Rare All-Steel Avanti

[jlmccuan]

Thought I'd share this with you all. At a recent show, a guy and his son approached my '63 Avanti. As the guy began telling his immense knowledge of all things Stude, he went on to focus on the Avanti's. He then reached out and knocked on my front fender. As I stood in shock that a stranger would beat his knuckles against my car, he proudly proclaimed, "See - all metal. Not one of those fake fiberglass ones they put they Chevy engines in." Fortunately, he left before I recovered.

Jim

_________1966 Avanti II RQA 0088______________________1963 Avanti R2 63R3152_______________Rabid Snail Racing

[JGK 940]

They Walk Among Us - and They Breed!

You're a better man than I am, Jim. Good on ya.

I'd have chased him down and called him out. Probably stupid on my part, but blatant stupidity just plain makes me angry.

Grrr...

Keoni Dibelka / HiloFoto
In Hawai'i; on Hawai'i; on the Windward Side
If da salt air never chew 'em up bumbye da lava will...

[kurtruk]

Wow.
Sorry, but couldn't help but think about the scene in the movie Christmas Vacation where cousin Eddie raps on his head with his knuckles and says "see Clark, solid as a rock here--but over here on this side is where they put the steel plate in and I gots to be careful." Maybe someone can help me the exact line.

KURTRUK
(read it backwards)

[StudeDave57]

Sorta the same, but a different story. Last month when I took Cleo out for the 'Big 3' Parts Swap I had alot of the same 'smart people' looking (and touching) her. Luckily she needs paint, so I didn't mind too much. The fun part was showing those smart people how they had it backwards~

her fins and headlight pods are steel~ her hood is not...


StudeDave '57 [8D]
San Diego, Ca.
(but not for long...)

'54 Commander Regal 4dr 'Ruby'
'57 Parkview 'Betsy' (she's a 2dr wagon)
'57 Commander DeLuxe 2dr 'Baby'
'57 Champion Custom 2dr 'Jewel'
'58 Packard sedan 'Cleo'
'65 Cruiser 'Sweet Pea'

[jlmccuan]

As far as chasing him down, as I stood there with my mouth open, I realized my wife had already grabbed my arm in anticipation of the chase. lol She had already pegged the guy as a "toucher" and moved in.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those "nobody touches or stands too close to my baby". In fact, I've personally put little kids behind the steering wheel for pics. I'm happy to give rides and want people to engage the car - on request. There are even "special people" who have advance permission to drive the car when we meet up. Heck, I even let my son's fiance trounce on clueless kids at the drag strip with it, lol.

Jim

_________1966 Avanti II RQA 0088______________________1963 Avanti R2 63R3152_______________Rabid Snail Racing

[52-fan]

Reminds me of the time that the Little Rock club was having a meeting and we were parked in a bank parking lot. While I was talking to some new members, a young man drove up in a fairly new Olds Cutlass. While I stood there stunned, he got out, walked over to my 52, opened the door and got behind the wheel! Before I could recover and approach him, he got back in his car and drove off. I wish I had thought to walk over and get in his car while it was sitting there with the door open.


1952 Champion Starlight, 1962 Daytona, both w/overdrive.Searcy,Arkansas
"I may be lazy, but I'm not shiftless."

[Gunslinger]

He must be mistaking the Studebaker Avanti's with the all-steel Avanti's made in Canada!




Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

[buddymander]

Doncha wish you could be amazed by intelligence as often as you're amazed by stupidity? Now that would be a great world. There's just no accounting for some people's behavior; that's the amazing part.

[Bob Bryant]

At an all-brands car club meeting this week, the member seated next to me asked what kind of car I had. I replied, "Studebaker Avanti".

He said, "They are still made in Brazil, aren't they?"

[PlainBrownR2]

Going back to the very interested man inappropriately rapping his knuckles on your stuff, it is obvious he doesn't have an ear for it. Fiberglass produces a very dull thud while steel will resonate, barring the paint isn't extraordinarily thick. The funny thing is it begs the question, those of us with these fiberglass wonders, are we going to have to tote a small but strong magnet in our stuff? I should also mention that many a Corvette(with a few in the six figures now) were made of that same fake fiberglass stuff.
The funny thing was this lack of "hands to yourself" rule that I presume many of us know about, led our train club to erect some lexan risers and postings. This was because many of the kids who would walk by, who were high enough to reach over the display would reach over and push some of our equipment over just to see the domino effect and the ensuing model train wreck afterwards. As much as we love them, it was becoming something of a bother. For a group that was advertising the club and how well things are run, having a display come to an immediate and grinding halt was not something we wanted to continually have to address during the day.



[img=left]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t102/PlainBrownR2/My%201950%202r5%20Studebaker%20Pickup%20with%20turbocharger/P1000137-1.jpg[/img=left][img=left]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t102/PlainBrownR2/My%201950%202r5%20Studebaker%20Pickup%20with%20turbocharger/P1000145-1.jpg[/img=left][IMG=right]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t102/PlainBrownR2/Ex%20Studebaker%20Plant%20Locomotive/P1000578-1.jpg[/IMG=right]
[IMG=right]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t102/PlainBrownR2/My%201964%20Studebaker%20Commander%20R2/P1010168.jpg[/IMG=right]

[tutone63]

Cousin eddie said something along these lines " But, ya see Clark, over here I have a steel plate, and if that gets dented, then the part in my hair gets all screwy" That is not the exact line, but it is a bit closer.


1963 Lark, 259 V8, two-tone paint, Twin Traction. I can't wait till the salt is off the roads!!

[Ron Dame]

Driving the truck a week ago, I met a man who informed me that a boat builder in Seattle bought the rights to Avanti and started building out of fiberglass. Maybe it's the same guy!

quote:Originally posted by jlmccuan

Thought I'd share this with you all. At a recent show, a guy and his son approached my '63 Avanti. As the guy began telling his immense knowledge of all things Stude, he went on to focus on the Avanti's. He then reached out and knocked on my front fender. As I stood in shock that a stranger would beat his knuckles against my car, he proudly proclaimed, "See - all metal. Not one of those fake fiberglass ones they put they Chevy engines in." Fortunately, he left before I recovered.

Jim

_________1966 Avanti II RQA 0088______________________1963 Avanti R2 63R3152_______________Rabid Snail Racing

Ron Dame
'63 Champ

[Karl]

Wait till you come back from a food break or some thing. Find some one behind the wheel looking all comfy.[:0] That will pull your strings. Then tell you about your car....[B)]

[55s]

I came back to my car once and found that the hood was opened by a stranger who wanted to see the engine.

The mixed show audience also seems to leave lots of fingerprints. I'm glad my cars aren't perfect, and I usually don't spend a lot of time cleaning them up perfectly.

It really takes all kinds.

Paul

[Ron Dame]

I drive my truck often to work I don't lock it because I leave nothing in it and it's a PIA to replace glass if the dummies don't realize there's a sliding back glass, and the clips on it don't work. I really don't worry about theft around here, but I was really PO'd when I got in one day and the truck reeked of cigarette smoke, and there was a butt in the ashtray. I'd like to find that guy's butt and kick it...

quote:Originally posted by Karl

Wait till you come back from a food break or some thing. Find some one behind the wheel looking all comfy.[:0] That will pull your strings. Then tell you about your car....[B)]

Ron Dame
'63 Champ