1961 StudebakerLark VI Station Wagon
1961 StudebakerLark VI Regal Station Wagon with four doors
Medium blue exterior with triple blue three tone plaid fancy interior
Suspension upgraded with later Avanti II components
Skybolt Six inline Flathead / L head 170 ci (2.8 liter) OHV engine
Ceramic coated split header (rams head style) with true dual exhaust
After market intake manifold with a 2X2 set up (2 small 2-bbl carburetors)
12 volt electric - MSD ignition - oversized aluminum radiator with twin electric fans - twin filter engine oil set up - power steering
Later beefed up Borg Warner t10 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive (manually engaged via a chrome "T-handle / automatically disengages when gas pedal is fully depressed)
15" Pontiac trans-am snowflake alloy wheels (silver and black) with Dunlop radial GT Qualifiers and matching full sized alloy wheel mounted spare tire - rear locking differential with positraction
Front disc brakes (wilwood) with oversized rear drums
Under dash aftermarket A/C - factory in dash AM radio with under dash FM converter - hood pins - split bench front seat - full bench folding rear seat - no rear facing 3ed row removable bench seat (just cargo space)
Sun Pro tach - engine oil temp gauge - oil pressure gauge
Indoor / outdoor temp gauge - combo clock and rally time keeper
Manual windows - manual door locks - manual seats
Front and rear sway bar / engine compartment Monte Carlo bar
Quad headlamps with behind the grill blue tint led light bar
Cowl induction hood - jc Whitney after market lighted visor (painted to match car) factory roof rack with after market forward facing blue tinted led light bar - illuminated glove box
Certified 72,000 miles
Dyno report shows 169 rear wheel horsepower - 304 foot lbs of torque
0-60 mph is 11.44 seconds
Makaila told Mackenzie that if she maintained a 4.0 gpa and stayed on the deans list for the whole term of her associates degree she would match her dollar for dollar on a car / vehicle for transportation (and allow her to withdraw her portion of the cost from her savings / trust account)
She wants to keep her little 4X4 plain Jane simple S10 mini truck for winters and work and school - and to drive the lark over summer break and on nice weather weekends / and to attend car shows or cruises / gatherings / Hershey PA and Carlisle shows and "cars and coffee" style events
The car is in amazing condition - comes with the original wheels with winter tires and hub caps - professionally done work with binders full of receipts and pictures - time slips - build sheets - warranty paperwork - car fax - hagerty appraisal - etc...
I am interested in your opinions and viewpoints and comments and concerns and advice and witty repartee and intellectual banter and technical advice and lore / legend / canon - etc...
Mike
Medium blue exterior with triple blue three tone plaid fancy interior
Suspension upgraded with later Avanti II components
Skybolt Six inline Flathead / L head 170 ci (2.8 liter) OHV engine
Ceramic coated split header (rams head style) with true dual exhaust
After market intake manifold with a 2X2 set up (2 small 2-bbl carburetors)
12 volt electric - MSD ignition - oversized aluminum radiator with twin electric fans - twin filter engine oil set up - power steering
Later beefed up Borg Warner t10 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive (manually engaged via a chrome "T-handle / automatically disengages when gas pedal is fully depressed)
15" Pontiac trans-am snowflake alloy wheels (silver and black) with Dunlop radial GT Qualifiers and matching full sized alloy wheel mounted spare tire - rear locking differential with positraction
Front disc brakes (wilwood) with oversized rear drums
Under dash aftermarket A/C - factory in dash AM radio with under dash FM converter - hood pins - split bench front seat - full bench folding rear seat - no rear facing 3ed row removable bench seat (just cargo space)
Sun Pro tach - engine oil temp gauge - oil pressure gauge
Indoor / outdoor temp gauge - combo clock and rally time keeper
Manual windows - manual door locks - manual seats
Front and rear sway bar / engine compartment Monte Carlo bar
Quad headlamps with behind the grill blue tint led light bar
Cowl induction hood - jc Whitney after market lighted visor (painted to match car) factory roof rack with after market forward facing blue tinted led light bar - illuminated glove box
Certified 72,000 miles
Dyno report shows 169 rear wheel horsepower - 304 foot lbs of torque
0-60 mph is 11.44 seconds
Makaila told Mackenzie that if she maintained a 4.0 gpa and stayed on the deans list for the whole term of her associates degree she would match her dollar for dollar on a car / vehicle for transportation (and allow her to withdraw her portion of the cost from her savings / trust account)
She wants to keep her little 4X4 plain Jane simple S10 mini truck for winters and work and school - and to drive the lark over summer break and on nice weather weekends / and to attend car shows or cruises / gatherings / Hershey PA and Carlisle shows and "cars and coffee" style events
The car is in amazing condition - comes with the original wheels with winter tires and hub caps - professionally done work with binders full of receipts and pictures - time slips - build sheets - warranty paperwork - car fax - hagerty appraisal - etc...
I am interested in your opinions and viewpoints and comments and concerns and advice and witty repartee and intellectual banter and technical advice and lore / legend / canon - etc...
Mike
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Remember the neighbors in the 60's.
Lots of work done on the one you posted.
Sounds like a fun and cool ride.
Picture?0 -
I have seen about 24 decent cell phone pics - and she had a bunch of pics on her laptop that the seller sent her via email...
Sadly I am unable to post any of the pics - and I am to blame for that - she is very cautious with what she posts or allows to be posted online or on social media sites like face place or tweeter...
Since I have strongly encouraged her to be paranoid and careful regarding online post info I am the one to blame...
The car is coming out of a collection of 14 Larks from a gent who is rather iconic and a bit of a fixture at Hershey and Carlisle - people call him "Larkman"...
He is thinking out his lark collection from 14 to 3 and his corvair collection from 12 to 3 (he has moved on to aircraft - and is building a Ford trimotor replica / tribute...
He is a nice guy but a bit of a curmudgeon and a recluse since his wife passed from cancer.
Per his own words this lark wagon was a mildly updated resto mod and a day two rally team support vehicle tribute
I did not realize the avanti utilized the lark wagon frame and shared a bunch of components - could swap out components / had a modular interchangeability of parts...
The engine was balanced and blueprinted and bored .010 over
The transmission is said to have come from a BMW track day car (a 2002 coupe) which from my narrow point of view was unexpected
The inline L-head / Flathead six is supposed to be whisper quiet at idle and to be bullet proof and difficult to over heat - the design was first implemented and used in production cars in 1939 so it's a bit of a dinosaur but also an example of old world engine design magic - especially with the OHV set up.
Modern oversized brakes and advanced grippy tires and track certified belts and harness - heavy steel construction and A/C...
Tuned handling and suspension for track use makes it pretty solid as a driver.
Supposed get amazing gas mileage - and you can disengage one of the carbs when commuting
Power steering - modern starting - optima sealed battery...
I am pretty impressed - and look forward to your feedback with great anticipation.,
Mike0 -
Only way to make it better is if it was one of these. 
In the Supercharged Version[:D]0 -
The silver hawk edition with the super charged six has always piqued my curiosity...
The golden hawk with Studebaker's proprietary 289 ci V8 power plant topped with a paxton also holds its own appeal...
A misunderstood luxury performance vehicle.
Mike0 -
do you have a good mechanic you can trust who works on carberated motors???? most now only want to hook computer up and do what the compurter says. parts may be hard to find/expensive. these would be my reason to pass expecially for a daily driver, it may run perfect, but occasional repairs may be expensive and parts possiblly nonexistant. 0 -
Not practical. Parts, ..does it have an upgraded braking system..dual master cylinder? 0 -
I still have my 1951 Studebaker 4 door land cruiser from high school.I'm 72 now and it is in my garage waiting for a new crank shaft.Any help. <1FMJ> 0 -
Nice collector or weekend around town car as long as the owner can do the wrenching and parts searching themselves or aford a good mechanic. It will drive like an old car and when compared to modern cars be far less reliable and safe to drive. The brakes and headlights would be troubling for me. Not to say it wouldn?t be a fun car but I wouldn?t want to have to depend on it for transportation. 0 -
sounds like a fun car it is a shame studebaker went out of the car business they had some great cars
i0 -
contact a Studebaker club I would bet they will go out of there way to help may even have a member with all the parts you need
also a place like jasper's ( huge rebuild company ) can do wonders
I have a buddy with a ram air 4 GTO judge ( rare car ) they welded the block repaired the crank to keep it all original
as for Mikes car in question sounds like a great car depending on price of course but its pedigree seems to be a good one from the collection
I know my wife would love a wagon like that
Me too [:D]I love old cars with a passion it would make a great attention grabbing car
quote:Originally posted by 1FMJ
I still have my 1951 Studebaker 4 door land cruiser from high school.I'm 72 now and it is in my garage waiting for a new crank shaft.Any help. <1FMJ>0 -
That is a LOT of HP coming out of a L6 170 ci Motor. Will it run on 87 oct? To get that much HP it has to have some serious compression.
The Skybolt 6 is an OHV engine not a flathead, the Champion and Commander were the Flathead versions made in the 50's.
The skybolt produced 112 HP from the factory, so to get 57 more HP out of it(50% boost in HP) there would have to be some serious mods done on the internals not just an intake, carbs, ignition and header. That will also effect reliability.
Here is a good article about the Skybolt and Studebaker:
https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2006/01/Quality-By-Design/1281808.html
BTW I think the B&W T10 4 speed is a Manual Trans.0 -
Yes fantastic brakes - new dual master cylinder and wilwood discs up front and oversized drums out back.
The wilwood disc system has two ceramic or semi metallic pads on each wheel (apparently it's the new hot trend on pro touring resto mods...
I don't know much about the tires other then they are new with less than 2500 miles on the matched set...
Supposed to be a good road tire and a good track day tire all in one - I had modifier 70's hard compound tires on my 66 mustang back in the day.
The mechanics shop that currently takes care of the guys fleet is approx. One hour from Penn State campus
The flat head inline six requires very little care and feeding - it's bullet proof and unkillable.
The multi carb set up bothers me a bit - I always had problems tuning and syncing them on my mustang - but I am told this set up is solid and does not require tinkering - and the ability to shut off or bypass one car and run on one 2 bbl seems pretty simple.
The car has almost no power options - and has been upgraded to 12 volt with as msd red box ignition and a sealed closed cell optima battery.
Mackenzie does all the work or care for her ancient S10 pick up herself - gets it serviced and maintains it on her own. I don't see the lark causing more problems then the Chevy - they are both pretty simple and solid.
I will feel better once she locates somebody near campus who can mechanic the stude when needed - the club has a branch in Hershey and a big presence there and at Carlisle - should be a terrific resource.
I am not a Studebaker expert - so maybe I am missing some important details - that's were you guys come in - my sounding board and my expert advisors.
Mike0 -
Does it have the third seat? [:)]
Studebakers were known for their drive train reliability... and body rust.
iirc, Studebakers board of directors wanted out of the business and would have it no other way. (same as they did with Packard) The Lark was an attempt to capture the compact car market from AMC, which it did well against till the board sold out the brand. (Ramblers had rust issues too).
Come to think of it, all the cars back then rusted out.0 -
My old man bought a used 1958 Scotsman wagon in 1965 and drove it for 15 years. Parts were out there if you didn't mind hunting them down, and he hooked up with some other Studebaker owners. For a man who immigrated from eastern Europe, car ownership, any car, was living the American dream. 0 -
As mentioned in the op the rear facing bomber turret 3rd row seating is not present - just cargo space.
I hope you will bare with me as I am relaying details from several parties at the same time - 3rd hand...
From several different forms of electronic media at once.
I am trying to fill I'm gaps in detail off the top of my head from memory - so if I got several things wrong or skewed please allow me some margin for error.
The seller is a good egg - I got to know his wife quite well at regional cancer cares oncology ward and radiation oncology dept before she passed / before the cancer got to bad and she arranged for home hospice care so she could die at home with her family.
The girls are facebook friends or whatever you call it and have kept up some communication - that's how he became aware of Mackenzie looking for a classic car as a second vehicle.
And she has been his dog sitter twice.
It seems to be an interesting day two tribute attribution resto mod and done well - but does seem an odd choice of platform and drive train to build out.
And delux interior but no power amenities???
Thanks for the input guys - feel free to pile on as its educational and interesting.
Mike0 -
In 1965 and 1966 Studebaker used 230 cubic inch six cylinder engines and 283 cubic inch engines built by Chevrolet. It should not be that hard to do a engine swap if power train parts are a concern. We had a 1966 Studebaker Cruiser we parted out about 15 years ago that had a 283 Chevy 2 barrel engine with a special cast iron bell housing hooked to a Borg Warner auto trans.
Jose.0 -
They made some really cool looking pick up trucks. 0 -
Its not a Wagonaire? those were neat theres a guy over in Connecticut that advertised in the Stude Drivers Club mag who sold/built hot flathead sixes but don't think he messed with the OHV versions Studes were economy cars that were built REALLY cheap but they could be made to move because they are so light... they had great styling ,fords and chevs looked like the crate Studes were shipped in but they dropped the ball on quality and reliability. I built a 53 champion with a vortec some years back but I let it go
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Id like to post a pic but this website is bass ackwards it next to impossible 0
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