The Avanti is a kit car

[JDP]

OK, it just seems like one when you do the interior. It looks like someone designed the cockpit space and someone else had to figure out how to cover it with vinyl and carpet. i.e. the carpet is 15 pieces glued in, and dozens of vinyl bits wrapped around glass or cardboard panels. No wonder pro shops charge over 3K just in labor 3K to redo a Avanti.

[41 Frank]

Been there done that on my buddy's '63 Avanti. Did not have a clue what I was getting myself into. Did it way too cheap. I should have gotten a clue when I opened the box with all the pieces in kit form. i will never ever do another one! The interior was definitely engineered on the cheap and time no doubt was of the essence. Even the company that made the interior kit won't install one. Imagine having to do this install all day on the assembly line.

[Nelsen Motorsports]

That's why trucks are great.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Quote of the decade!

That's why trucks are great.

[N8N]

or just don't put carpet in (gets a little warm in the summer, though...)

nate

[bige]

I did my interior including the seats.

As difficult as it is the final product has a much richer look than a lot of cars of the era. Few exposed screw heads, padded vinyl instead of hard plastic castings or worse yet painted metal. It was the interior that made me want one. I didn't see one up close until I was in college in 1971 and got to peer in the window. It took another 24 years to get one and ironically the interior was trash.

Now, if you want to see a kit car...take a look at an '88 ( probably 87 too ). Switches just stuffed into holes, jumbles of wires under the dash shortcuts everywhere. The carpet is not molded but made thin enough so it can drape over the bends.

Which reminds me, JDP do you have a source for later carpet kits?

ErnieR

[JeffDeWitt]

That's why trucks are great.

Yep, especially ones with no chrome!

[JDP]

or just don't put carpet in (gets a little warm in the summer, though...)

nate

The carpet is, as is the windshield header trim, just waiting for you to help wire and install the dash. The interior from the Ca. parts car is somewhere on a Greyhound on the way to me.

[JDP]

I did my interior including the seats.

As difficult as it is the final product has a much richer look than a lot of cars of the era. Few exposed screw heads, padded vinyl instead of hard plastic castings or worse yet painted metal. It was the interior that made me want one. I didn't see one up close until I was in college in 1971 and got to peer in the window. It took another 24 years to get one and ironically the interior was trash.

Now, if you want to see a kit car...take a look at an '88 ( probably 87 too ). Switches just stuffed into holes, jumbles of wires under the dash shortcuts everywhere. The carpet is not molded but made thin enough so it can drape over the bends.

Which reminds me, JDP do you have a source for later carpet kits?

ErnieR

Nope, no patterns for them.

[bams50]

Been there done that on my buddy's '63 Avanti. Did not have a clue what I was getting myself into. Did it way too cheap. I should have gotten a clue when I opened the box with all the pieces in kit form. i will never ever do another one! The interior was definitely engineered on the cheap and time no doubt was of the essence. Even the company that made the interior kit won't install one.

Thank you for this, Frank. It's a good tool to break out when I start thinking about getting one, which happens from time to time. Maybe I'll copy this to a Post-it note and stick it to my computer screen just for safety's sake. After all, I'm no 'bige'!

[WCP]

I'm afraid I don't agree with all the negativity expressed regarding Avantis and their restoration. Having done 5 over the years as a hobby, I can positively state that the beauty of the Avanti interior is that almost all of the pieces can be fabricated by a hobbiest with "learned" skills. Also good quality seat skins and carpets are readily available from Stude vendors. Even cracked dash pads can be patched and painted to provide an acceptable appearance, even though not show quality. If you are going for absolute authenticity, that can get a bit more expensive, but that standard is not particularly specific, given the nature of the Avanti production process. My advice is to stop discouraging those interested in getting involved in the restoration of these automobiles. It can be quite rewarding when the finished product looks and drives like new.

[Gunslinger]

I'm afraid I don't agree with all the negativity expressed regarding Avantis and their restoration. Having done 5 over the years as a hobby, I can positively state that the beauty of the Avanti interior is that almost all of the pieces can be fabricated by a hobbiest with "learned" skills. Also good quality seat skins and carpets are readily available from Stude vendors. Even cracked dash pads can be patched and painted to provide an acceptable appearance, even though not show quality. If you are going for absolute authenticity, that can get a bit more expensive, but that standard is not particularly specific, given the nature of the Avanti production process. My advice is to stop discouraging those interested in getting involved in the restoration of these automobiles. It can be quite rewarding when the finished product looks and drives like new.

I heartedly agree. I've loved Avanti's since I first knew what one was when I was a kid, so obviously my opinion is biased. They have their quirks, to be sure, and I hope to see more cars saved rather than scrapped or parted out, but I also understand there is a point of no return for any car...financially if not just practically. It's way too easy to end up upside down in an Avanti...or any Studebaker for that matter. That can also be said for most any other make and model car.

If it was purely based on economics and return on the dollar, few, if any Studebakers or cars would be saved and restored. We do it for the love of the cars. That's enough for me.

[JBOYLE]

You guys are getting me depressed (look at my photo, that's me when I'm happy)...
and I'm in waaaaay too deep to turn back now.

[Gunslinger]

You guys are getting me depressed (look at my photo, that's me when I'm happy)...
and I'm in waaaaay too deep to turn back now.

I hear ya! As all too often happens with cars...maybe fiberglass cars in particular...when the body was taken off the frame of mine and was stripped of all accessories and attachments, stress cracks in the fiberglass that had previously been invisible make themselves known. At that point, you have to fix them or the whole job is wasted.

It's not the big things that get you...you already knew about them and planned for them. It's the little stuff that's unseen and add up to an unexpected total to repair. But...when the car is done (well...it's never really done) and you drive it...those bad feelings go away as you go down the highway as king of the road.

[JBOYLE]

I hear ya! As all too often happens with cars...maybe fiberglass cars in particular...when the body was taken off the frame of mine and was stripped of all accessories and attachments, stress cracks in the fiberglass that had previously been invisible make themselves known.

I'll tell you a secret....we (Alan Barth, to be exact) left the body on. The chassis and body were in good shape, so I saw no need except for braggin' rights.