In 1963, Studebaker introduced the Super Lark, a Daytona with a 289 cubic inch V8 and a 4-barrel carburetor in R1 and R2 trim. The former meant no supercharger, while the latter had a McCulloch blower. The new Avanti was similarly marketed. The seller has a 1964 Daytona Super Lark convertible, which may be one of the few remaining, as most of these cars were hardtops. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, this former museum piece is available here on eBay for $36,000.
The seller is a collector/wholesaler who apparently turns over his/her inventory on a regular basis. If this car is the real deal, it’s quite rare and would be more special if the 5,000 claimed miles are original. Since the car has spent most of its life on display, that’s conceivable. and it could be highly original. What would make the car even more special would be if it were supercharged, but alas, it’s not. But the compact powerhouse does have a manual transmission.
Paperwork comes with the car, but not the type that would identify authenticity. The seller was told that maybe a few police R1 convertibles were built back in the day, but Google doesn’t have a source for that. As such, the seller says it’s up to the buyer to independently verify VIN and build sheet details.
Studebaker went into the 1964 model year on life support, and poor sales from the year before caused them to close their plant in South Bend, Indiana, and shift all auto production to Canada. The Avanti, GT Hawk, and (likely) the Super Lark weren’t invited to make the trek. A little more than two years later, Studebaker would throw in the towel and bow out of the car business. Leaving cool cars like this as their legacy!
One would almost think that this was a GM product – save the best design for the last year, and then kick it into the dumpster fire. Very sharp design.
The Daytona continued to be made in Canada, but with Chevy small block engines. A sad ending to a very interesting brand.
The change to GM engines came for the 1965 model year, not in conjunction with the move to Canada. There were enough South Bend-built engines left to complete the production of 1964 models in Hamilton with Studebaker power under the hood.
Innovators like Studebaker and AMC just couldn’t compete against the power and money of the big 3. Sure would be interesting what they’d be making today if they’d survived.
This convertible would be a dream car to the Studey collector.
the idea of a Studebaker, in the mindset of the younger crowd, in the 50s n 60s (except for an Avanti or Hawk/Gran Tourismo flavor) was for “old fogeys”. Time change. Now that I have achieved old fogey status (up in the 80s) even a Studebaker Lark is apealing. Nice car and would even drive it during daylight with the top down. Suppose the younger crowd might say “hey there goes old wrinkles but a sharp car though”.
not a super Lark, as discussed on the Studebaker drivers club website. A
nice clone which started out as a rare car.
What Butch said – this car has been reviewed by Studebaker owners and it has been concluded it is a CLONE and not the real deal….still rare just being a 1964 Stude convertible….it’s a nice clone thought – 160mph speedo and tach along with some other nice things….of note you can still send in for a Studebaker build sheet and owner purchase – which is like a Martini report or PHS documentation.
Nice car – loaded with options – including buckets/console, ac, spotlight, radio tach and gauge package, hi po motor – not many like this loaded rolled out of South Bend. Buy the best and you will only cry once…
Now if I had thirty six grand to blow I would buy this in a heartbeat. The one picture shows a window sticker and the slogan Ask the man who owns one. I thought that was Packards deal? I would like to just drive one of these one time. V8 and a four speed in a small convertible? I’m in.
Worth every penny, if it is what they say it is. Only 703 convertibles built in 1964, and how many had these options?
Appears to have original invoice in last photo but cannot make out details about what was original to this car and what was added. Although “Holy Grail” is a bit of an overstatement when it comes to Stude Larks, this one with the options, apparent condition, and all the vintage stickers on it is about as primo as it gets.
Nice car, but it’ll be hard to get anywhere close to $36k when there aren’t any grandpas left in the buyer pool for stuff like this.
Love the 3 pedals and floor shifter!
I pulled an R2 4speed out of a basement back in the early 80’s thought it was an Avanti drive train but it definitely was a Stude, dropped it into a 48 Ford F1, It was a handful!!!!
cool looking for sure. love the color combo and a drop top just not my speed.
Hello Folks, I own this car and I have people marketing it for me. Apologies, I can’t spend the entire day on the internet. I’m super busy. Feel free to call me if you’re interested.
It is the only Studebaker I’ve ever owned. My goal is to sell the car. I am not an expert. Things I do know. At some point it was painted Gold. It has the R1 engine. It’s in amazing condition. There are thousands of helpful opinions , some true , some false.
2 people have looked at it in person. 1 offered 25,000. The other offered 20,000. A third person agreed to buy if I waited for his funding without physically looking at it for 28,000, super nice guy in a different state.
Go with whoever actually brings you money. Sounds like the last guy is just trying to keep others from getting it.
I’m loving this webpage. Honestly I have no idea how the car got on here, but if it sells here be sure to let me know . I wish I knew more about marketing. I’ve been a car enthusiast for about 50 years. I’m certainly not in the top dog collector club, but love every car. I really don’t want to sell this one. I just need to. If there was a way to post pictures here I’d put some great shots of inside body panels, underside etc. I have no problem disclosing everything about this car which I’ve McGivered to figure out. There are a couple little things I’d discuss with interested with interested buyers. The car is a gem.
Here’s more information.
Youtube video link. Feel free to subscribe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axl7dQ4lCwo
The car is not all original.
It was originally Burmuda Brown with the smaller engine
Clearly long ago it was taken apart and painted Gold and engine was swapped with R1
This car is registered here.
https://studebakerdriversclub.com/?page_id=25203
VIN C501773
Specifically this webpage several down
https://studebakerdriversclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1964_STUDEBAKER_DAYTONA_CONVERTIBLE_OWNERS.pdf
Greg Schroeder