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I wished that they would have skipped the 63 Lark because it was not much different than the '62. My father worked at the printing place in South Bend (Mossberg) where they printed the Studebaker advertisements, so I saw the 1964 models in advance I liked the whole 1964 line-up. I thought, finally the Larks would no longer look like old Valiants. I was sure they would sell like hotcakes. I was wrong.
I just read at the Driver's Club Forum that Andy Granatelli passed away on December 29th. He was 90 years old. I am so sorry to hear that and am surprised that I did not hear about it before. http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/indycar/andy-granatelli-indy-500-winning-car-owner-dies-at-90/
I'd heard about it a few days back. He spoke at the Stude Museum several years back and had said that Egbert told him he'd see that he became President of Studebaker, but fate intervened. He said he was looking for a house in South Bend when news of the shutdown occurred.
I was looking at street scenes and houses in Seattle today, And happened upon this
A few other interesting cars in the neighborhood too, the area seems to have many in general.
Geez, a '52. I think the change in looks from a '52 to a '53 was right up there with the change in a '64 Impala to a '65, which was always huge to me! Thanks for posting!
53.
That looks just like my 52 beater I drove for about a year. Mine did not look that good. It ran decent and got me 21 MPG with a V8 and 3 speed on the column. looks better than that newer POC GM in front of it.
Sorry for the random "53" in my last post, two posts up.
That Monte does look kind of ridiculous.
And a mere block down the street Sits this beauty - not a Stude, but a fairly timeless car, tangentially connected to Studebaker.
Classic neighborhood.
It's what I would call a "nice" neighborhood, not posh, but not "up and coming" as the realtor cabal likes to pretend. Typical of many Seattle neighborhoods north of I90 (although that one is just south). I'd guesstimate the typical house there going for 700-900K, due to character and potential views.
And in Studebaker news, the January issue of the British magazine "Classic and Sportscar" has a favorable article on the Avanti.
Thanks for the heads-up, I'll have to check that out.
I like Avantis, but they have to look as-original in my eyes...e.g., correct rake, correct-size tires and whitewall width, and NO MIRRORS OUT ON THE FENDERS! LOL
This one looks pretty original, a 63, I think - tires look right. I couldn't find it online, so I took some pics (with phone, so you get what you pay for
)
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Thank you for posting. I had tried to look online for the article, to no avail.
I'm a purist snob! At least outside the car, that is. It doesn't look like a factory color (although I know color photography and the print process can change hues), the whitewalls are a little wide, and the wheels behind the wheelcovers aren't the factory off-white. Besides the obvious advantages of the supercharged engine, my eye is always drawn right to the big space behind the front wheel openings--looking for that 'Supercharged' emblem! They should've put a small emblem there of some sort, even on non-supercharged cars like this one.
I had this same engine in my Lark Daytona Skytop. The blocks were numbered differently (JT, for 'Jet Thrust', on Larks and Hawks, and 'R' for blocks used in Avantis), but they were the same engines. I liked the brush-metal air cleaner and chrome valve covers, valley plate and dipstick handle. The original owner's wife told me her husband used to enjoy when gas station employees would ask if they wanted their oil checked, and most would comment that they hadn't seen an engine like that in a Lark!
Right now, I like round-headlight, no woodgrain inside '63 Avantis better than '64's, but my opinion changes back and forth on that. But thank you for posting it. I do like the enormous rear window on those cars.
We talked about this car about a year ago here, but for authenticity, this and a turquoise '64 I've seen that's owned by a guy who was a zone man for Studebaker, from New Hampshire, are the most authentic-looking ones I've seen:
http://www.theavanti.net/r1004.html
I thought they were very cool when they came out. So different than anything else on the road. I wonder how many Avanti II cars were sold. I know they were built for many years. Last ones were made in Mexico on Mustang chassis. I know our local car club has several show up at the meets. Never looked close enough to tell the difference.
There is a very unique business prop jet built in Italy called Avanti II.
http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/turboprops/piaggio-p180-avanti-ii
Studebaker built 4,643 Avantis in total, so they were pretty darn rare. I can remember hearing/reading that sometime in the mid '80's I think, there were as many Avanti II's as original Avantis built. I do think the II watered down the original, but it's a unique story in motordom I think. Sheesh, that sounds like a '70's Caddy commercial!
I think the car was more of a nice driver than a 100 point show car. I think it looked good, and the tires are similar to what I have seen on some ~62-63 domestics - but I have no idea what Stude used. That white car is pretty attractive - white seems to have been a big sports car color in the early 60s, a number of early 230SLs are white, probably the most popular color.
An Avanti II used to park beside my fintail in a rented garage - then the owner sold, and we both had to find other storage. Guess what is a few spots away from me in the new (and cheaper, yay) garage - the same Avanti II.
Next-to-last Studebaker built (last one built is in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend)--1966 Wagonaire. Although someone painted the wheels too bright-white, I could live with that. Only 940 1966 Wagonaires built. This is the last car sold through a dealer--Lockport, NY IIRC:
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?41166-Next-To-Last-Studebaker&highlight=harrahs
The rust they mention is not surprising for a vehicle in the East where salt was used a lot back in the 1960s. I lost interest in the later Studebaker models. By 1962 I was into off road PU trucks and jeep type vehicles. Never owned another car. The 1955 Studebaker 2 door hardtop was my last car.
I was born in '58 and like the '62 and later Studes best, but they're the ones I remember the most. I like their 'underdog' status and the availability of superchargers, disc brakes, sunroofs, full gauges, etc., in the '63-64 model years. But on top of that, I think they were slightly ahead-of-the-curve in packaging...full-size interiors in mid-size bodies, etc. Automotive News overlayed a '64 Studebaker on a '77 Caprice and the interior-to-exterior dimensions were surprisingly similar. I've said this before, but I liked how they had wide-open rear wheel openings (except wagons) in an era of low-cut rear wheel openings, which later became fashionable with the '75 Seville and '77 big GM's.
What impressed me most with Studebaker was their early V8 engines were peppy and efficient. It was not hard to get 20+ MPG out of them. I had a 52 four door I drove 21 miles each way to work for over a year. And consistently got 20 MPG. When I was lucky to get 12 MPG from a 53 Mercury flat head V8. So at that time Studebaker was ahead of all the rest on V8 engine design. A 54 Olds V8 was a real gas hog. I also owned a 53 Champion two door with a Packard V8 and auto transmission. It was a very fast sleeper for street racing. Never could keep it from overheating so traded it.
The Studebaker V8 was heavy, but I have it on the word of a guy who has worked on all types of V8 engines over the years, that it is very sturdy in the lower end. A Studebaker engineer whom I heard speak in South Bend in 1983 said (and I've read this elsewhere) that the Studebaker V8 design was copied from the Cadillac V8. Studebaker was the first independent with a V8, and while some on these forums think that's no big deal, I think most car magazines would agree that it was at the time. I'm trying to finegle a way to spend a 'mental health day' at the Studebaker National Museum in the next week or so. So close to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. shutdown, I'm wanting to see that last Daytona Hardtop they have, and also I heard that they have on loan from the Crawford Museum in Cleveland, the last Studebaker Avanti, an R3 engined one, on the museum's turntable which is lit up at night and visible from the street. I think that'd be cool.
The only Cadillac I owned was a 1947 or 48 Flathead V8. Used more oil than gas. It was before they added fins. Big old 4door boat. Pretty fast for what it was. Working in a wrecking yard I would trade vehicles with my boss about every couple months. I learned a lot about cars and enough to know I wanted to get into a cleaner job. So it was the Phone company for me.
Funny...my great-aunt retired from the phone company on Long Island, NY, and the single elderly lady who lived across the street from us in our first house in the town I live in now, retired from the phone company. People would always say about both, "You know, she worked her whole life for the phone company--she's well off"!
Had to be a 1947 model. The 1948, (except the Fleetwood 75 which would keep its prewar styling through 1949) was the first year with fins. The 1948 did still have the flathead V-8. The 1948 model also had an unusual one year style instrument panel.
I thought it was a 1948, but not really sure. I only kept it a few months. Had to carry one of those 2.5 gallon cans of RayLube in the trunk. I added oil every time I added gas. It was black 4 door and was faster than the 1953 Mercury I traded it for. I wish I had taken pictures of all the cars I owned while in High School. My first was a 1946 Pontiac convertible. Traded when the rainy season started as it had no canvas at all. Over my last 2 years in HS I must have owned half a dozen cars.
Another Stude found on "Old Parked Cars"
Thanks for posting, fintail. I hadn't seen that. The color is a non-Stude color, and the left taillight has lost its chrome 'spiderwebbing', but otherwise that car looks pretty authentic. That is a "Custom" model, placed between the most-popular, lower-priced "Regal" model and the top-of-the-line "Cruiser" sedan. They were fairly rare even when new. You can tell the Custom by the 'check mark' additional molding behind the front doors. The '63 Lark four-doors are my very favorite four-door Studebakers and the ones that I think that have the M-B vibe the most of all Studebakers.
That is (or at least, started life as) a six-cylinder car, as the trunk emblem has the Lark "bird" instead of "V8" there.
When I first opened the link, I saw the Chevy LUV and it reminded me that the cut of the door glass in a LUV is very similar to the Studebaker Champ pickups of '60-64.
A four-door Lark like the one you pictured could have been had with a supercharger, disc brakes, reclining seats, sunroof, 4-speed, in-dash tach--all pretty European for an American compact.
Very European. The sunroof coupes also seem European to me.
Reminds me of this article comparing the fancier Rambler to the MB fintails
There's an article about a guy who's into Studebaker's in the march Hemmings Classic Car magazine; Fred Fox who is a Studebaker historian. Also a Studebaker swap meet in early March at the York fairgrounds. Some of you may find it kind of interesting.
Thank you for the info, berri, but I get HCC mag too...a great value IMHO. I talked to Fred Fox on the phone probably twenty years ago--he is the Studebaker historian 'guru' and authenticity expert extraordinaire in the club, and can back up what he says with documentation too. And he's a nice guy! He still has his parents' Bordeaux Red, air-conditioned, four-speed '64 Gran Turismo Hawk which they bought in '69. I'd just love to have that car. The original owner of it also bought a new '64 Daytona in the same color for his wife. And....after skipping a year, I do believe I'll go to the York, PA swap meet this year!
Fintail, it's funny...I dislike most Ramblers as much as I like most (not all) Studebakers!
Up until the '63 model year--including the one in your link--I think they look like Eastern Bloc cars!
Look at the back half of that car...the fintail is a lot more graceful IMHO. I always disliked the "1 2 3 4 5 6..." speedo too, although the years of Stude which I like only have "0 20 40 60 80" etc., so that's probably not very fair of me. 
The Rambler in that article is kind of a cluttered design, to put it nicely. I've never really liked backwards slanted C-pillars, so that doesn't help. The curved fins in that pic look weird, too. Although I do like the 1957 Rambler Rebel - not just for its early muscle car aspirations or that it's a hardtop, but for the font on the "Rebel" badge, which might be the coolest 50s/rockabilly style used on a car, reminds me of something one would see on an old electric guitar or amp:
Speaking of speedometers, the one in a fintail would catch your eye, as it is vertical rather than horizontal.
I think people have a bit of a soft spot for both Studebaker and Rambler because they were independents that hung on despite the odds for a long time. Maybe Studebaker people are a bit more hardcore because Rambler became American Motors adding things like AM General and Jeep, and eventually dealing with Renault developed products before being bought by Chrysler. Nothing scientific by any means, but it always seemed to me that while hardcore Studebaker and Rambler fans admired each other for being the last independent holdouts, neither seems to be all that fond of the other's products (maybe a little internal competitive spirit there).
I can't figure out how to correct posts, but Rambler was actually part of AMC with Nash and Hudson and I stated that relationship poorly above.
Fin, being a fan of old rock music I like your analysis of the Rebel badge. It does indeed look like it belongs on a 50's guitar or jukebox! And of course then there is James Dean, a car fan and Rebel without a cause!
My soft spot for Ramblers is because my grandma drove a '60. I'll never forget the taillights, or the power windows, or the reclining seats...
That 'Rebel' font does look like a guitar or amp nameplate.
When I was a kid, our neighbors, the Bubecks, had a light green '61 Rambler Classic much like the one in the pic above. It was a lesser model though, but had full wheelcovers and whitewalls. Mr. Bubeck and son Jim kept it very clean. It was traded on a dark turquoise '67 Plymouth Belvedere II 4-door, a sharp sedan that they kept looking nice 'til they traded on what I think was a '73 Dodge Coronet 4-door.
To me, the '61 Ambassador and two-door sedan '62 Rambler Classics and Ambassadors had 'what the hell?' looks:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1960-1961-amc-rambler-ambassador1.htm
http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B5681.jpg
Here's a '63 Stude sedan I'd love to own:
http://www.ritzsite.nl/63Stude/1963_Studebaker_Lark_Cruiser.JPG
That photo was taken out at the Studebaker Proving Ground, 15 miles west of South Bend on Route 2. Those brick fence pillars are still there.
I've known folks who really liked their Ramblers, but to me anyway, I think Stude took more creative risks, and had a full truck line up through the '64 model year. Conversely, although I like the '63 Ramblers, they still did not offer a two-door hardtop in the Classic or Ambassador lines even, and the mid-range Classic didn't get a V8 of any type until midway through the '63 model year.
That 62 2-door has to be painfully rare today, I've never seen one of those in person.
Funny how the Nissan Armada ended up aping the Rambler Cross Country profile. The Rambler carries it better, IMO, when you are kitsch, you can get away with a lot.
The new style 63 Rambler is another design that is kind of European to me, and IIRC they were exported a bit.
I think some 60-62 Mopars can be "what the hell?" too, when Exner was possessed by aliens or something, or just randomly threw elements on a design.
Speaking of the Rebel, and keeping in mind that I was just awarded an 'Ancient Member' badge, I always wondered if that song 'Beep Beep' was inspired by a Rebel. In the song, which came out in about 1960, a Cadillac owner is relating a story in which he is chased by a 'little Nash Rambler' and to his disgust not only can he not outrun it but eventually, when he is going 120, the Rambler pulls up beside him and the driver asks how to get the car out of second gear. That is, of course, not to be taken literally, but a Rebel would certainly put the hurt on a contemporary Cadillac.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
First Armada I ever saw, I thought that very thing!
I agree. To me, the '60 Plymouth is a "WTH?" design, followed probably by the '62 Plymouth Fury. I will give them points for originality though, and that is saying something.
That would probably be the only unmodified Rambler that could keep up. Funny thing, I found a 45 of that song at an estate sale years ago, I still have it somewhere, should try to find it.
"I'll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn"
That 62 2-door has to be painfully rare today, I've never seen one of those in person.
I believe it was a one year offering only. Kind of copied the 49-51 Ford 4 dr look 2 dr sedan, except reverse slanted the rear vent window and C pillar. Probably a cost cutting way to save some tooling.
Studebaker vs. Rambler
I think there are actually some similarities between the postwar histories of these parent companies. Both trace back to relatively early automotive entries. They both came out relatively early with new models after WW II, although some might question that Nash Airflyte (bathtub) styling. They each had pretty modern styling updates around 1953. They both had fair sized international markets. They both had a key executive have to leave at the critical mid 50's juncture due to illness (Egbert and Mason). They both had militant unions whose strikes and above market wage packages put the companies in competitive and financial disadvantage. They both entered into merger with another independent in the mid 50's and they both ended up defaulting to emphasizing economy by the late 50's to survive (Lark and Rambler).
Packard is a brand I always wonder about. Merging with Studebaker seemed doomed to fail from the gitgo since both were in rather financial distress at the time. Nash was in somewhat better shape and might have done better absorbing Packard rather than financially and old model burdened Hudson. Studebaker really didn't have the resources to try and revive the Packard brand, which was a shame because I thought the 55/56 was a good looking model that might have allowed a brand resurrection with some resource injection.
A neighbor had a 1955 Pacakard Convertible that was too cool. We would sit on the back bumper and it had a hydraulic lift that would level the car out. then we would jump off and the tail would be stuck up in the air. That is until my buddies dad would come out and chase us off.
The best man at my wedding (1989) has a '56 Packard Caribbean two-door hardtop. He used to do that trick. One time at my parents' place, it wouldn't come back down and he drove it home like that.
Nice video. Here's an iffy phone pic the 45: