moldings and air intake grill which were not original to the car. There’s an “original” ‘63 R1 with 16,000 miles listed for $79K. That’s about twice the price of some otherwise very nice R1’s. In theory it’s worth more, but there will be fewer buyers for that particular vehicle. Price and condition are both obstacles to most buyers and if it is all original, it’s probably going to need some work. Personally, I’m in favor of mostly original, but I’m mostly in favor of a mechanically sound car that presents well and gets driven. I appreciate the trailer queens and museum pieces and applaud the efforts of those who have a more radical vision. If we all did the same thing we wouldn’t have anything to talk about.

The new condo option was an attempt at humor. Check the CC&R’s at they may prohibit the steel plate option. The 2x12 will eventually split, so a more durable solution would be to double or triple layer some 3/4” plywood with wood glue. All that’s really necessary are 2 pieces about 12”x18” for the tires to drive over. They could be stored in the trunk. Alternatively, a couple pieces of horse mat might do the trick.

Did you try backing in to the garage from the street? It could be worse but may be worth a try. Depends on the crown in the road. Another option would be to lay a 2x12 in the gutter to lift the car up just before the point of impact. Lastly, buy another condo.

I was able to access the site this morning, join the forum and view threads and posts.