By the late 1950s, Studebaker-Packard Corp., out of South Bend, Indiana, was in a bad way. The 1954 merger of the two companies did not result in the sales glory they had expected. Enter the Lark compact in 1959, a full year before the rest of the industry fielded a compact car (except for the AMC Rambler American). Sales were good, and the Grim Reaper was held at bay – for a time. The seller has a stellar-looking 1961 Lark 2-door sedan, which has likely been restored. With no apparent needs, this little Stude is in Manning, South Carolina, and is available here on craigslist for $15,350.
The Lark and its variants were offered between 1959 and 1966 when Studebaker finally closed its doors. It was not an all-new car, drawn from other 1950s Studebakers, but it served a need for buyers who didn’t need land yachts for their transportation. Sales were brisk in 1959 and 1960, but dropped by nearly half when Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler all got into the compact car game in the early 1960s.
Two trim levels were offered in ’61, the Deluxe and Regal. The former seems to be the seller’s version, as it is relatively bling-free but does have Robin’s Egg Blue paint. Under the hood should be (no pics) of a 170 cubic inch “Thunderbolt” inline-6 that was rated at 90 hp. With a 3-speed manual transmission, this little car is quite spry, according to the seller. By 1963, Studebaker was deemphasizing the Lark name, and it was soon gone in favor of Daytona, Cruiser, etc. The last “Lark” was built in Canada in early 1966.
We’re told this Studebaker has seen plenty of real estate with at least 118,500 miles (odometer broken). New parts include the transmission, gas tank, and fuel lines (did the car have some downtime?). It’s said to be a great running sewing machine. If you ever need parts, they’re all over the internet. The body, paint, and interior all look great, suggesting a makeover at some point. It’s a shame that Studebaker didn’t survive.
Hagerty’s valuation on a ’61 Lark like this is pretty close to the asking price. Now to find a buyer…
Wiiilllber, hello, I’m Mr.Ed,,even though it was a female horse, can’t have some horse dingus on 1960s TV. You know, I took no glee in watching Studebaker go down, there was no shame in trading places with Studebaker for #4. I’d say this was the last gasp for Studebaker, the Lark was a wonderful car, like the Rambler Classic. Our edge was the Ambassador, that Studebaker probably would have developed, had they stayed afloat. There was more. Apparently, this car cost about $2354 new, while a ’61 Classic was around $2grand, and that couple hundred bucks swayed most people towards the Rambler. The American was cheaper yet, at about $1830, but the Lark was 10 times the car the American was.
Can’t complete a post without the stick malarkey some, mostly in denial, may say to give it a rest. This is such a cool retro looking car, I think people have $15 grand to pixx away on something useless, but who is going to row through the gears every 100 yards? It was a different story when everybody rowed through the gears, most folks don’t have much patience for an old car ( or a 4 cyl. Jeep) at 8:05am. I’m not sure what younger folks may know about a Studebaker, just sounds old. To us however, old, shmold, they were wonderful cars.
Well said, Howard, and very funny.
Howard doesn’t need an automatic, he needs a chauffeur who likes a manual 😉