Recruited a new Studebaker owner! (maybe)

[Jaybokay]

 

Well, I was out cruising yesterday when a guy named Neil (about my age) got REALLY excited about my GT Hawk. So I decided to do the cool and right thing and give him a ride around the block. He was floored, thought it was just about the best car he'd ever seen. He's not really a car guy now (more of a musician), but I was there once too, so I figured to let him in the group. He wanted to know more about Studes, so I had him give me his email address whereupon I sent him a good deal of information about the Lark (which to be honest is probably the best Stude for a complete newbie, hence why I chose that one). Its reprinted below.

This is exciting!


EMAIL:

Hey-a Mac!

It's me Jake, otherwise known as that guy with the sick Studebaker. You requested that I fill you in on the Lark, so I'll do so.

The Lark was Studebaker's compact car introduced for the 1959 model year. It was made by basically taking a saws-all to the front and rear of a 1958 Champion sedan and designing around the center section. It was powered by either a 170 cu. inline six, a 259 cu V8, or a 289 cu. V8 (same as in my GT Hawk). With its simple grille, minimal and tasteful use of chrome and clean lines, the Lark "flew" in the face of most of the established "longer, lower and wider" styling norms fostered by Detroit's "Big Three" automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). It was made from 1959-1966, with three different styling generations emerging. Bodystyles were hardtop coupe, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, convertible (RARE), and station wagon. This, combined with the over 200,000 cars made, makes the Lark the ideal choice for a new Studebaker guy such as yourself.

1959-1961: "The Shoebox", the classic design as envisioned by chief engineer Harold Churchill. 1959 2-door sedan pictured below.




1962-1963: "The Faux Mercedes". As the Studebaker Corp. was the licensed distributor of all Mercedes-Benz products in the U.S. for a good while, they tried to cash on that association. 1963 four-door sedan shown below.




1964-1966: "The Wedge": This generation comes from when Studebaker was really desperate for sales, thus they really tried to modernize the platform. Note that a lot of these (65-66) were made with either the Chevrolet 235 cu. inline-six or the 283 cu. V8. 1966 station wagon shown below.




Parts for these are fairly easy to come by from a number of Internet sources and values remain low. Budget between $5-10,000 for a solid daily-driver. Craigslist and Ebay is your friend here.

Also see the Studebaker Driver's Club. They are a great resource and are only too happy to have new members.

Forum link here: https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/

Well, that should be enough of an intro for you. Good luck!

-- Jake K.