RENO, NV (1-15) — After a pretty wet week there was a break in the weather giving Reno Cars & Coffee a good morning to meet. While the turnout was on the light side there were enough for everyone to see as well as hot coffee at the Human Bean coffee stand.
As usual there were a mix of cars. One group that usually makes every meet is Incursion of Northern Nevada. Like many times before they have a long line of cars owned by members.
While this is a car meet, one person rode his Harley to. This despite the cool temperatures we’re having here in the Reno area.
One of the more unusual and rare cars was a 1966 Avaiti R2 owned by John Bigda.
“After Studebaker went under they sold the rights to the Avanti name to a company in Ohio. Basically they started producing the same thing but with a Chevy motor rather than a Studebaker one. So this is a factory 327 supercharged motor. I think they still produced them until somewhere around 2005,” he said. “In ’63 it was the fastest production car, the supercharged version. Kind of a cool little car, you don’t see too many of them.”
Like many cars of this vintage it has a history, in this case a family history.
“I’ve owned it for six years but my dad is the original owner so he got it I think in ’67 and bought it off a lot. Believe it or not they didn’t sell too well,” he said. “They were kind of ugly for the time, mostly different. He was the original owner and when he passed away I kind of inherited it.
“He did a lot of things. The pearl white paint is not factory as he had it done in the 70’s with. Pearls back then were hard to do so they did crushed seashells mixed in the paint. So that’s impossible to match so if you see any chips on it, they will never get fixed.”
He added the Avanti has an updated supercharger. The original was a Paxton but not that is a Vortec and two years ago he had it rebuilt. The car has an aftermarket airconditioning, K&N air filter, headers and intake.
Bigda said his father used to drag race the car. It was a daily driver so it was switched from a 4-speed to an automatic transmission. Now he is looking to converting it back to a manual transmission.
Of course the next question was how does the car drive.
“Really great actually,” he said. “It doesn’t love the cold but my parents were in Vegas so a little bit lower elevation. So the nice part of having a supercharger is that you really don’t have to adjust for elevation with forced air induction.
“Believe it or not it does great going up to Tahoe because the altitude really doesn’t affect it. It’s a Chevy 350 at the heart of it, being a 327 it’s pretty reliable, parts are easy to find and it handles surprisingly good as it’s pretty light.”
Among the cars displayed was a Mini that this reporter was told its imported from Japan. Like it’s British counterparts it has right hand drive
About an hour after the meet began two owners of 4X4’s gave a great demonstration of why snow in a parking place is not a problem. One was an older long bed Chevy truck while the other was a Jeep Rubicon.
That’s it for this weekend. Next time, depending on the weather, Sparks Cars & Coffee will be meeting on Sunday.
Take care everyone. Be safe and hope to see you next weekend.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• BBMX released its 2023 schedule. Only two rounds will be at the track in Fernley while Winnemucca MX hosts three of the rounds. There is one round in Elko where that group is improving its motocross track.
The rest of the rounds are over in Northern California. For further information please check the website at, www.battlebornmx.com.
• This coming Saturday BBMX holds its awards ceremony and banquet at Boomtown. Always a good time, when series champions are recognized as well as special awards are handed out.
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• One of our sponsors is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists owned by former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
The shop services older and new transmissions and now has a section for high performance units and those used in towing. Phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is www.generaltransmissionreno.com.
Two of our sponsors are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
• Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports (RMS). Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop.
Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
• The next shop is Moto-Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again they are a full service shop plus the showroom has about any thing a rider might need or want.
The phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
• Concours Body Shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno, is another sponsor. The shop does quality collision repair for cars and trucks.
Owner Brian Saul is a car enthusiast himself and is committed to continuing the shop’s reputation of quality work. Phone number is 775-329-4557 and the website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
• Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&CO for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. Wednesday evenings, starting around 5 p.m. is Bike Night, good time to meet fellow riders and have a great dinner.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net.
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