New Grand Touring Car Arrives
34 Years After Original Avanti1s Debut.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Some 34 years after the Studebaker Avanti's introduction and short-lived production run, a new automobile has been created that revives the spirit of the original and, in fact, was designed by one of the original stylists. The 1998 AVX (for AVanti eXperimental), a four-passenger grand touring coupe, is being produced in very limited numbers by Jim Bunting, an avid Avanti enthusiast who refuses to let the marque die. Built on the current Pontiac Firebird platform (GM F-series, 1993 or newer), the AVX expresses what Bunting believes a Studebaker Avanti would look like today had the company survived. And adding credibility to this belief is the person Bunting commissioned to design the car: Tom Kellogg, a member of the original Raymond Loewy design team and the person responsible for much of the 162 Avanti's body styling. We used the same design criteria on the AVX as we did on the Avanti,Kellogg says. Those criteria include a no-grill nose, pronounced forward rake,Coke bottle side sculpting, the unmistakable Avanti wedge shape, and large, round headlights dominating the front end.

Unlike the original Avanti, however, the AVX is a true custom car. Built at a rate of only two per month, it gives each customer the opportunity to, in effect, create a one-of-a-kind automobile. Each one is a hand-made, American-built one-off, Bunting says. The customer gets to choose from a very wide range of exterior colors, interior fabrics and leathers, ride and handling packages, and engine upgrades that range from mild to outrageous.; To obtain an AVX, the customer provides a 1993 or newer Pontiac Firebird, plus $33,900 for the basic conversion. The process of transforming a Firebird takes 16 weeks, including some 280 hours of surface preparation and paint work. Naturally, choosing upgrade options adds to the price and the conversion time. When customers see the results, they know it's been well worth the wait, Bunting says.