Company takes another run at resurrecting Avanti

Another attempt is being made to bring the legendary Avanti automobile back to life.

This time the resurrection is being attempted in Villa Rica, Ga., by a company named Avanti Motor Corp., the same name as the company that brought Avanti back to life the first time in the mid-1960s.

John Seaton, chief executive officer of Avanti Motor, said Tuesday his company would hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. today at its 75,000-square-foot factory in Villa Rica, about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta.

"We have just literally opened our doors. We envision having 50 to 150 employees in the next 18 months," Seaton said.

He said his company has purchased all of the assets of Avanti Automotive Corp., the name of the Avanti manufacturer when it was in Youngstown, Ohio.

Production of Avantis in Youngstown ceased in 1991.

The new Avanti will use a General Motors vehicle platform under a fiberglass skin.

"Our goal is to build a true American handcrafted, high-performance, limited-production automobile," said Seaton, emphasizing that "the Avanti essence is still there."

He envisions selling about 300 vehicles per year.

Although he declined to reveal its selling price, Seaton acknowledged, "It will be an expensive car."

Seaton also declined to reveal details about the company's finances, other than to say: "We have sufficient capital to get this car back into production."

Michael Kelly, president of an earlier reincarnation of Avanti when the car was produced in South Bend during the mid-1980s, is chairman of this latest version of the company, according to Seaton.

This will be the second time in recent years that an attempt would be made to resurrect Avanti.

In 1995, Christopher Baker of South Bend announced an elaborate plan to bring Avanti back to life and back to South Bend from Youngstown. Not much came of that plan.

The original Avanti was designed in 1962 for Studebaker Corp. by famous designer Raymond Loewy.

Studebaker executives envisioned the sporty car with sleek, advanced styling would help save the foundering company.

Avanti was a hit but not a big enough hit to save the pioneering automaker. Studebaker ceased production in South Bend in 1963.

Two South Bend businessmen, Leo Newman and Nate Altman, bought the rights to Avanti from Studebaker and began producing handmade cars in 1964 in South Bend.

The company was sold to Stephen Blake, a Washington, D.C., businessman in 1982, and went bankrupt in 1985.

Kelly, then a Dallas businessman, brought the company back to life in 1986. Two years later, he sold the company to real estate scion John J. Cafaro, who moved operations to Youngstown.

"Avanti is not dead," Seaton said. "It is alive and well and prepared to propel itself into the next millennium."