Over at C.W.’s place, he drools over the Studebaker Avanti:
I, on the other hand, think that the Avanti remains the only car ever built where the back was actually better-looking than the front:
And speaking of rear ends, he also posted this:
My comment: “Keep the Volvo, burn down the house.”
I love C.W. like a brother, but occasionally he worries me.
I think this one’s got the “fugly” down — 1956 Inter 175A Berline Microcar. “Abomination” doesn’t quite seem intense enough to describe it….
https://silodrome.com/inter-berline-microcar/
If I lived in a city, I’d rather have that than a Prius.
I couldn’t tell from pkudude’s link, but does that have a hole in the floor so you can pedal the car, Flintstones-style?
Since 1964, the year I first seen an Avanti, I’ve thought it the best looking car I have ever seen. Still do. For it’s time I thought it was futuristic looking. As far as I can recall I have never seen an Avanti up close in person.
I like the Avanti, too. For a 1960s-era car, the styling has held up well. Yeah, it’s not the prettiest car ever, but it’s far from the ugliest. Studebaker was also responsible for one of the best-looking cars ever – the Loewy coupe. For 1953, this looked amazing! https://i.pinimg.com/736x/52/9d/2f/529d2f31531cef3eb06110f311f78474.jpg
Years ago in the 1980’s I had a neighbor who had a handful of collector cars including an Avanti in pretty good condition. The car was good looking on the outside and I think at the time it came out it was one of there fastest U.S. production cars but the interior was kind of half-assed and cheap looking compared to other performance cars of the early sixties.
In my opinion the Avanti was one of the better looking cars to come out of the 60s – and this is from a guy who thinks that 65 Corvair coupes were good looking too. Unfortunately it was the last effort of a dying company and I’ve been told by Studebaker experts that the car’s quality control was incredibly bad. The later Avanti IIs with their upgraded interiors and Chevy running gear seemed to be pretty nice rides and I believe that they stayed in limited production for many years.
I snorted when I saw your comment over at Mr. Swanson’s place. Well played.
Got a widow friend who has one(Avanti R-2) that I talked her into restoring.
I got to drive it many years ago when her husband was alive. Forget about what it looks likes – everybody’s taste in cars is different – although I confess to liking it for what it is.
When you fire it up and that Paxton supercharger starts spinning, oh, my.
Edited to add –
‘Course I always liked the Volvo Estate wagon as well…