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.
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.