O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Nov 27

Richard E thanks again for posting this series some really great info. not much of a fan of the steadybrakers as my grand father (a mechanic starting in 1915) used to call them but they are some neat looking cars with a lot of character. i always look forward to your posts on all these car models.

I saw a yellow Studebaker Lark convertible in an early 1960's new car show and

admired them.  My only other exposures to the marque was to hitchhike home from

school with a salesman driving a Hawk, and to ride out to look at a 1928 Gardner in

a 1940 Studebaker President, which was a nice car.  I think they had a Lark two door

hardtop, which I would not disdain if I found a nice one at a good price.  Certainly fits

my criteria of "Different is good."  I do have the Brooklin 1935 Stude sedan and

somebody's (not Matchbox) 1937-38 pickup.  There is an open Stude President

Brooklin, too, but I think it would have been uncommon in rural America.  I try to

avoid open car models, such as the often done Auburn boattail Speedster for that reason.  Now if they'd do a few closed Auburns, I would be VERY interested, as well as

other1940 and prior Studebakers.

A college friend (mid 1960s) had a yellow Lark convertible. Must have been a 4 or a 6 because it was quite anemic in performance...

My oldest brother had 2 Golden Hawks when I was a kid he would take me out with him to the local Stop&Go they would drag race there man both of them Hawks were fast cars I miss them days and the Stop&Go.

The Lark, introduced in 1959, saved Studebaker for a few more years. It increased overall production by over 150%, and that during a economic recession.

I think the Lark was available with a side-valve six (I don't THINK  they had an overhead valve six) and the OHV V-8, which was not so anemic....except this was the

beginning of the "super stock" era, 348 Chevies, etc.  I think I saw a Studebaker

Avanti being photographed in front of a building with interesting architecture in

downtown Phoenix, Arizona, before they were introduced.  The photo with that building

in the background later appeared in introductory ads in an auto mag I saw.  This right

after I got out of school walking a snow covered campus and wanted a warmer climate.

Originally the Studebaker Lark had a flat head six but introduced an OHV for 1961. Their V8 had a lot of low end torque which gave it outstanding performance. The one I had could easily out run a basic V8 Chevy or Ford especially if they had an automatic transmission.

For a couple of years, 1963 and early 1964, Studebaker offered a "Super Lark" and a "Super Hawk".  they both came with the Avanti engine, a 289 cu in modified version of the regular production engines.   For an additional cost you could get either car with the supercharged version of that engine, the R-1.  I was with Studebaker during those years as Car Distributor for the Chicago Zone, and as such I had access to any of those pretty quick cars as my regular driver.  Both cars also included rear anti-sway bars, as well as the standard front bars and they handled pretty well for their time. 

I had a real 'sleeper' of a Lark, 2-door sedan, the lightest body, with the supercharged engine.  I used to go out looking for Chevy SS Impalas, and could generally beat them in a street drag race.  It was a most unnoticeable car.

Those were some really fun years for me, unfortunately they didn't last because after Studebaker moved their production to Canada and began using Chevy engines the end was in sight and I left for "greener" pastures with Oldsmobile.

Paul Fischer

Very interesting about the "Super Lark".  As I said, I admired the looks of Larks when

they were current.  How reliable were the supercharger models?  I have had salesmen

selling them tell me to avoid turbochargers, most eat premium (not a problem in the

Lark's era), and I passed up the current four cylinder Mustang, although I might have

bought one with a fuel efficient naturally aspirated four.   (A consumer magazine indicates the current Mustang has problems, which two very good ones I owned in the

past, did not, so I may have made the right choice)

The superchargers that Studebaker used were the centrifugal, Paxton/McCulloch. belt driven models, that were available at that time.  They were rather small and would not provide enough boost for larger displacement V-8 engines that were coming into popular use in the later 1960's.  Studebaker began using them in 1957 on the Golden Hawk and a version was also available on the Ford Thunderbird with the 312 cu in engine.

Of course, working for the factory, as I did, I never had extended experience with those engines, as I had a new car to drive about every two months.  But they were rather simple gadgets and, with a bit of care, should have lasted for quite a while.  Studebaker's V-8 engine, which had been made in 232 cu in, 259 cu in and 289 cu in versions was really a "bullet proof" engine.  A rather heavy block, as compared with some of the newer engines that started to appear in the mid 1950's but it would "run forever"and was used to power their trucks as well as cars.  It was not unusual to hear stories of people that drove their Studebakers when they had over 500,000 miles on them and were still going strong.

Paul Fischer

I have a friend we call Studebaker Bob. He has a '61 Lark V8 with well over 500 miles on it. It is his daily driver but not in the winter, the road salt just eats the cars away.

This is a factory photo not my Lark, But mine looked just like it.

I had one like this when I was in school

I've had an interest in the minor makes since I was a kid and found out here was more to life that than the Big Three!

I've always thought Studebakers were cool, especially the Hawks and the bullet nosed ones like Fozzie Bear drove in the original Muppet Movie!

Keisers were kinda funky with their sort of a heart-shaped windshields. I remember going to a K-F cruise-in once as a teenager. Some had bamboo interior trim and I remember seeing one with a factory Paxton blower.

I stood in a car collector's large warehouse in Illinois, back in the 1960's, and with

one car I drooled all over, that I heard sold to Spain, had a couple of unique Kaisers

that were described as factory experimentals.  One had an OHV engine, but I can't

remember what was special about the other,,,it could have been either engine or body.

I never thought to ask to take photos in there, and I was just interested in the older

cars and did not pay much attention to the Kaisers.  I do not even remember what else

he had.  There was a flap about the auction when he passed away, as his son had no

interest in the cars.....just wanted big bucks, and the auction house was not car oriented.  Collectors I talked to who attended it still remember it with a bad taste.

I think I saw that later with a train estate of a well know collector, where the kid had no interest in the trains.

Richard:  That red Lark looks a lot like the "Super Lark" I had for a while in 1963.  that one, of course, is a 1962.  But the paint on the Super Lark was a kind of firemist metallic red, which was a bit of a giveaway for the observant car guy.  it was the "plain Jane" 2dr with black tires and button hubcaps, like in the photo.  Inside it had a pair of bucket seats up front, and, of course, a four speed.  As mentioned, I used to take on Chevy SS's. but lost it to a Plymouth coupe with the Hemi engine and four speed, but not by much and I was pulling on him when we ran out of highway.

Paul Fischer

Paul: The car originally had a 259 with a 2bbl and a stick. I replaced it with a 284 and a 4bbl from a wrecked brand new ’64. A lot of people made the mistake thinking it was a flat head 6 until they were following my tail lights.  I really wonder what they were thinking, It had duel exhaust with Cherry Bombs and it sure as hell didn’t sound like an old flat head 6.
By the grace of God I didn’t kill myself in it.

Nostalgic.....Kentucky at that time was full of teenage and up guys with 1960's "Super Stock" Chevrolets....and some Fords, and one guy with a modified Henry J, no less. 

(some from low income parts of the state where you wondered how they afforded them)  I never then saw or heard of a performing Studebaker....too bad...it would have

surprised some people.