I've never heard of one of these...but I stumbled across it while "surfing" the other night. Pretty ugly if you ask me. I've seen alot of AMC bashing... but don't think I saw anyone mention the Hornet hatchback (good!) :gt: This is one I used to own. I sold it to my dad a few years back and he still owns it. I kinda took a liking to it, and the body style "grew" on me. Pretty quick and very consistent too.... 13.26 was it's best Super mild 360, full exhuast, stock converter, daily driver.
Stude's I agree those Avante's are not my cup of tea. However, I did happen across TWO factory supercharged 63's the other day. I really respect someone who can ground-up restore some really unique vehicles to perfection!
What about the new Chevy Avalanche? Those things are hideous. Can't say a I'm a big fan of the late 50's(or was it early 60's) El Camino either. Wings just didn't look right on a truck bed. All the pics posted on this thread are killing me. I had totally forgotten so many of those cars.
a lot of cars are so ugly they are cute. and some ugly cars can be made to look pretty hot. remember a lot of gremlins were used as drag racers in the 70's. most 4-doors are hard to think of as cool, but oddly enough station wagons can be! i think the least attractive ameican car is a toss up betwwen any of the newer gm offerings, and the old checker marathon. but the top prize has to go to what ever they call that russian 4-door sedan you always see in the movies. it is usually black and full of bad intended ruffians.
anything that looks like a ford fiesta,subaru justy, yugo,chevy sprint, geo metro, or any other of these hamster cages on wheels are not real cars!!! that is like compairing a yorkshire terrior with a rott. like i've said before, never drive a car you can pick up or date a woman you can't! :bglasses: :laugh:
I'll agree about the Avanti. They were made by Studebaker during the 60's. The one pictured is an original 60's version. You can tell by the round headlights. In the 80's someone built a replica with square headlights. The 60's versions can be pretty valuable. The Supercharged versions used Paxton Superchargers, a division of Studebaker that still lives on today. Just a little trivia
Rick, I think those Hornet's were cool. Talk about a rice destroyer. Funny, if you stare at it long enough it starts to morph into a Matador! Looks like a shrunken version. Geez, the 360 in my Durango pulls pretty hard, imagine it in a friggin Hornet? I would have loved to have driven that. I bet it got real squirrely. I really don't know why everyone is down on the Avanti styling. There are so many worse looking cars out there, I'd figure the Avanti would end up in the "cool" category. I kind of like it. Remember the "period" styling, the era of wings and such. It is actually quite tame compared to some of that era.
This is the first time I have ever heard the Avanti called ugly! Those photos don't do the car justice! That's one built after '73. Thats why it has the big ugly rubber blocks on the bumper. :Smarty: Designed by Raymond Loewy, using a fiberglass body, The Studebaker Avanti, and then the Avanti II were built from 1962 until 1991. 1986 is the one year during that period they were not built. Studebaker dropped it after 1964 because they were beginning to go belly up. A guy that worked for Studebaker, Nate Altman bought the tooling and rights and continued production of the car as the Avanti II. Avanti II's have Corvette engines in them. They aren't a bad little sport coupe, I have had the opportunity to drive a couple of them and they are a lot of fun. My Father worked for a subsidiary of Studebaker back in the 60's, and always said of that company that "if there was a decision to make, Studebaker would always make the wrong one." :laugh:
Dale's right. The Avanti pictured is a post-1973 Avanti II. The Avanti had simple round headlights in 1963 only (the first year). In 1964 (the last Studebaker year) they were facelifted with square headlight bezels. When the Avanti II's came out they didn't change anything externally initially, the pictured car's bumper extension was the first exception. It's wasn't until the mid 1980's when the Avanti II was facelifted with color-keyed bumpers and true square single headlamps. At the same time they developed sedan and convertible models. They finally died in 1987. I ran a show in Pittsburgh in 1996 for the 100th aniversary of American cars where we had the last real Avanti II on display, a 1987 gold converitlbe. I believe that one or two cars were put together out of leftover parts in 1988 by the recievers. Most writers praise the Avanti, especially for it's predictive nature of the best of 70's and 80's design. It's believed the Bill Mitchell (GM) derived his "shear look" school of thought in 1962 when he saw the Avanti. Except for the windshield angle, the Avanti was years ahead of any other 1963 design.
As for Dan's '72 Swinger, I'm a big fan. It is a very clean, basic design for a very clean, basic car. Park a '72 Swinger nest to a same year Comet or Maverick or N.O.V.A. clone and I think it comes off quite well. Also the Hornet isn't that bad looking a car. It was just facelifted about 13 too many times and we all just got sick of looking at it.
As for Dan's 1961 Dodge Dart Pioneer, I think it could be arguably called the best looking car Chrysler made in 1961, a period that can truly be called the corporation's lost year. To wit: 1961 Plymouth Valiant, my personal choice for best looking 1961 Mopar 1961 Dodge Lancer 1961 Dart Phoenix, same car wtih extra gorp 1961 Desoto 1961 Chrysler The frightening yet banal: 1961 Plymouth Fury And the almost unbelievable: 1961 Imperial, free standing head and tail lights??????? :eek2: When I was in grad school in 1981 there was a guy in my block that had a 1961 Imperial with one of Lee Iacocca's bumper stickers: "This is the New Chrysler Corporation! ". :spank: I loved it!
Finally, I was glad someone else mentioned the 2003 Cavalier. In 1993 when that body first came out I thought it was among the best looking sub-compacts ever. However, last November I posted this on the AACA forum upon seeing my first 2003 Cavalier: Now, as time passes, I just find the car sad.
Virgil Exner. That guy had some pretty wild design ideas both good and bad. Detroit could use some designers like Virgil Exner and Raymond Loewy today. Bill Mitchell too!
I have a perfect grille off a 61 Imperial sitting in my garage. There was one in the local "pick your part" yard a year or so ago. The car it was on was little more then a bent rusty shell but whoever stripped it left the grille on it. I dunno if it is worth anything but it sure makes a cool wall decoration. I have never seen a 40+ year old piece of chrome that is as spotless as this thing. No pits at all, no dings, nothing. It looks NOS. I also have the complete dash out of a Rambler American that had 24,000 origional miles on it. Again perfect, but unwanted. Soon to be another wall decoration.
