3rd Avanti Article

[Ernie]

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/06/28/timeless-by-design-avanti-turns-50/

Ernie N.

[plwindish]

I agree Ernie. The Hemmings article was a good read. There are quite a few positive responses to the article also.

[Guest dapy]

http://blog.hemmings...vanti-turns-50/

Ernie N.

[Guest dapy]

http://blog.hemmings...vanti-turns-50/

Ernie N.

[Guest dapy]

http://blog.hemmings...vanti-turns-50/

Ernie N.

In a recent Hagerty article they reviewed ten collector cars that haven't gotten sufficient recognition. The Avanti was on that list. Price appreciation has not matched lesser cars. Hagerty says $19,700 buys an 'average' Avanti, and watching trades this year that is about right. (I think they reference the 1962-64 Studebaker Avanti.)

Perhaps we could suggest reasons. Things that might apply: a) too few for sale (because owners prize and keep them), not well-known (or understood) by collectors, c) questionable condition (few are fully restored and/or restoration is not economic because of low prices) and, d) little major auction (high price) exposure or interest. Dealers buy them and resell without promoting the Avanti image.

It may be that there are too few good Avantis to make the market. Of course that makes little difference until time to sell. What do you think?

Edited June 30, 2012 by dapy

[Gunslinger]

I think Avanti's haven't appreciated much for a host of reasons. They have everything going for them...design, uniqueness, performance, relative rarity...pretty much everything but value in the marketplace. I think there's the Studebaker connection of being a loser in the public mind...that Studebaker had a reputation for being an old man's car rather than performance oriented...little to no racing heritage...Bonneville records aside, speed records like that seem to attract only a small subset of racing enthusiasts. I don't believe high speed runs at Bonneville gain attention today like they did during the '60s. There's also the possibility that time has more or less passed them by and they're considered little more than a footnote in auto history and a "cult" car.

There were few Avanti's built by Studebaker compared to more mainstream performance cars and they simply didn't gain much public attention or acceptance...regardless of initial publicity when introduced and car magazine articles. Even Avanti Motors was more or less a stealth car company...little advertising and something like half their sales were repeat customers. While that made for a built-in customer base it didn't do much to enlarge that base.

Somewhere I have a decades old book on car collecting and it listed the Avanti as one of the cars most expected to appreciate over time. We're still waiting for that to happen.

The sad fact is that the cost of restoring an Avanti can easily exceed its market value. Unless you want to save a car and restore it for its own sake (I'm one of those), many otherwise restorable Avantis languish away or get parted out. My observations have been the vast majority of Avantis I've seen have either been restored or are in serious need of restoration. I've seen few that are in between. It's been said to me that Avantis do well for their first and second owners but after that owners are too cheap to keep them in good repair. After anywhere from 25-50 years I guess that's to be expected. When Studebaker and Avanti Motors built them they never really expected them to be on the road after this many years...and that can be said about any car from any manufacturer.

Can the problem of poor market value and little public recognition be turned around? It can...if we see an Avanti in a highly visible role in a high profile motion picture or television show can make a huge difference. Where would Avanti values be if James Bond drove one...or in a chase sequence like in Bullitt?

The low values can be thought of as a double-edged sword...cheap to buy if you're in the market for one but bad if you're a seller. The population that remembers the Avanti is thinning out with time. Younger enthusiasts may not have ever heard of them or be much interested in them as time goes by...not just for Avantis but many collector cars as those that treasure them leave us.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Gunslinger

[Guest dapy]

Very astute. Admire your perspicacity.

Don't think it makes much difference now how popular it was when new. Having been in SB in the post war years we thought Studebakers were better than Detroit, but the company's demise was inevitable. And you are correct lack of continuing popular exposure sabotaged what image the car had. Current owners are old. Their cars are old and as you point out few come to market between fully restored and gathering dust. Probably too few to support a value based market even though the Internet offers broad exposure. I've gone through this with older airplanes. The demos do you in. Anyone ever heard of a Meyers 200? Like the Avanti...ahead of its time.