There's no escape from Orange County (yet), because we're heading down the 405 a ways and getting off in Laguna Hills. Laguna Hills is the relentlessly stucco-and-cul-de-sacs home of the Leisure World retirement community, where all manner of original-owner old cars may be seen... gathering dust. OC-based Vance shot this Avanti- which may or may not deserve to be called a Studebaker, depending on how much of a purist one may be- for us; to read his description, jump!
Speaking of Avantis, been meaning to send these shots for a while. I snapped this rather sad Avanti at the Leisure World (actually it's called Laguna Woods Village these days) retirement community near Laguna Hills, CA. Not sure what vintage it is — seemingly it's from the post-Blake era — but it sure doesn't have the style of the Stude or Avanti II versions. Whatever vintage it is, it does seem to use some "borrowed" GM components. Isn't that a side mirror from a C4 Corvette?
This car doesn't seem to get driven much. Every time I've seen it, it's been parked in the same place, just baking in the SoCal sun.
The third brakelight would imply that it is a 1986 or newer model:
The ground effects of this later-model body make the car look bloated. And the original curvaceous "coke bottle" lines have been toned down compared to earlier models:
Alloy wheel is reminscent of those on an early C4 Corvette...
And the instrument panel looks like it was taken from a 1976 Camaro