Steve Blake -1983 article

[shifter4]

[StudeRich]

Thank you Bill, we finally got the real Deal (Legally), way to go! Great, but sad story now that we know the WHOLE Story.

[studegary]

Thanks for posting this.
Two years latter - bankruptcy.

[Avantict]

Thanks for posting. Hadn't seen before. Regards

[SN-60]

When I purchased My '83 Avanti from the Newman's,...I was told the twin to My car was still owned by a family member in the South Bend area, and had less than 5K on the odometer. This was in 1994. (These Avantis were originally part of the Blake buyout)

[Skip Lackie]

There was an extremely similar article published around the same time in a local DC-area business magazine called Regardie's. The magazine was owned by a guy named Bill Regardie, and he and Blake both moved in the same monied business circles. Regardie's magazine was oversized, with a lot of color and heavy-weight paper at a time when that stuff was expensive. Both the tone and the writing in the above article are extremely similar to the article in Regardie's, and I'm wondering if they were written by the same person. I have a copy of that magazine around here somewhere, and it would be interesting to see if the same guy got paid twice for writing one adulatory article.

[Jessie J.]

Am still waiting to hear 'the rest of the story'. What became of Steve Blake after his Avanti adventure?
I have done a little 'net searching but thus far found nothing.

[Skip Lackie]

Am still waiting to hear 'the rest of the story'. What became of Steve Blake after his Avanti adventure?
I have done a little 'net searching but thus far found nothing.

Partial answer:
He returned to the DC area, and engaged in a few business ventures. Not sure how much money he had left over after Avanti Motors went into bankruptcy and was sold. He rented an office in Arlignton, VA -- I have his business card from that period, and it just has his name, office address, phone number, and "Mid-Atlantic Classics" on it. He used to hang around an exotic car store in Arlington (which he may very well have owned partially or outright) that often had an Avanti or Avanti II in the showroom along with the early Corvettes, E-Type Jags and Ferraris.

He died about 20 years ago of bone cancer at age 49.

[Jessie J.]

Thanks for the info. Sad about Steve, a guy with such drive and big dreams. At my age (coming up on 65) I've seen so many good and smarter men pass, many whom were personal friends, others my hero's. Sometimes it makes me feel a bit guilty that such a mundane person as myself is still kicking.

[Roscomacaw]

Oh - THAT Steve Blake.