The Avante and Alto

Posted by John Mellberg November 08, 2020

The Avante and Alto

An early example of an Avante

Melvyn Kay founded Avante Cars in 1982 at Stoke-on-Trent, County Staffordshire, UK. The car was launched that same year to a warm reception. Given its practicality, relative to competing kits, and the high quality of its fit and finish, one might have expected it to be a bigger hit.

An early example of an Avante

Often seen as an offshoot of the Richard Oakes designed Nova (aka Sterling in the US), the Avante didn't actually share an inch of fiberglass with its more famous contemporary. However, both definitely tapped into the same vein of inspiration, taking cues from cars such as the Ford GT40 and Lamborghini Miura.

Still the Avante's proportions were more conventional, with standard doors, two bucket seats, a less rakish windshield, and concealed headlights. It had a more "usable" interior as well. The 2+2 version of the Avante, imaginatively named "+2", featured a more open greenhouse, with additional windows in the rear quarters, and provisional back seats.

An Avante +2 (Image courtesy of TKC Magazine)

It also had a spacious and well designed cockpit with a "wrap-around" dashboard sill that continued into the door cards. It also had wind-up windows and a modest center console, housing a well positioned shifter and room for whatever gauges or accessories a builder may have wanted.

The Avante interior

Mechanically, it was based on the VW Beetle's floor-pan and running gear. It didn't require shortening or lowering of the pan, but a special tubular steel subframe was designed and used to add stiffness as well as mounting points for the doors.

For the price of £1550, customers got a basic bodyshell kit which included the main GRP shell with the windscreen, doors, engine and headlamp covers fitted, and the doors pre-hung. Completed cars could be purchased starting around £5500. These contained reconditioned components throughout, and were trimmed professionally, with the choice of engine being left to the customer. A VW Scirrocco powered example was featured in Peter Filby's "Alternative Cars" publication and was apparently the company demo.

Sadly, the Avante never quite found its stride and the initial production run ended in 1986, with Mr. Kay handing the project off to Top Hat Coachworks of Blackpool, led by Paul de Roma, who continued production from 1987 until '88.

In the end 30 Avante's were produced, with just a handful being +2 models.

The "Red" Alto prototype

The Alto mystery

The Alto was the last Avante ever produced before the company ceased operations and was never registered or certified for road use, sadly. It was VW Beetle based, using the front and rear suspension assemblies as well as the air-cooled flat four and was intended to be sold in kit form.

The Alto's body was derived from the original Avante +2 model and was mounted to a fiberglass floor-pan. It inherited the Avante's concealed headlights and had Ford Cortina Mk5 tail lights. The engine hatch at the rear of the car was redesigned and, interestingly, air intake scoops were added to its haunches, much like the Nova.

The "Red" Alto prototype - rear view

The interior was also completely reworked and looked considerably more polished and contemporary in design. Only two prototypes were made, in '86. The first of the two was finished in red and was an intermediate version of the revised +2 design. The second represented the final version and was done in white. Both featured a new rear fascia but differed in the interior and details at the nose of the vehicle.

David Shaw and Warren Bolton (along with Melvyn Kay) were trading as BRM Cars in Morecambe and experimenting with open-top conversions on things like Jaguars and Rolls Royce's, and ended up with the molds for the Alto. This was likely via Mr. Kay, who was dissolving Avante Cars at the time.

The unfinished "White" Alto prototype - Interior

There were ambitious plans for the Alto, including a convertible version that was partially completed, but these never materialized and the molds for the coupe were sold off when the company went bust.

Dave Shaw bought the car and molds back in '87/'88 as the company was going bust and he saw an advert in the paper about the Alto and went to have a look, ultimately buying one of the Alto's that had been molded, along with all the molds and production rights.

The unfinished "White" Alto prototype

From what could be gathered, off the Euro-Nova forum in posts dating from 2010, the molds and one of the surviving prototypes were purchased by a forum member with the intent to make spares and restore the car. That prototype was the white one. It was found in a partially completed state, as a "roller", having never received a motor. It appears that the red prototype was the sole running example. However, it suffered some "unfortunate" modifications and has changed hands a number of times...

What came of the white car's restoration is unknown and from there, the trail went cold for awhile. However, now we have a little more information.

A member of the Fantastic Plastic (Facebook) group, Justin Attwood, in the UK reached out and disclosed that he currently owns the molds for the Avante Alto. He obtained them as part of a purchase from a company called "Pie Valley Buggies". At the moment there are no plans to pull a body from them but they remain in his care.

In addition, Justin is apparently working on an Avante build that will feature an Audi V8! That should be an amazing car when it's done. I look forward to sharing details of that as they are received.

Look for more info on the fate of the white Alto prototype as my efforts to track that down continue. The whereabouts of the "red" prototype remain unknown.

Sources:

Rare Component Cars - UK Edition (originally on GeoCities, now defunct)

Total Kit Car Magazine

Kit car builders, Paul Fryer and Justin Atwood (via Facebook)

Particular thanks to Paul Fryer for the Brochure scans!