Hey guys, this is my first try at an old car. I know the Lark wagon isnt your stereotypical hotrod, but I think I can make a cool daily out of it. Any ideas? There isnt much on the internet about custom Larks, so I'm hoping to find some input on here. By the way, love this site! Real cool stuff!
Check-out some back issues of R & C...they've featured a few Artist Sketches/Dream Car-Type articles on these Stude cars/wagons in the past. You seriously don't have to do too much to them as they're pretty rare and not usually seen. Just make sure your mechanicals & suspension parts are upgraded/restored so you CAN make it a driver. Is it a V8 or a 6 ? Stude stock V8's are very solid, reliable, and rebuildable. A set of duals and glass pack style mufflers will lock that into a cool DD. A slight lowering job will work...you don't have to go with "bags" or an expensive set-up. A nice set of wheels & tires, an upgrade/restore of the interior, and, a serviceable paint job to stand up to DD duties will set it all off. Just some minor tweaks can make this a solid, great looking DD that you can be proud of...without breaking the bank to do it ! Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net
Thanks for the reply! Its an inline 6...but runs really well! My father-in-law is a mechanic, so he helped tune it up a bit. The only thing I wish is that it was a 2 door. But, I've seen some pretty cool 4 doors before....just not Larks! Ha ha. I'll get some pics tomorrow to show where its at right now.
anything that can be done to a 2 door can be done to a 4 door pics would really help partially since im not really sure what a stock lark wagon looks like lol most cars can be cleaned up by shaving some emblems and other trim and changing the ride hight and of course wheels and tires
its hard to go wrong with a stude wagon, very distinct styling and very uncommon. drop it, get the right wheels/tires and make it clean and reliable. you can just cruise around watching people break their necks trying to figure out what it is.
Oops, no.....didnt even watch what I typed. Its an inline 6. Yeah its a fun car to drive around already! I took it to Lowes to get some stuff for a yard project, and one guy asked "What the heck is that thing?!" Ha ha. Another guy yelled from his old Ford pickup, "COOL STUDE!" Here she is right now...
Larks are just funk to look really cool! always loved the grille, and frontend look! Not sure I'd do much other than find the missing chrome and put some tires and wheels on it. Way too original to mess up!
Used to be one that ran around here. It was black with traditional colored flames. Americans on all four corners and a small V-8 I think a 350 olds if I recall. The guy had a wife and about 3 or 4 kids in tow and it was his family car/dailey.
X2 on this. Some Lancer caps, lake pipes, dump it on a rake and maybe some scallops or strping. And drive the snot out of it. Oh and get an old style wicker picnic basket, a blanket, pack it up and take the misses for a picnic. Picking stuff up at Lowes that's cool I love it when the old stuff gets used as intended. There's a late 30s GMC pick up near my father in law's and the last time I saw it it had a load of manure on and the time before that about half a dozen bales of hay the truck is in excellnt condition and it's not getting beat up just used as a truck. It's too cool.
Nice Stude' dude! I had a '62 sedan I dropped a 327/th350 into, she would really scoot! I had lots of people ask me if it was a Rambler...
she looks pretty clean!! i would drop it just a tad, throw some decent wheels on it (maybe just some fresh gloss black on the wheels and some spider caps and rings) and drive the hell out of it!! nothing wrong with the 6, keep it tuned up and enjoy the mpg.
OH MAN! Some lake pipes would look really good on there and give it the illusion of being a bit lower. I like it! As far as doing much to the car, I'm going to keep it pretty simple and clean. I'm planning right now to put a nice tint on the windows, lower and rake it a bit, fix a little fiberglassed cancer on the back, do something for wheels and tires, and call it good. I think I'm also going to put new carpet inside and maybe repaint some of the interior metal. Thats pretty much it.
Neat old car. Excellent as-is, or find a badass drivetrain (with really quiet pipes) to have a world-class sleeper. Did I mention that your car is really neat?
Ha ha, that would be cool! Maybe a really quiet exhaust with an electronic dump welded in. When you want to get nasty, flip the switch!
I like the tutone, but I don't think I'm going to go that route with this car. Those wheels look good though!!!
Boss, I had a '59 Lark 2dr. I painted it the orig sand white and seafoam green. It looked good to me. Also you should check out Cathcart Studebaker somewhere on the east coast. They sell split exhaust manifolds and dual carb set-ups for the champion six. Normal Norman
Boss99er, Your Lark looks like a great starting place. Rather than replacing the chrome on the front, I'd be inclined to remove all of the side chrome and fill the holes. Lower it all around and maybe shave the door handles. Mold in the headlight and taillight bezels. You'll have a smooth, unique driver. Mike
Heres a link to mine, under construction. It has been for a while. I've got too many projects going at the same time..! http://public.fotki.com/-Mike-/60_lark/ Double click to enlarge. Also have a 59 2dr wagon that's my daily driver. Not nearly as nice as my 60 though.. Mike
Lark wagons are cool regardless of how many doors they have. Lower it a little, put some nice wheels and tires on it, clean it up and cruise. BTW those Stude 6 bangers are capable of incredible mileage and parts are readily available. Couple years ago I bought a completely rotted '60 Lark wagon for parts. It was a V-8 and had the 2 Yr. only / Lark only Delco window type distributor and a Dana 44 TwinTrac (posi). It was pale green, I took wheels and tires to put on it and one was a red wheel with an old Firestone Silvertown WWW. The springs were sagging all the way around so it sat fairly low and that red wheel with the WWW looked completely badass. You can't believe the attention that old rust bucket got on the way home! People stopping to look at it at fuel stops. We got dozens of thumbs ups and waves as cars passed us on the Interstate.... it was crazy. Too bad it was so rusty, it literally broke in half when we cut the rear springs to pull the rearend. My stepson even had a truck driver try to buy it off him when he hauled it in for scrap.
Larks are nice cars. I had, in the '70's a 62 Lark, 4 dr wagon 259 2bbl V-8, Borg-Warner automatic and Twin Traction that was originally a GSA Motorpool car. Painted Navy gray. I replaced number 5 exhaust valve, froze up heat riser, and drove it three years while going to school and tripping across the country. On two trips from Minneapolis to San Fransisco it got 18 mpg at 80 mph cruise. That car was loaded with three passengers and luggage up to the headliner. Had a small bottom and top tool cabinet in there too. A comfortable and good handling car. After doing a carb rebuild, I took it on an economy run and got 24.5 mpg at a steady 55 mph. It would beat 289 2v Mustangs in a street race. Those cars are light! YOUR 6 cyl wagon is only 2836 lbs. That's why it feels peppy. My '62 V-8 wagon was 3115 lbs. If you want to go faster and learn about how stuff works, drop in a Studebaker V-8, a 259 or 289, get one with a 4 bbl and you'll have a nice vehicle to drive. Stude V-8's have gear drive cams, no jumped timing chains, and solid lifters. Very basic but reliable as an anvil. Want eye candy? get a 365 Caddy 2X4 manifold, its a bolt on. There is also the factory Paxton supercharger set-ups if you end up with extra money in your pocket. Make sure you're starting with a solid body and frame before you dump in the cash. Mine died from rust. I gave it to my GF when we split up and she sold it to a girl friend a year later. I got a phone call from that owner wondering if I could breath some more life into it for her. I was amazed it wasn't a pile of oxide in the street. Lot of respect for that vehicle's mechanicals.
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