Avanti II—The First Continuation Car

The hurdle many owners encounter is a big one—any money spent on a restoration is just being thrown down a rat hole

by Rob Sass

The Avanti may be one of the most polarizing designs ever created. Those who love it really love it and those who don’t appreciate it loathe it. But among the former, at least six intrepid souls have been passionate enough about Raymond Loewy and Tom Kellogg’s creation to keep the car from dying—even when all but the nuttiest should have been looking for a wooden stake or a silver bullet.

The Avanti IIs sold to the public in 1966 were really the first “continuation cars,” built long before that dubious term was coined. Studebaker, which had been building wagons since the mid-19th century, finally expired that year. It built its last cars in exile in Hamilton, Ontario. The consolation prize for the city of South Bend, IN—Studebaker’s former main manufacturing center—was the sale of the Avanti rights, tools, molds, and part of the plant to local dealers Leo Newman and Nate Altman.

CHECKER THOUGHT IT TOO UGLY

Newman and Altman shopped...