STEVE HOLE tells the story of the eighties faux exotic, which was actually pretty good, the AVANTE
Very much a child of its time, the Avante was an attempt at an eighties faux exotic that wasn’t half bad. Like many cars of its type back then it was based on VW Beetle and was inspired by the Nova.
The original Beetle-based Avante appeared in 1982
Not sure if Kay was familiar with the Spanish language, but rather aptly, in Spanish, ‘Avante’ basically translates as ‘full steam ahead’.
It came from Avante Cars based in Longton, one of the ‘city of five towns’ Stoke-on-Trent so-called by local novelist Arnold Bennett. Surely, it should be ‘six towns’ as I’m sure that Fenton forms part of that conurbation. Anyway, back to the Avante as we’re talking cars not geography!
The Mk2 Avante +2 added length and an extra row of seats and appeared in 1983
I believe that Kay worked at a garage business in Longton (Clewlow Motors) and the owners, Mike and Jeff Clewlow, funded the Avante’s development.
The car shared the same dashboard as the Eagle SS and had a Terry Sands-designed ‘Alfachassis’, which was his alternative and upgraded take on the 1302 or 1303 Beetle floorpan.
I’m not sure if this is true, someone was winding me up or whether I dreamt it, but something tells me that the expensive windscreens were originally made by none other than Royal Doulton.
In 1983, the Avante +2 arrived, which was basically a Mk2 Avante that was 8in longer and 6in taller to allow for an extra row of seats in a 2+2 layout.
The car ran alongside the two-seater however and also had an extra 1½in extra ground clearance, larger headlights, increased wheel arches, Cortina Mk5 rear light lenses, a beefed-up tubular steel body subframe and a VW Golf Nk1 or Scirocco engine option.
As mentioned the +2 arrived in 1983, launched rather grandly at the Earl’s Court Motorfair. This also had a revised front and revised roof section.
When Kay moved on he sold the projects to a Keighley, West Yorkshire-based company, run by Paul Spivey although its not known if he made any.
There was a brief resurrection by Blackpool-based, Paul de Roma of Top Hat Coachworks in 1987, who, incidentally, also offered a BMW M1 replica briefly, too.
Avante Cars 1982-86
Top Hat Coachworks 1987
Approx 30 made (25 Avantes and 5 +2s)
ALTO
Although un-related, we should talk here about the Alto of 1983.
It came from Surrey-based Peerhouse Cars bore a strong resemblance to the Avante and was also based on VW Beetle mechanicals. Only three were sold by the time it went off to the kitcar graveyard in the sky.
After a four-year hiatus, a company called Cardo Engineering surprisingly announced that they planned to put the car back into production. They came up with a mid-engined Alfasud-powered version complete with separate spaceframe chassis (Alfachassis) option designed by Terry Sands. However, nothing more was ever heard.
Peerhouse Cars 1983-84
Cardo Engineering 1988
Approx 3 made