Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

being on my 'to get' list ever since I entered this hobby, I decided to actually acquire an Avante a while ago. A look at the complete listings on ebay clarified me that this is not going to be a cheap buy, so I decided to take a different approach and try to obtain one locally. I managed to acquire a rather complete Avante 2001, but I was actually looking for the nicer (IMO) original Avante. Way back I used to have a racing buddy that had an Avante, he later upgraded to Schumacher buggies and retired the Avante after constant spur gear meltdowns and other mechanical mishaps. Unfortunately we parted ways over 10 years ago, but recently I managed to locate him and approached him regarding his retired Avante. Being such a generous guy, he gave me his Avante stuff free of charge (Ofer, if you're reading this -thanks!).

It turns out that while trying to fix his old Avante he managed to obtain a second busted one, which was included in the lot he gave me. Two Avante chassis sounds like a lot until you look at the pics: this is how the top end 1988 Tamiya buggy ended, a heap of busted chassis.
Unfortunately both chassis had the same missing drive line and suspension components, but using parts from the Avante 2001 and buying some parts (E parts and the infamous D parts) I was able to complete a runner (full description and photos of the finished Avante soon...)