The Daytona Avanti

The seeds for this retrospective look at this unique Avanti were planted way back in 1994 and finally sprouted now due to a recent chain of events.

My wife and I generally spend time in Florida with my mother in-law and her sisters in the Tampa area at least once a year. On one of our jaunts back in 1994 we decided to extend the time we spend there, normally 3 days or so, to a week and a half to travel around Florida. The first destination of our trip after Tampa was Miami for my wife to catch up and spend time with one of her life-long girlfriends. From there we spent two days with John & Lenore Ebstein in West Palm Beach (who were perfect and gracious hosts) and then on to Daytona Beach to see the famous beach and possibly check out the speedway. Well it rained and we ended up at the Speedway.

While touring the visitors gallery at the Speedway I was drawn to a gallery of photos of cars racing at Daytona. My attention became riveted on a particular photograph. Sure enough, it showed an Avanti coming out of a turn leading the pack. (My wife swears I can smell anything related to Avanti within 50 miles). The caption under the 8x10 photo read 1983 Sun Bank 24 Hour Race at Daytona. I made a mental note to follow-up on the photo at a later date.

So about four months later, during June of 1994 I believe, I put on my Sherlock Holmes cap, called directory assistance for Daytona and obtained the general information phone number for the track. I called the track and after listening to about 10 menu items from the current racing calendar to the extension for the gift shop, an operator came on the line. She asked if she could help me - I , of course responded, I've been told I'm beyond help but thanks for asking.

Fortunately she had a sense of humor and I went on to explain my mission. She indicated the track had a full time archivist and she would connect me. A gentlemen named John Mauk (who I understand is no longer with them) answered the phone in the Archives department. I mentioned to John that I had visited the track earlier in the year, had seen the photo, was thinking about doing a story and needed to know if I could obtain a copy of it. I think I got it all out in one breath.

He indicated the archive was backlogged with requests and it would be beneficial if I could condense my thought to written form and fax it to him So on June 23, 1994 I sent a fax to him indicating the basic information discussed above.

A few months went by and I placed this project on the back burner until I received a letter on September 9, 1994 in an envelope proclaiming it was from the DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. I think my blood pressure began to rise as I opened it. Was it a rejection letter- He was surely telling me he couldn't find anything. In other words I wasn't thinking very positively. But wait - It started out "I apologize for the delay in responding to your fax but it arrived during a very busy time for us, as there were a number of request ahead of yours."

"Yes it would be possible to obtain a copy of the photo in the visitors center of the Avanti you saw but I need to know the planned use of the photo as the price differs."

He went on to indicate they could search their files for other photos but there was a minimum research fee involved He closed by saying he would wait to hear from me before proceeding further.

I, of course, called up Word Perfect on my PC (remember this was 1994 so I don't want to hear about Microsoft Word) and began typing my response. . In a nutshell, I indicated I wanted a copy of the photo for my personal collection, as well as possible use in a future article for Avanti Magazine. I sent the letter and a check for the minimum research fee to him at the Speedway on September 19,1994 and asked him to keep me advised of his progress and findings. Of course this project was again placed on the back burner.
On October 6, 1994 another DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY envelope arrived in the mail. It contained a letter from Mr. Mauk indicating: 1 ) He had completed his research. . 2 ) He found 13 negatives of car #28 in the 1983 race. 3) He indicated the cost of the prints to me and the need to execute a licensing" agreement if they were to appear in print.

I sent him a check to cover the cost of the prints, set up a file, and awaited their arrival in Trumbull. When I received the photos (all of which are reproduced, UNDER LICENSE in this issue) I placed them in a follow-up file and vowed to do a story someday. (PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE COPYRIGHTED PHOTOS AND ARE NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT A LICENSE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY CORPORATION.)

When I assumed the editors job of the magazine, one of the first potential stories that came to mind was the Avanti GTO. In fact, I reproduced some photos of the body and chassis shell in Avanti Magazine #103 on page 52 as provided by either Dave Kinney or Ed Waterman. . So this story was slowly moving to the front of my infamous piles (no pun intended). Then I received a phone call recently from Mike Laws in Orlando Florida. He indicated he had talked to Carl Doughty in an attempt to track down the Avanti GTO that had raced at Daytona. Carl had recommended he give me a call. Mike told me his father Bo Laws had built the engines (Qualifying & Race Motors) for the car and they thought it might be a neat project for their company BLP Inc. , in Orlando Florida, to locate the car and possibly do something with it. I told him I would be in Florida around Christmas time visiting the in-laws in the Tampa area and I would like to meet with him and Bo if possible to piece together the Avanti GTO story from their perspective. We made arrangements to meet on Christmas Eve 1998 at their facility in Orlando and lay the groundwork for their participation in this story. The accompanying photos and interview notes used in Looking Back are from that meeting