1990 4 door

[Lynn Fletcher]

We just bought a 1990 4 door and are looking for info and contacts. Stuff like what parts were used, who has parts and info about the 4doors. There seems to be confusion about ther production numbers ? 87, 88 97.?

Thanx

[Guest dapy]

Try Myers in OH. Ads in SDC and AOAI. Why the four door?

[plwindish]

The question "Why the 4 door?" should have been asked in Youngstown before they decided to stop making the coupe and only make 4 doors and convertibles. I think customer resistance to the "new" 4 door style doomed the Ohio chapter of Avanti production. I'm sure that going to a 4 door meant less alteration of frames and drive trains of the Chevy cars to transform them into Avantis. Possibly they also thought the customers may have been ready for a 4 door Avanti when most cars being sold in America were 4 door sedans. Was it lack of sales or lack of corporate funding that halted the 4 door production after around 90 cars?

Edited August 31, 2012 by plwindish

[Gunslinger]

Supposedly a friend of JJ Caffaro made the comment that if the Avanti was made in a 4-door version he's buy one. That's apparently all the market research that was done...so the legend goes. It doesn't appear that any existing Avanti owners were asked what they thought of the concept.

In any case, Avanti Motors was financially on its last legs at the time. Whether the 4-door pushed the company of the cliff is arguable but it had to be a part of it at minimum. When the company dumped its bread and butter coupe for a 4-door of uncertain sales potential and a convertible that was quite expensive it seems obvious (at least in retrospect) that trouble was ahead. It would seem to me that keeping the coupe and a convertible would have been a far better way to go.

I've always heard that the 4-doors were very nice cars but I've never been able to warm up to them myself.