Any Owners of the 2005-7 Mustang based Avantis?

[Wayne Nowland]

Greetings all,

If there are any owners out there who have one of the newer Mustang based Avanti's who would be willing to talk to me about their cars, please email me.

Many thanks,

Wayne

[John C. Drake]

Greetings all,

If there are any owners out there who have one of the newer Mustang based Avanti's who would be willing to talk to me about their cars, please email me.

Many thanks,

Wayne

Wayne, I have one of the new Avantis on the Ford Mustange platform and would be willing to share experiences with you. I was told the Avanti I bought is an '05, but according to the build sticker on the door jam, it was made in October 2006 and has all the changes incorporated in the '06. What have you got?

John Drake

dvader84@sbcglobal.net

[John Michael]

I have a 2005 convertible and am well pleased with the vehicle overall. The build quality seems quite good [better than my 87 LSC from Kelly] and the Mustang platform is fast, handles well, and gets decent gas mileage due to the fuel injection. Mine is built on a 2004 donor chassis so it is the last [and most bug-free] of that Mustang series.

The rear seat legroom is substantially better than the Kellogg series based on the GM platform or the later model Mustang platforms. The leather interior has some nice mods to make it look more unique and less like a stock 'Stang.

That chassis is a basic muscle car style: stiff, fast, and unrefined with pretty loud FlowMaster mufflers. To me, that makes it a nice re-incarnation of the original Avanti concept, which was technically built on a "donor" chassis too [Lark]. The proportions of the body look "right" to my eye although they are obviously scaled to suit the dimensions of this chassis.

Happy to chat with anyone who's interested about this Avanti.

--John Michael

Edited June 7, 2007 by John Michael

[drn1965]

Of the later built Avanti's, I've always liked the proportions of the 2005 models, those built in Villa Rica on the 2004 or earlier Mustang donor chassis. I understand only eight or so were made before production moved to Cancun where 2005 and later Mustang donor chassis were used, changing the car's proportions and details.

Do any members who frequent this board still have an '05? How are they to drive 11 years on?

Edited October 19, 2016 by drn1965

[Gunslinger]

The 2001-2004 Avantis were built on the Pontiac TransAm platform, not a Mustang platform.

[drn1965]

Perhaps I should clarify my earlier posting....

For one model year, 2005, Avanti Motors used 2004 and earlier Mustang donor cars to produce Avanti's. This was a departure from their use of GM Firebird based donor cars for the 2001-2004 model years, and significantly different from their later use of 2005 and later Mustang donor cars for the 2006-2007 model years. Ford completely reworked the Mustang platform for the 2005 model year, causing Avanti to revise its car after only one year of production if it wanted to continue using new Mustangs as donor cars.

As these cars are so rare, I have yet to meet an owner of an '05 to ask what the car is like to own and drive, possibly as compared to the earlier GM based and later Ford based cars. Are any '05 Avanti owners among us?

[studegary]

There was a very nice 2005 Avanti convertible from NYS at this year's SDC Convention.