Update 10-Aug-2014: DT regular Andy's Studebaker Lark is back up for sale on ebay with lowered reserve and asking price. Find his 1963 Studebaker Lark Regal
here on ebay, and read the original write-up below.22-July-2014: The Studebaker Lark was built from 1959 through 1966, assembled at Studebaker's South Bend, Indiana manufacturing plant. The sales of the first generation in 1959 and 1960 were surpisingly good, because the big three hadn't released their compacts yet, but once the Tempest, Corvair, II/ Nova, Falcon, and Dart/Lancer hit the showrooms in 1960/61, the Studebaker Lark sales cool considerably. A restyled Lark was launched in 1962 with a nicely restyled design led by Brooks Stevens, who was famous for the Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk, '49 Harley Davidson Hydra-Glide, Jeep Wagoneer, Miller Brewing Logo, Oscar Meyer Wienermobile and those hideous Excalibur Roadsters that look vaguely like a 1930s Mercedes and ride on old Studebaker chassis. Regardless the Lark remains one of the better deals on a compact classic and would make a decent casual driver. Find this 1963 Studebaker Lark Regal
currently bidding for $2,050 reserve-not-met with a $5,500 buy-it-now on ebay located in Reno, NV. Seller submission from Andrew.
Ladies, gentlemen and car sellers around the globe -- pay attention. This is how you take pictures to sell a car. The ebay ad has a handful of the photos embedded in the ebay user interface (great!), but the seller also includes a link to a imgur, a site whose name is unpronounceable, but all the kids use it these days to quickly and easily share hi res pics of them eating soup. Think of it like Flickr, Shutterfly, Photobucket,
Underhood the Lark is all business. No LS1 swap here, just a trusty 170 cubic inch inline-6 fed by a single down draft Carter carburetor and good for 112 horsepower and 154 ft-lbs of torque.
The inside of this Lark shows very nicely, but more importantly you can see the three pedals and column shifted manual gearbox. No word if this one has the hill holding brake system that was available on similar era Studebakers, but it would be bitchin if it did. You can lift your foot off the brake on a hill and the car will stay stationary until you start to letup the clutch.
Got your own classic to sell? Send us a tip -- as always, its free! tips@dailyturismo.com
The 289 v-8 is the hot one to get they are quite fast.
ReplyDeleteStudebaker only had one model year, 1959, without Big 3 competition in the compact car market. The Falcon, the Corvair and the Valiant were all introduced in fall 1959 as 1960 models and though 1960 Lark sales were down by only about 3,000 units, the car never again matched the 1959 numbers. 1961 sales were about half that of 1959 and though sales were up for 1962 thanks to the Brooks Stevens restyle, the car was still down about 40,000 units that year from the 1958-59 peak.
ReplyDeleteManly clutch and brake pedals
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ReplyDeleteA really clean and nice looking, simple non-show-queen unmolested car that is listed at a fair price. I don't think they will have trouble finding a new home for this Lark.
ReplyDeleteClassy car at a nice price. Someone is going to have fun driving it.
ReplyDeleteIn the spring of '62, Iso Rivolta launched the GT 350, designed by Giugiaro while he was at Bertone. Remarkable similarity in front end treatment to the Lark. The IR is a bit lower and wider but its the same general theme. Interestingly, the BMW 3200CS was also done by Bertone/Giugiaro at this time, slowly morphing into the E9 we all love today. KO
ReplyDeleteinteresting! - here are photos of the IR front, kind of an angry guy look, and rear, definitely a BMW look - and the 3200CS, front and rear - Giugiaro FTW, as always, except maybe this 82 Alfa Capsula
DeleteDoes anyone know what type of engine that is? I'm trying to rebuild mine, but I have no idea what engine that is.
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