Avanti Cars History

Avanti

Weird silhouette , sports become a body from fiberglass and ... forty years in the series. Avanti features' Nondeducibility " cartoon character . It would seem that the "Big Three" of Detroit was eaten all individuals in the U.S. automobile industry , so no, for half a century, there are people for whom the revival of an independent brand Avanti - a matter of honor .

Had many incarnations . What is the mystery ? Perhaps , above all in the American myth : a nice guy type Bax Bunny or Roger Rabbit fun opposed to the all-powerful giant.

Spirit of migrants
 
In his life a few years ago the company Avanti unveiled a concept car XUV, so startled General Motors, that the company has filed for Avanti to court, accusing her of plagiarism. A small company does not pull back, and then threw an octopus on Detroit kid all his " lawyer 's Men ." But the accusations of Avanti invariably answered that their prototype XUV was not a Hummer H2, a more conceptual Studebacker 1950 . As an independent company Avanti is built on the bones of this legendary brand has inherited from her " toothy " character.
 
Studebaker started with, that produced a particularly reliable vans on which the settlers went toward Comanche , cowboys and adventure. Over time, vans turned into heavy trucks , famous on the fronts of World . With triaxial Studebaker U- 6 received the Lend -Lease Act , effectively launched Russian "Katyusha" . And at the same firm built the avant-garde heavyweights passenger vehicles "not like everyone else" . His fascination in many respects they were obliged to Raymond Loewy , one of the fathers of the design revolution changed the world . He proved that beauty is not contrary to the functionality, and since then has begun to attract designers to design the most ordinary things. And it all started with aluminum shelves that Lowe suggested for pot-bellied refrigerators. As soon as the housewives were stuffing country houses kitchens and appliances , the success of the Lowy was provided. And with the design of the bottle Coca-Cola with a waist and he did went into every American home . Then there were the interiors of aircraft Hughes and his enemies of Pan American, design coaches , and finally , sports car for every day : a stylish European- and American- accessible . It was about mass production car with a body made ​​of fiberglass .
Child of the Wild West
 
Not only that , he had to be the fastest American production car ! Thanks to the aerodynamic lightweight body and engine speeds to squeeze 250 km / h - studebekkerovskomu standard 3.8 -liter 289 R1 V8 ( 240 hp. . ), Or a version with a mechanical supercharger ( supercharged Paxton) R2, betrayed 289 "horses".
At the root of the project in early 1961 he was vice- president of the Studebaker-Packard Sherwood Egbert - so says the legend . He also performed the first sketches and models . When it became clear parameters , the design bureau gave Lowe (at that time it was already working on a strong network of designers with branches in Europe).

 
And yet, according to legend the birthplace of unusual silhouette can be considered California. When the first prototype was ready , he experienced personally Lowe .
The car turned out to be more expensive than expected. Whether Studebaker time, it could be rectified (soon to such a concept , implemented by a simple " Mustang " was enchanting success ) . But there was no time . In 1963 he released a 3834 Studebaker Avanti, and in 1964 - only 809 , because the factory in South Bend closed .

roller-coaster
 
America then the " lit ", so that the little things no one noticed , but for a small South Bend Studebaker factory was that for AvtoVAZ Togliatti ! So it is no wonder that when the Studebaker dealer Nathan Altman took revive even the brand Avanti, at his side stood the entire city. Even the local bank gave a " madness " credit - at such moments in Hollywood films made ​​from affection to let avaricious man tear. Altman recalled, when he came to the former vice -president Studebacker with a job offer , he dragged him down the stairs , but on the way he changed his mind and the next day was already working on the idea. The old robber managed to get hold of a 5.4 -liter V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette ( thanks to General Motors) - their power varied from 305 to 400 liters. s. - And just remake them under the body, to run the same in 1965, the project Avanti II. Studebekkerovskoe chassis lasted until 1987 !
 
In the newly formed company Avanti Motor Corporation came to the master development departments , so that the car turned out to really " hand-made ", and the next two decades, Avanti II came at the price of Cadillac. The most successful year was 1978, the second , when assembled 165 cars. Received from Lowe angular features , Avanti , and in the 70s and 80s looked bohemian .
 
But in 1982 , after the death of Leo Newman , the chief sponsor of Altman , the firm was sold.

 
She took possession of Stephen Blake , a major developer of Washington and a big fan of Avanti. With him in 1983 was a jubilee series of machines in honor of the 20th anniversary of the company and the car Avanti took part in the 24- hour race at Daytona . The result was not ah - fourth in class and 27th overall. Nevertheless, it was good advertising. In addition, a pair of convertible coupe appeared . In the same year made ​​289 cars, and traded 24 Avanti dealer in the United States . Cases seem to be gone , but Blake broke down on the other. He began to use is catching on synthetic dyes , and all 1984 model year cars repainted ! In general , bankruptcy, came in mid- 1985.
 
However, living in Texas, a native of South Bend Michael Kelly immediately revived the brand by establishing the New Avanti Motors Corporation (NAMC). In 1986, not a single Avanti was not released. And next year, collected 90 cars , but on the chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Kelly had plans to start production of four- Avanti Luxury Touring Sedan chassis Caprice. But by September 1988, Kelly was forced to sell all rights to the Avanti his main sponsor to John Cafaro , the owner of the company Cafaro Company in Yungstaune , Ohio. Machine there is going to start in 1991 . And even released a few sedans. And then work to develop a concept AVX (Avanti Experimental), which was to be equal to the Jaguar and Mercedes. To realize the idea of ​​using a chassis Pontiac Firebird 1993 , c approached American optimism, and get a model almost exactly the same Firebird. In June 1997, it revealed at the rally fans Studebaker in Saunt Bend . In all, nearly a dozen have done such Avanti. And the company had fallen asleep again ... But she was again awakened by Michael Kelly and two aging senior manager with naughty boys who took up the case , it has revived in Atlanta.

center of resistance
 
Engines were purchased from Ford. Is this caused the persecution of Avanti by General Motors, not exactly say. By the year 2004 were announced a new sports car and SUV XUV. Last badged Studebaker-Avanti planned to produce up to a thousand a year. In parallel, the claim began to swell to Kelly by financial authorities. Security & Exchange Commission, known persecution of Preston Tucker and Howard Hughes , started talking about the machinations Kelly for $ 428 million ! Then avtozavodchiki , just like in the movie, slipped away to Mexico, where the resort Cancun gathered about a hundred cars, but in December 2006, Kelly was seized by FBI agents . The matter died down again , though rumor has it that somewhere in the jungles of the Amazon group of enthusiasts is preparing another new Avanti. Incidentally, among the fans of the brand and was seen by James Bond author Ian Fleming.