from; https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?73294-Dick-Van-Dyke-s-Avanti-up-for-auction July 22, 2013 This Avanti was featured on the front cover of Avanti Magazine Issue 156 Fall/Winter 2011, and inside on pages 16-17. The Avanti was part of the 2011 exhibit, "California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. When the exhibit concluded at the end of March of last year, the show went on display in Japan. Petersen Automotive Museum curator Leslie Kendall at the time confirmed that the car was a part of the Petersen's permanent collection. The museum had the car since 1994. Dick Van Dyke bought the Avanti through a dealership in Hollywood on Dec. 20, 1962 and the owner's manual is autographed by Raymond Loewy. At the time, Kendall rated the car a number 9 on a scale of 1-10. The Petersen is the third owner of record. In Saturday's LA Times article on the auction sale, the museum is unloading more than 100 rare and often historically important cars, in under-the-radar auctions, to finance a dramatic renovation of its building. The strategy, museum experts say, violates the standards most museums consider central to their mission. Those ethical standards are typically set by accrediting bodies seeking to protect the public's interest in historical preservation. Unlike some other major automotive museums, the Petersen is not accredited by the leading museum association. The article is claiming that the auction of the cars violates most museum's standards. Those ethical standards are typically set by accrediting bodies seeking to protect the public's interest in historical preservation. Unlike some other major automotive museums, the Petersen is not accredited by the leading museum association. Using such sales, known in the industry as deaccession, to finance capital projects is generally considered out of bounds, said Sally Yerkovich, head of the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University.