Avanti photo needed

[LarkTruck]

Anyone out there have a good close up photo they could post here of the black-out painted area around the grille/radiatior opening on a 63 Avanti?
JS

[bezhawk]

They weren't blacked out, so that would be non original. All was body color.......but, if you have a black car.....

[Bob Langer]

They weren't blacked out, so that would be non original. All was body color.......but, if you have a black car.....

Sherwood may disagree with you. This isnt the best photo, but it shows just the sides of the intake opening.

[jts359]

Whats the matter you can't pick up the phone and ask me that question , Mine is still all original BLACK on a gold car , Your old forgotten about friend , Ed

[bezhawk]

I would still say not, that is probably a publicity photo that has been airbrushed. I'm defineately not saying no, but, I have seen stock low mileage originals that were not blackened out.

[SN-60]

I do not remember ever seeing a '63-'64 Studebaker Avanti with that area blacked out....always body color. (Usually quite dirty, when folks actually drove them, but always body color)

[stude dude]

I have seen a few original 1963-64 cars with the black paint. But it is hard to find good photos that show where the factory masked them off.

Chris.

[LarkTruck]

They weren't blacked out, so that would be non original. All was body color.......but, if you have a black car.....

I would beg to differ with you on this issue. When I was a little more involved in the resto-world I had several ORIGINAL cars pass thru my shop with the mouth area blacked out. Can't find my pics of the finished product.

Mr. Ed, if you could put your car up on that fancy new lift you have any get me a couple of pics I would really appreciate it! :-)
THANKS for the photo Bob!
J-Bob

[bezhawk]

Anything can happen to a car after it leaves the factory.....even before it's sold for the first time. There was alot of dealer prep involved on some and slip shod production, and weather strip adhiesive everywhere, water leaks, door fitments. All of this on a car costing more than a Corvette. Do you absolutely know if your car "left the factory" with the scoop blacked out?

[jlmccuan]

These pics were taken of my Avanti which had 7,000 miles on it when I got it. A very unmolested car with a good known history. Factory original paint and interior. Note, this car was delivered to the dealer prior to the Studebaker engineering changes for the front grille to be installed and drip rails. So, these items were dealer installed. It is not clear if the dealer blacked out the area behind the grille or not, but there is a very clear line to follow. All dealer installed items appear to have been done by the book. This car was original enough that the paper tags with part numbers on the drip rails were still intact if you rolled the rubber gasket back. Note factory tires.

[LarkTruck]

Thanks for the pic Jim. I know this was an issue dicussed by many so called "AVANTI EXPERTS" in the past. Also think there were articles in AOAI Magazine years ago about this.
JS

[LarkTruck]

Anything can happen to a car after it leaves the factory.....even before it's sold for the first time. There was alot of dealer prep involved on some and slip shod production, and weather strip adhiesive everywhere, water leaks, door fitments. All of this on a car costing more than a Corvette. Do you absolutely know if your car "left the factory" with the scoop blacked out?

Do you absolutely know that it didn't??????
JS

[SN-60]

What probably happened is the area in question was 'blacked out' by the selling dealer before he installed the stainless grille. Sure I'm just guessing, but if You think about it, wouldn't that area 'blacked out' enhance
the looks of the stainless grille more than a soon-to-be-dirty and pretty much impossible to reach and clean body color area? (Just My thoughts)

[bezhawk]

This photo suggests they weren't, however the lighting is poor so who knows?

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee285/studeq/newsgroup/lambertiegberttruckAvantiscopy.jpg?t=1311352059

[StudeMichael]

Would an Avanti being judged at an International Meet lose points if the grill area was blacked out?