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.
Gotta love those Studie’s!!!
Some of us love to row through the gears!
Well said, Howard, and very funny.
Howard doesn’t need an automatic, he needs a chauffeur who likes a manual 😉
There are more pictures at the classicandcollectorcars website. This car is also the subject of a 2022 video taken at Classic Country Cars in IL. The certainty is the aftermarket tach mounted between the speedometer and multi-cluster gauge. The only difference is in IL redline was over 4,000 RPM and in SC it’s under the number. The asking price is unchanged.
My grandmother drove one. Should have bought hers. I should buy this one just to get ride of the fender skirts.
Aren’t 2-drs.called coupes?
No it has pillars so it’s a 2 door sedan.
A coupe would have frameless windows.
Not necessarily. I think you mean hardtop. A frameless (post-less) window would be a HARDTOP, not necessarily a coupe. The terms sedan and coupe long precede the post distinction. A post car is a sedan, like this lovely Studie, while a post less (frameless) rear window would be classified a hardtop. For example, a gullwing Mercedes is not a sedan but a coupe, despite having a substantial post between the door window and rear side window.
Pillar-less cars were called hardtops in my neck of the woods. Coupes had a an almost useless beck seat. My dad had a 61 Lark IV with an overdrive 3 on the tree. Baby blue too. I believe it was the first year of the overhead valve engine. Either way, it started burning oil much earlier than it should have, and my dad was meticulous with maintenance. Oh yeah, lose the fender skirts.
CUTE little g8y with great skirts!
Cool car. Drop the skirts!
Howard, you shift by distance? I shift by RPM.
(LOL)
Droolin!!!
Also droolin’! Love love the skirts.
FasterAsteroid – The skirts do add a spiffy elegance, I would keep them as well.
These were very good cars in their day! The skirts are a love/hate relationship on this car! My choice as an above comment……”lose ’em!”
In my opinion, the east coast seems to love skirts!
The west coast seems to hate them!
I don’t recall seeing too many 2 Dr Larks. This is a sweet machine skirts and all.
Absolutely beautiful, a late model GM FI aluminum block V6, auto w/air. Upgrade the rear end, front disk brakes. Save the stock drive train for someone else to keep their Sude on the road. Keep the skirts. Not a hot rod, just a clean driver for others to stare at going down a country road with your best girl. Life is short
Lovely looking car. I’ve always loved the 1959-1961 Studebaker Lark. If only more pics were posted.
I used to know someone who had a 1959 Studebaker Lark VIII 4 door. IMHO, it’s the best looking car until the 1964-66 Studebaker. It’s a damn shame things went downhill for Studebaker and they went under. They have been around since the horse and buggy days of the 1800s.