Classic Yellow Avenger

Dave Harvey owns own of the first FiberFab Avengers — serial #61 from 1966 — and when I last talked to him he had over 60,000 miles on the car.

Sorry I don’t have bigger pictures (you can click to zoom the collage) of John from New Bedford, MA’s Avenger. It’s the 1969 GT-12X model, and he started restoring it in 1994 and finished three years later with a trophy winning car. It’s built around a Karman Ghia chassis (from disc brakes, etc.) and a 1600 cc engine that’s been worked over with twin carbs, a dual header exhaust. The car also has custom 5″ offset 14″x7″ wheets, adjustable air shocks in the rear, and an overhead stereo system (very cool in a car like this; my Laser 917 had that originally).

“It turns more heads than any screwdriver,” he tells me.

Bud Short is well known for having some of the nicest classic kit cars out there. Long ago (it’s been far too long since I talked to most of my kitcar friends) he sent me this letter and pictures,

“I refused to use any VW parts on the Avenger. Since the chassis is Corvair, I use all Corvair suspension, trans, engine and all the related stuff that is attached. The windshield wiper assembly, instrument cluster, dash switches, defroster, horns, engine compartment hinges, most of the headlight assembly, side window roll up mechanisms, door latches, door handles, and tail lights are Corvair, (of course the windshield and windshield chrome are Corvair). I used early 80’s GM rearview mirrors and Harley Davidson front turn signals, I looked long and hard at a lot of mirrors and front turn signals before I decided that this was the best way to do it.”

Original build pictures:

After that build:

Bud, if you see this, please update me as to what you’ve been working on the last few years!