Nathan D. "Nate" Altman

May 27, 1911 - Mar 18, 1976

Nathan D. (Nate) Altman, president of Avanti Motors Corp., died Thursday a afternoon in St. Joseph's Hospital. He was 64. Death was the result of pneumonia caused by complications brought about by a severe influenza attack.

Altman, whose automotive career spanned four decades, was instrumental in reviving the Avanti II after the Studebaker Corp. ceased operations in South Bend. Altman and his wife, Sylvia, who survives, lived at 412 N. Coquillard. With his partner, Leo A. Newman, Altman opened a Packard dealership in South Bend in 1937. The partners took on the Edsel line after Packard went out of business and maintained a successful Studebaker dealership, which to the second largest Studebaker dealer in the grew country. A 1932 graduate from the University of Notre Dame, Altman was involved in the auto business most of his life. It was he who sought an auto manufacturer to carry on the Avanti line after Studebaker closed its doors in South Bend. He personally approached American Motors Corp. and Checker Motors in search for a manufacturer. When all avenues failed, Altman and his partner announced, after months of market survey and arrangement for financing, that the Avanti would be built in South Bend. The partnership, which includes related automotive supplies, has been a resounding success. Last month, Altman introduced the 1976 Avanti II, the 11th production model since the firm was founded

A high point in the Avanti II life was reached last August, when a new Avanti II was placed in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. as the focal point in the tribute showing of time "'The Designs of Raymond Loewy." With an ever -present cigar clenched firmly between his teeth, Altman enjoyed talking about the early days of the Avanti II production, when two South Bend car dealers pulled off a longshot by starting and building their own automobile. Speaking before a service organization in South Bend a few years after the first Avanti II rolled off the line, Altman concluded his remarks with "Only in America could a small organization, such as ours, attempt to build a car and have a reasonable opportunity to make a success of it."

Services were to have been at 3 p.m. today in the Forest G. Hay and Son Funeral Home, 435 S. Ironwood, with Rabbi Allen Kuperman of the Sinai Synagogue and Rabbi Jacob Bergman of the Sons of Israel Congregation, officiating. Burial was to be in the Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery, Mishawaka. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.

Altman was born May 27, 1911, in Utica, N. Y., and had lived here for 60 years.

On Jan. 19, 1939, in South Bend, he married Sylvia Lakin, who survives along with a daughter, Mrs. Susan Collins of Dallas, Tex.; a son, Dr. David Altman of Fort Knox, Ky.; four grandchildren; a sister, Mrs. Rose Pearlman and two brothers, Arnold D. and Herman S., all of South Bend.

He was a member of B'nai. B'rith and Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity.

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

12/17/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84785758/nathan-david-altman