1963 Studebaker Lark

1963 Studebaker Lark Daytona 2 Door Hardtop The Lark Daytona, Action Car of the Year! It's fresh and spirited, and eager to go. In either version, hardtop or convertible, it's an exciting performer and a steady road car that maneuvers through traffic with sureness and ease. Its 109 inch wheelbase lets you park almost anywhere, too. From the advanced thinking of Studebaker Corporation; the exciting world of tomorrow from Studebaker today! From the 1963 sale brochure  For consignment, a 1963 Studebaker Lark Daytona 2 door hardtop with a title verified 58,646 actual miles. This one's been owned by our consignor since 2009 during which time he accumulated 7.000 miles, kept it in the garage, and never drove it in rain!  Exterior The unique shape and size of the Lark is complemented by two stage President Red paint that presents very nicely on this straight bodied bird. Along with the compact box you see in profile, both ends feature period distinctive elements such as a tight, central grille and wide set quad headlights set in aluminum bezels all of which creates a virtual personality that differs from anything of the era. There are eyebrows too, which is the wrap around trim that continues to the back, ever expanding. In back, afterburner-like tail lights cap the fenders while an ornamental band of stainless runs end to end, parallel with the chrome bumper. Imperfections include few chips on the cowl, uneven paint on a fender seam, and few other chips, and some swirl/brush marks.  Interior Black vinyl door panels mix vertical stitching with horizontal along with a carpeted lower and some ornamental trim and both show nicely. Inside, red inserts color the black bucket seats and also the rear bench which exhibits some looseness, but all are clean and intact. A D-shaped horn ring fronts the steering wheel which in turn, fronts a simple dash with two gauges flanking an unused third and white plastic toggle switches below. There's chrome trim around the cluster under a clean, black dash pad. The AM radio is still in place in the center of the dash and a Vanity emblem is over the dash, indicating it may have originally been equipped with a makeup tray and mirror in the glove box. Black carpet covers the floor, a white perforated headliner tops the ceiling, and a hound's tooth vinyl mat presides over the clean stamped steel of the trunk.   Drivetrain With a car this size, you'd expect an inline six, but this one packs a 259ci V8 with room to spare in the boxy bay. The engine has an Edelbrock 4-barrel carburetor and puts out 195 horsepower. Looks like we have a sleeper in the making! A Flight-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission that routes power to 3.31 gears in back. The bay presents cleanly with vibrant orange valve covers. Undercarriage The underside presents cleanly with only a light film of oil on the pans and some evidence of a one time drip from the gas line connection at the tank. Dual exhaust runs confidently through stainless steel mufflers and out the back through downturned tips while drum brakes occupy all four wheels. Suspension consists of coil springs up front and leaf springs in back.  Drive-Ability The simple and compact interior make driving the car easy, so we start it up, listen to the rumble of the dual exhaust, and move the ivory handled column shifter into place, sending this red bird onto the test loop which gives us no surprises in power, tracking, and handling. We're on older tires here so pacing ourselves to test the basic functionality and find everything works! While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase.  Compact before compacts were a thing, the Lark Daytona represents an early iteration of a pocket rocket with a brick like profile that would leave unsuspecting hot rodders not beat, but a bit surprised. This was billed as the action