Car Stuff: A Correction

No one likes to be wrong, but I believe it's important to admit one's mistakes. Back in the summer I posted pictures from a car show I attended. Among them was this one:

At the time I identified this as a 1964 Studebaker Avanti, though I questioned the originality of the wheels. While it is an Avanti, it's not a '64, and if I had been paying just a bit more attention, I would have realized that. The telltale sign that I overlooked is the side marker lights, which I have mentioned before were mandated by the federal government on new cars as of the 1968 model year.

The original Avanti was built for only two model years, 1963 and '64, and Studebaker was gone altogether by 1966. After the company ceased production of the Avanti, a trio of dealers in South Bend, IN (the location of the factory) purchased the rights to the Avanti name, parts, and use of factory space. The car was called the Avanti II and was built in small numbers, essentially by hand, until the early 1980s. (In fact, the car's history continues well beyond that point under different ownership, and with questionable styling changes like rectangular headlights.)

So this is definitely an Avanti II, and the presence of the side marker lights along with the absence of federally-mandated 5 mph bumpers dates this car to a 1968-72 time frame. As to the source of those wheels, which I noted look very much like ones used on Buicks: at this point the builders of the car were using Chevrolet engines, so it's entirely reasonable to extrapolate that they were also purchasing wheels from another GM division.

I realized my mistake in identifying this car after reading this article about the original Avanti on Curbside Classic, which goes deeper into Studebaker's problems and is well worth your time if you are interested.