FROM THE PRESIDENT
H
ave you got the Fever…the Avanti Spring Fever
to get your Avanti on the road and ready for
hundreds of car shows? Well, you might not
drive to hundreds of car shows this year, but over the next
decade. How many will you attend this year?
If everyone took their Avanti out at least once a year,
then we would have 2,000-plus Avanti Exposures. This
would drive up the demand and price on the Avanti.
We all know it is common sense. Why don’t we? Is it be-
cause it is not beautiful enough
to show against the trailer
queens? Don’t worry about
what it looks like. My Gold
Avanti 63R2259 had faded
paint, rusted bumpers and a
weak 3EE battery when I drove
it to Gainesville, Fla., in 1999. I
even drove it in reverse during
the 20’ judging award because
the passenger side looked bet-
ter than the driver’s side. You
had to be there. What a hoot. It
was FUN!
The good thing is we have the
parts available to fix our cars
THANKS to the many vendors.
❏
What are you doing to pro-
mote AOAI and the Avanti mar-
quee? The association would
like to hear what you and your
chapters are doing.
Several members are making
significant contributions in parallel to the promotional ef-
forts by board members Keith Phildius and Don Jones.
Last October, Dan Skidmore was featured in the video
“Avanti: The Car That Would Not Die” which aired on the
FINELIVING channel. It was a great summary on the
Avanti to present date. Recently, Nick Berger drove
Christine to a filming session in Santa Monica, Calif.
There are more details in the pages ahead.
Peter King has been rallying the troops to vote for the
Avanti to be on SPIKE TV. Gary & Susan Lord are promot-
ing a car show in Pennsylvania. The three Amigos, Frank
Antonielllo, Bill Reich and Bruce Kaplan are forming the
Long Island chapter.
Several people like Bob Johnstone are using the Inter-
net to promote the Avanti and provide parts interchange
information. All of these folks should be proud of their ef-
forts.
The board of directors, chapter officers and newsletter
editors deserve a round of applause for their leadership
and great accomplishments. There are a lot of interesting
activities taking place this year.
❏
4
AVANTI Magazine
2004 AOAI International Meet: It will be an exciting
week in Charlotte during June 6-12. There are many
events to attend like Welcoming Night, Vendor Displays,
Board Meeting, Tech Seminars, Tours, Auction, Con-
course, AOAI Banquet with Best Newsletter, Distin-
guished Member, and Lifetime Achievement Awards pre-
sented and finally the Awards Banquet.
If you can’t make it for the whole week, adjust your
schedule to come for at least a day. It will be worth the
trip. We will have some AOAI t-shirts for sale for $10
each, while supplies last. Plus,
you will get first dibs on the brand
new, 2005 Avanti Calendar with a
special meet price of $10 each.
After the meet, the calendars
are $12.00 each. Steve Montgom-
ery has lined up a delicious AOAI
Banquet Dinner with a presenta-
tion given by Laurence Loewy.
❏
Travel back in time: Do you
remember seeing pictures of the
Avanti on the Studebaker Prov-
ing Grounds track and wishing
you could have been there with
Sherwood Egbert and Raymond
Loewy?
After traveling to Charlotte,
you are welcome to join the Indi-
ana Chapter for lunch while we
“Return to Sherwood Forest”
(Bendix Woods) and drive a few
laps on the former Studebaker
Proving Grounds.
You may even get a chance to
get your picture taken with these two famous people.
The Bosch Automotive Group has generously allowed
us access to the proving grounds on Saturday afternoon,
July 17.
The Avanti Motor Corp. is bringing a new Avanti and
providing literature and some door prizes to the meet-
ing, too. Complete details can be found in the Chapter
Happenings section.
❏
Officer nominations and profiles: If you are interest-
ing in serving on the AOAI board, you can start sending
in your nominations and profiles to Lew Schucart at
editor@aoai.org. We will run the election ballot in Issue
127 of Avanti Magazine.
If you have questions on board member roles and re-
sponsibilities, please ask any board member.
❏
Future AOAI member: Yvonne and I had our baby,
Lincoln, on March 29 at 9:32 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds,
7.3 ounces and was 22 inches long. he will soon take his
first ride in an Avanti.
See you in Charlotte!
Mike
Spring/Summer 2004 Issue 126