Front Emblem

[TED DIMON]

My 1969 does not have the front Avanti II emblems and there is no evidence that they were ever there.  Does anyone know of any Avanti II's ever leaving the factory without these emblems in place?

CLARIFICATION:  I have neither the Avanti script nor the II that follows it on the front of my car.  The whole panel is bare.

Edited March 9, 2020 by TED DIMON

[studegary]

I believe that all 1965-mid-1983 models had the "II" factory installed.

[Desert Driver]

My '71 Avanti II has them, front and back. I know the Avanti script is held in place by fasteners from the back side. Dunno about the Roman Numerals as Studebaker didn't use them on Avantis. If they were installed with adhesive and fell off, or the car was repainted and not reinstalled, that may explain it.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Desert Driver

[WayneC]

The book "Avanti" by Thomas Bonsall says that all Avanti II's had the Avanti II emblems until Blake bought Avanti Motors and started building cars in1983 and dropped the "II".

I owned '66, '69, and '71 Avanti's and all had "Avanti" emblems on front and rear, with several missing the "II" emblems (but mounting holes remained.
 

[Jim78]

IMHO, the II emblem (cut down from a Lark VIII) was one of the worst ideas for the Avanti.  Remember that the Avanti was being sold as a very expensive, custom built vehicle, yet they used these awful emblems to save a buck.   If they had the decency to produce a "II" that matched the font of the Avanti script it wouldn't have looked so bad.  While I'm on a rant, the ugly "tool box" lock on the gas door was another disaster.  Needless to say, my '78 no longer has either of these items. 

[Gunslinger]

Nate Altman used the "II" emblem to differentiate the Avanti II from the Studebaker car and the at the time its poor legacy.  They used the Lark emblem because they already had plenty of them and it was cheaper than designing and having a better matching emblem made.  It made economic sense if not aesthetic sense...getting Avanti Motors off the ground was a close-run thing...it almost didn't happen and saving wherever they could helped make the difference.

[TED DIMON]

Thank you all for your input!  Since I have nothing on the front of my car, including the mounting holes, I think it is safe to assume that a prior owner had both pieces removed when the car was repainted.  Now I have to decide if I want to bring the front of the car back to "stock".  See the enclosed picture.

[WayneC]

Beautiful car.... if it were mine, I'd leave it as is.

[Desert Driver]

I vote for affixing the Avanti script, but not the tacky Roman Numerals. If you decide to do so, remember the placement is different on square headlight Avantis than round headlight models. Love the color of yours. Looks like Sky Ranch at Carefree airport, which is pretty spectacular as well!

[studegary]

I suggest putting the "Avanti" script on with pieces of double sided trim tape, rather than drilling holes.  This way, you can change your mind later.  

[TED DIMON]

13 hours ago, Desert Driver said:

I vote for affixing the Avanti script, but not the tacky Roman Numerals. If you decide to do so, remember the placement is different on square headlight Avantis than round headlight models. Love the color of yours. Looks like Sky Ranch at Carefree airport, which is pretty spectacular as well!

 

Thanks for the reminder of the different placement for the square headlight models.  The paint is the original color: San Mateo Red.  The build sheet indicates that it was a special order.  And yes, I was at the Wings and Wheels Show on March 7th which was held at the Sky Ranch Airport in Carefree, AZ.  I live just a mile away.

[TED DIMON]

13 hours ago, studegary said:

I suggest putting the "Avanti" script on with pieces of double sided trim tape, rather than drilling holes.  This way, you can change your mind later.  

I agree wholeheartedly!  Drilling holes and then trying to get the fasteners on from underneath would be too much for this old guy!  I already have the "II" emblem with broken pins.  Now I am looking for an "Avanti script" with imperfect pins.  I would hate to grind down the pins on a good emblem.

[Ed M]

Ted

You mentioned that the color was a special order.  I visited the factory a number of times in 68-69-70 while going to school in South Bend.  They offered any color paint and any interior, and that was carried to extremes on a car I saw - maybe 70? - that was school bus yellow with a black and white zebra striped interior

[Avanti83]

22 hours ago, TED DIMON said:

I agree wholeheartedly!  Drilling holes and then trying to get the fasteners on from underneath would be too much for this old guy!  I already have the "II" emblem with broken pins.  Now I am looking for an "Avanti script" with imperfect pins.  I would hate to grind down the pins on a good emblem.

It's going to be hard to get the emblem taped on without either seeing the tape and/or having it weakly affixed because of the small amount of tape used.

What's wrong with leaving it off? I like the cleaner look of them removed from both of mine.

[TED DIMON]

3 hours ago, Ed M said:

Ted

You mentioned that the color was a special order.  I visited the factory a number of times in 68-69-70 while going to school in South Bend.  They offered any color paint and any interior, and that was carried to extremes on a car I saw - maybe 70? - that was school bus yellow with a black and white zebra striped interior

"School bus yellow with a black and white zebra striped interior?"  Good grief!  I'll bet it has been repainted and the interior redone if it is still around.

[silverstude]

My 70 was delivered with  metallic lime green paint and an interior using avocado vinyl with black, white and yellow houndstooth seat inserts....   YahHhhhh!    I bought it as a demo car and the interior  only lasted a few months before I had the seats reupholstered in olive green suede.  

 

 

[TED DIMON]

42 minutes ago, silverstude said:

My 70 was delivered with  metallic lime green paint and an interior using avocado vinyl with black, white and yellow houndstooth seat inserts....   YahHhhhh!    I bought it as a demo car and the interior  only lasted a few months before I had the seats reupholstered in olive green suede.  

 

I just noticed that our cars' vin numbers are only six digits apart.  They had to be in the factory at the same time!!!

 

[Skip Lackie]

Avanti Motors probably would have left the emblem off if the car was built to order and the buyer wanted it that way.  I took a tour of the plant in the mid-70s and remember Geoff Newman telling us that several buyers had specified the deletion of several standard features and/or the use of the old Studebaker S emblem on the hood.  My 74 has the S emblem, but it's not called out on the production order.

You should be able to tell whether the car ever had the emblem by looking for evidence of filled holes on the back side of the panel.

[studegary]

1 hour ago, Skip Lackie said:

Avanti Motors probably would have left the emblem off if the car was built to order and the buyer wanted it that way.  I took a tour of the plant in the mid-70s and remember Geoff Newman telling us that several buyers had specified the deletion of several standard features and/or the use of the old Studebaker S emblem on the hood.  My 74 has the S emblem, but it's not called out on the production order.

You should be able to tell whether the car ever had the emblem by looking for evidence of filled holes on the back side of the panel.

It is also possible that the front panel has been replaced sometime over the decades (not unusual on an Avanti).

[TED DIMON]

3 hours ago, Skip Lackie said:

Avanti Motors probably would have left the emblem off if the car was built to order and the buyer wanted it that way.  I took a tour of the plant in the mid-70s and remember Geoff Newman telling us that several buyers had specified the deletion of several standard features and/or the use of the old Studebaker S emblem on the hood.  My 74 has the S emblem, but it's not called out on the production order.

You should be able to tell whether the car ever had the emblem by looking for evidence of filled holes on the back side of the panel.

I have the original production order (a little creased and tattered) and there is no mention of deleting the front emblem

[TED DIMON]

1 hour ago, studegary said:

It is also possible that the front panel has been replaced sometime over the decades (not unusual on an Avanti).

This is a distinct possibility, since my mechanic says that there is some evidence underneath of a front end repair.

[avantiII]

On 3/10/2020 at 9:43 AM, Gunslinger said:

Nate Altman used the "II" emblem to differentiate the Avanti II from the Studebaker car and the at the time its poor legacy.  They used the Lark emblem because they already had plenty of them and it was cheaper than designing and having a better matching emblem made.  It made economic sense if not aesthetic sense...getting Avanti Motors off the ground was a close-run thing...it almost didn't happen and saving wherever they could helped make the difference.

 

On 3/14/2020 at 10:46 AM, studegary said:

It is also possible that the front panel has been replaced sometime over the decades (not unusual on an Avanti).

 

On 3/14/2020 at 12:21 PM, TED DIMON said:

This is a distinct possibility, since my mechanic says that there is some evidence underneath of a front end repair.

 

[Paul K.]

On 3/11/2020 at 8:29 AM, TED DIMON said:

 

Thanks for the reminder of the different placement for the square headlight models.  The paint is the original color: San Mateo Red.  The build sheet indicates that it was a special order.  And yes, I was at the Wings and Wheels Show on March 7th which was held at the Sky Ranch Airport in Carefree, AZ.  I live just a mile away.

San Mateo Red is a Cadillac color as were many Avanti II colors. 

[Paul K.]

On 3/12/2020 at 2:41 PM, silverstude said:

My 70 was delivered with  metallic lime green paint and an interior using avocado vinyl with black, white and yellow houndstooth seat inserts....   YahHhhhh!    I bought it as a demo car and the interior  only lasted a few months before I had the seats reupholstered in olive green suede.  

 

 

NICE!!!!!.

[arkus]

my '83 paint, original color of the car and repainted a few years ago  is listed as  "1980 mercedes inca maroon metallic". it is about as nice an orange as it can be. really brings out the cars beautiful lines!