Customer Reviews

Avanti: The Complete Story

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A suggestion....
Any future editions of this book should be renamed "Avanti The Manufacturing Story".
Hull brings together the various lives of the Avanti, a story that spans no less than five decades, four production factories and enough owners and principals to fill several of the fiberglass luxury cars.

The book traces the history of the Raymond Lowey designed coupe from its inception as a potential savior /image car for the venerable Studebaker company to its latest incarnation as a Mustang re-clothed in body panels that manage to be both retro and futuristic at the same time.

Hull knows his subject well as a one time CFO for the latest resurrection effort and as the editor of the Avanti club magazine. He does a commendable job in putting the pieces together. Minor criticisms include not using many direct quotes from important figures. Hull paraphrases a magazine interview (which he references) with #3 Avanti owner Stephen Blake and a panel discussion by owner #4, Mike Kelly. Why not use the men's own words?

My biggest complaint is what you won't find here... details of the cars themselves.
Aside from a nice production total which finally answers who made how many, and where, most technical details: engines, performance specifications and importantly, prices are missing. A few answers are tucked away in ads and company literature pieces that have been reproduced (often too small) but I think he could have made a stronger effort to help the reader place the Avanti in the general automotive world. Later versions are noting as being produced on Monte Carlo, Caprice, Firebird and Mustang chassis. I would have like to learn how those were accomplished. Did the factory arrange to buy chassis and drivetrains...or did they have to buy a entire car and "throw away" the original bodies? Hull mentions that there were several donor-car proposals for the late 1990s AVX project. It would have been nice to see them. They have been published in a recent issue of the Avanti magazine, so I know they're out there.

Most photos are reproductions of factory pieces. Unfortunately, nearly all the shots of the Studebaker cars (which make up the majority of the total Avanti population) are limited to a pair of prototype cars. They are interesting to see the, but six pages of the same two cars? Sadly, no new photos of the 63-64 cars are included which would help the casual reader learn to what extent the original cars are lovingly maintained and restored by faithful owners. Also, factory production shots of the Studebaker -era cars are missing along with details of advertising. The factory record setting effort is mentioned only in passing.

If you want to learn a technical history of the car, I'd recommend "Avanti Limited Edition Extra" a collection of old and new magazine tests and articles complied and published by Brooklands in the United Kingdom and a subscription to the Avanti Magazine published by the Avanti Owners Association International.

So, it's a nice book for an Avanti owner or fan to have. But a newcomer to the car will only be getting half of the history for the car that won't die.

"The Complete Story" may be a bit misleading if you're an Avanti fan looking for the complete story. If the photos were removed from the 126 page book, the reader would be left with about 35 pages of text to tell the complete 45 year story. Not that the pictures aren't interesting, many are quite nice, rare, and unusual. Avanti fans will enjoy them. The text, however, tends to ramble in places, lacks insight into important aspects of the Avanti's history, and leaves the reader, at least this one, wanting more. Perhaps, "Avanti A Brief Overview With Pictures" would have been a better title. That said, it was probably worh the Amazon price. I would have been disappointed if I had paid the suggested retail price.

I currently own two Avantis, an original 1963 Studebaker, and a 1975 Avanti II built by Nathan Altman's Avanti Motor Corporation. I am also a member of the Avanti Owners Association. So needless to say, I have quite an interest in these cars. I've always found the Avanti to be a fascinating automobile (which is why I bought this book, sight unseen). It was a last-ditch attempt by the financially struggling Studebaker corporation to build an exciting, high performance vehicle that would lure buyers into showrooms. The car, despite being a lash up of existing parts that Studebaker had in its inventory (there was no money to develop something completely new), offered real performance, being faster than anything on the road at the time except the Corvette Stingray and Jaguar E Type (apart from super expensive exotic cars that no one but the really wealthy could afford). It also offered safety features like a padded dash, roll bar, and standard front disk brakes (the first ever in an American production car). All this was presented to the public in a uniquely styled vehicle that still looks modern almost half a century later.

The car might have succeeded in its purpose too but for various production bottlenecks that created long delays after the car was introduced to the public. This resulted in many impatient buyers canceling their orders. Then, when Studebaker CEO Sherwood Egbert, who was the driving force behind the car's creation, had to step down as he battled terminal cancer, the car lost its chief advocate in a company whose board was already looking at divesting itself of its ailing automotive division. Thus, after only just over 4600 vehicles were made, the Avanti was out of production, and that should have been it. But Studebaker dealers Nathan Altman and Leo Newman, who had fallen in love with the car, couldn't bear to see it come to such an ignominious end, and after failing to interest other makers, such as American Motors, and even Checker, in taking up production, decided to produce the car themselves. Accordingly, they bought the rights to use the Avanti name, a large inventory of unused parts, all the tooling necessary to continue making the car (apart from the engines, which would be sourced from Chevrolet), and two of the Studebaker factory buildings. They then hired former Studebaker engineer Gene Hardig (who had turned Raymond Loewy's design -- or his team's actually -- into an actual production car), and a crew of mostly former Studebaker employees, and continued to produce the Avanti as a limited production, hand-built car, making about a hundred vehicles a year.

After Altman's death, Steve Blake, Michael Kelly, and J.J. Cafaro, and then Steve Blake again, ran the company, but never with the success that Altman did.

Now... you really don't need to buy the book. The text doesn't go into a great deal more detail than I just did, and where it does, unfortunately, it does from the story of the Avanti II onward, and this, to me, is the book's most serious failing. If, like me, you are more interested in the original Studebaker car, and its history, you will be sorely disappointed. The author goes into surprisingly little detail about the car's origins at Studebaker, and its production history with that company. For a book that bills itself as "The Complete Story" of the Avanti, this is really an inexcusable omission.

The book offers some interesting details, and some great photos, especially of the prototypes, but it really ought to have a lot more text, especially about the Studebaker chapter of the story.

John Hull is an Avanti afficionado who was intimately involved with one of the most recent efforts to revive this marque. The numerous color photos of the various incarnations of this Raymond Loewy design will appeal to the Avanti enthusiast as well as to anyone who wants to "see" the evolution of this sleek, 'glas-bodied classic. The text is both accurate and concise, presenting a balanced view of the history of the car that has far outlived its parent company, the Studebaker Corporation.

Each successive chapter discusses the evolution of the Avanti beginning with its Studebaker origins, through the stewardship by Newman & Altman, Kelly, Cafaro, Bunting, and Seaton - culminating with the 2006 transition to Cancun, Mexico and the arrest of Mike Kelly on Federal charges related to his hotel businesses.

The production data from 1962-2007 is the most comprehensive and accurate compilation ever offered. Overall, this is an excellent overview of the fascinating history of this American classic.

The Studebaker Avanti ranks right up there with the All Time Great American automobile designs, like the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window coupe, the 1963 Buick Riviera, and the 1961 Lincoln Continental.
This book chronicles the creation of the car that should have saved Studebaker, right to the bitter end when the Avanti name was unfortuately placed on rebodied Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds. One has to wonder what might have been if Studebaker had survived. Alas, the Avanti was too far ahead of it's time, in terms of it's futuristic yet classic styling

My product was exactly what I was looking for, as it was a gift for my father. He absolutely loved it! Where I live, we only have shopping at one mall so my choices are somewhat limited. Thank goodness there is Amazon.com to aide in finding just the right gift!

Once again even though you think you know everything about the Avanti something comes along to enlighten you. The reader will be left with hope that the Avanti will rise once again from the ashes.
Once again the book arrived in perfect condition.

If you are into Avanti cars, this is a must have book. It covers from the original Studebaker through the Avanti IIs through the years and still being built today - well sort of.