It all comes down to personal preference

[PackardV8]

For me, exterior and interior color is not normally the deciding factor when considering a used car, but some age better than others.

Recently I looked at a nice Avanti II in overall excellent condition.  However, I just couldn't get past the interior.  It was done in a Victorian bordello button-tuft red velour.  That color, design and material would just hurt my eyes every time I opened the door.

I mentioned to the seller that wouldn't have been my first choice; reminds me of '60s Buicks.  The seller smiled and said, "That's the only reason I have the car.  My wife loved the interior and said I could buy it."

jack vines

Edited November 2, 2020 by PackardV8

[Gunslinger]

The '70 Avanti I owned had a curious mix of colors from the factory...Cadillac dark bronze paint...mahogany interior with the walnut brown steering wheel, dash and console inlays and steering...and an orange shag carpet.  My wife said the '70s were known as the decade of bad taste...and this car proved that when it was new.  During that time period there were some...let's say..."eclectic" interior and exterior schemes coming out of the Avanti factory.

[Footer]

I had a sales brochure from the 70’s that touted the custom interior combinations. A really neat selling point if you wanted to have your car built to your taste, but it’s hard to imagine spending that much money for a car and then doing that to it! If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we must have had different eyesight back then.  Mike

[Skip Lackie]

My 74 (bought used) is a sort-of gold/bronze color (a Chrysler color) with a saddle interior. Fortunately, no button-tuft velour.  I like the color combo, but my wife comments on the dated shag carpet every time she sees it.  I've left it in there (even though I have replacement carpet still in the box) because it's in almost-perfect condition.

Geoff Newman gave a couple of us a tour of the Avanti factory in about 1977, and noted that they would provide any interior that the customer wanted, including from grandma's dining roof drapes.

[PackardV8]

On 11/2/2020 at 6:07 PM, Footer said:

 we must have had different eyesight back then.  Mike

It's not just appearance.  Seat engineering has improved as much as every other area.  The OEM seats in my '63 were ahead-of-their-time buckets, but way out of date forty years later.  I installed a pair of heated leather six-way-power seats from a Japanese luxury car and they transformed the feel of the car.

Through the inner ear, we feel the motion of the car.  Changing where the inner ear is positioned within the car changes how we perceive the ride and handling.  The OEM buckets are bolt upright and close to the steering wheel.  The replacement seats allow moving rearward, reclining slightly and downward; feels like a different car.

jack vines

[Footer]

Interesting point Jack, but I have a feeling that orange shag carpet and bell bottoms will come back in style before those OEM buckets!  I’d like to come in and see your car sometime. Have you taken it to Harrington?

Mike

[Ed M]

I went to school in South Bend from '66-'70 and visited the factory a few times.  I remember seeing one being built that was School Bus yellow with a black and white zebra striped interior

Ed M