We bought my dad a present (Studebaker content)

[ajhostetter]

So, my old man is 68. When he was 15 his neighbor had a '63 Avanti, supercharged with a 4 speed. He's loved those stupid cars ever since and talks about wanting to get one to this day.

Well, a few weeks ago my little brother found one in Black Hawk and three of us plus my mom pitched in to buy it. My dad has no idea we did this. He might have a heart attack. We'll see.

[mrsleeve]

That is a very cool gift, and an neat car, and a great family move. They are kinda a ugly car, but they are still very cool in their own way, were great touring cars

My brother and I were going to do something similar for my mom when she retired mid 2018 with a 1970/71 blue and white over white, Olds Cutlass S or 442. Like she had many moon ago and the only car she still raved about and blamed my birth for forcing its sale. Its a project that will never be embarked upon sadly........

[nando]

You could still get one in memory of her though.

I've never seen that car above before. Strange looking for sure - but a cool gift for dad!

I have been lucky that I didn't have to sell my E30 when I had kids. And now, they are getting to the age where they really love it and would probably kill me if I did try and sell it. lol. But if I did, maybe they'd do something like this for me some day. :)

[rcsoundn1]

More pics of the avanti mang

[slammin.e28]

Ohhhh......

It's a supercharged one with the Paxton and all?

There's one that comes to Cars and Coffee here....it's immaculate...right down to the stickers.

They're so ugly, but so cool. Awesome!

[Vincent Brick]

Lucky Dad, we get together and buy my Pops shit like a leaf blower. But then again my Dad is the type who always put cars before family, so, whatever.

Coincidentally, post-Studebaker Avanti production was in Youngstown, Ohio for a brief period, where I spent my teenage years. John Cafaro, the rich guy who's name is on everything in the tiny town near Youngstown where my Dad lives now, is responsible for the abomination that was the Avanti 4-door.

[LJ851]

Cool story, tell us more. It looks a little rusty, though. :p

[ajhostetter]

That is a very cool gift, and an neat car, and a great family move. They are kinda a ugly car, but they are still very cool in their own way, were great touring cars

My brother and I were going to do something similar for my mom when she retired mid 2018 with a 1970/71 blue and white over white, Olds Cutlass S or 442. Like she had many moon ago and the only car she still raved about and blamed my birth for forcing its sale. Its a project that will never be embarked upon sadly........

I am so sorry you never got to do that. Maybe you could pull one together in her honor...

[jpod999]

Make sure to let us know how he reacts!

[ajhostetter]

Cool story, tell us more. It looks a little rusty, though. :p

Not sure if joking, or... For the kids that don't know, it's fiberglass. It does need a proper glass out respray though. The repaint it received at some point is meh, and there's a little crazing here and there on the body panels. All the crap in the interior works, except the dash clock. It's actually kinda fun to drive and puts out a surprising amount of power. It's an original R2 with the Paxton supercharger. All the metal is solid. Hog troughs, undercarriage, etc... AND it came with a NOS dash.

So back to the story. My old man is crazy about these. He's loved them for 53 years. He's a member of the Avanti owners club, gets the monthly magazine, etc... He has these vivid memories of his neighbor driving down the street and still trolls ebay for them. About 4 years ago a few of us (I'm one of 6 kids) were talking about trying to find one. I had no idea my youngest brother, who horse-trades cars on the side, still looked for them occasionally. The guy we bought this from is in oil and gas, and just had to shut down his consulting business. He's got a bunch of toys, motorcycles, Studi truck, a GoldenHawk, and is hard up for cash.

It really is a solid driver and we picked it up for a song (relatively). The car gets shipped from Denver to my dad's friend's place back east tomorrow. This guy has been a friend of the family for decades, and is another car nut with an older M3 and a Ferrari 458. When we told him what we did, he let us know that just last week they were driving in my dad's old neighborhood and he started reminiscing about the Avanti and talking about he he'd still love to get one someday. So, 4 of us are flying in next week to surprise the old man next Friday. The two local sibs should be there and I can't wait to see the look on his face.

[mbonder]

Well done, well done. Make sure someone is taping his reaction.

[varg]

WTF, I don't get you guys saying Avantis are ugly. They're awesome looking cars. The interiors are cool too.

[shameson]

Very cool! I've always wanted to buy my dad an alpine e21 as that was one of the cars of he always wishes he still had.

One of the guys in my town was a Studebaker enthusiast and had slammed Avanti with concave 5 spokes. Was a pretty killer car.

[LateFan]

4 of us are flying in next week to surprise the old man next Friday.

Very nice.

[DaWildBeast]

Video please

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