Lark back on the market

[Steve T]

Hi all--

"To every thing there is a season"…and my season with my dear old '62 Lark is at an end. She's a viable project for someone, certainly, but someone with more skill and money (especially the latter) than I have or will ever have again. The last straw is some sort of minor electrical fault that's discharging batteries completely. I had already ceased taking the car to shows, being content to drive around the neighbourhood occasionally; up till the electrical gremlin, whatever it is (generator? voltage regulator? short in a lead? no idea) struck, the car ran and drove just fine, and I had had in mind taking her to a shop in the country where the right front fender issues would've been addressed at moderate cost…but now more issues are piling on, and I've decided, terribly belatedly, that enough is finally too much. I've long kicked myself for not selling the Lark right after those two big trips I took in the car in 2010; at that stage she not only ran great and was stone reliable, but she looked pretty good too. Now, any price I can realize is actually secondary to my hope of getting the Lark into the hands of someone who will refurbish and/or rod her and drive and enjoy her as I have done these past nine years…rather than stripping and scrapping the car. Here's the text of the Kijiji ad which will shortly be up…

1962 Lark 6 Deluxe 2dr sedan, built Hamilton Plant May 1962
82468 original miles
170ci Studebaker OHV straight-six, Flightomatic (Borg-Warner) transmission; both working well
New tires and front-end alignment 2014
Trying to get as near $1500 as possible.

Needs:
*Front right quarter panel realigned and properly reconnected to inner bodywork and front right frame rail. This will require some fabrication, and is the main reason I am now parting with the car.
*Rear springs rearched or replaced
*Worn ignition switch replaced (I have a spare, recently ordered)
*New battery and possibly also generator (I have a spare generator--or the car could be updated to 1963 spec with an alternator instead)

"Nice to have"
*Paint--though the present paint job was high quality when new and would polish up well (I was planning on having this done after the fender was fixed)
*Carpet installed (I have this--since 2008!)
*Front seat realigned and mounted properly--it is bolted in place at an incorrect angle
*Right rearview mirror replaced
*Window whiskers replaced (I have a new front set)
*A few trim items renewed, et cetera…

As to my involvement with SDC, that, at least, is not at an end, and I do not expect it will be any time in the foreseeable future. I'm still the Hamilton Chapter's membership secretary, so I have an actual role in the club apart from the numerous friendships I've established there. I just won't be seen at cruise-ins all the time. People will wonder where that guy with the ratty blue Studebaker and the camera got to. Kinda sad of course that from here on out, that annual SDC event will at best be "Drive Someone Else's Studebaker Day" for me!

bluer-than-the-Lark Steve T

[studeclunker]

Photos are always helpful Steve...

[Steve T]

And why would anyone think I had photos? :-) I'll put up a link to my P'bucket album of my Lark, and will also put up a link to the Kijiji ad itself once that is up on Kijiji; it has photos from this past Friday showing the car exactly as she now is, including front wheel well closeups of both the right (bad) and left (solid) sides.

P'bucket:

http://s290.photobucket.com/user/StudeSteve/library/My%2062%20Lark?sort=3&page=1

Kijiji ad isn't up as yet (I just posted it minutes ago), but I'll post a link to that when it shows up…

S.

[r1lark]

Hate to hear this Steve. I enjoyed reading about the trips you have taken with Betty. Always thought that she was a good looking car. Good luck in selling her!

[Steve T]

Thanks for the good wishes, Paul; have had a number of replies to the Kijiji ad already, I think she'll find a new owner sooner than later. Curiously, the first two replies were from guys named "Steve"! Here's the link to the Kijiji ad, which has photos of the Lark as she now looks…not, sadly, as nice as she did back when I had that crazy living wage thing going on…ahem…

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/hamilton/1962-studebaker-lark-6-two-door-sedan/1192303919?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

S.

[sals54]

And why would anyone think I had photos? :-) I'll put up a link to my P'bucket album of my Lark, and will also put up a link to the Kijiji ad itself once that is up on Kijiji; it has photos from this past Friday showing the car exactly as she now is, including front wheel well closeups of both the right (bad) and left (solid) sides.

P'bucket:

http://s290.photobucket.com/user/StudeSteve/library/My%2062%20Lark?sort=3&page=1

Kijiji ad isn't up as yet (I just posted it minutes ago), but I'll post a link to that when it shows up…

S.

Have you got any other pictures??? I'm not sure the 200 photos you posted really tell the whole story. JK, of course

[Lark Ken]

Looks like a pretty solid little car! Might be a good little driver with a bit of work. Does anyone know what would be involved (legal stuff) with bringing this car into the USA?

[StudeRich]

When your Chapter "Board" Term is up, there is no need to forget the Friends you have made there, many Chapters have Members that show up every Month with a Brand "X", for many reasons: looking for the "Right" Car, Sold one, or one or more not running at present and more! It's OK!

Please hang in there. Maybe you will Win the York Swap Meets giveaway Car!

[mbstude]

Looks like a pretty solid little car! Might be a good little driver with a bit of work. Does anyone know what would be involved (legal stuff) with bringing this car into the USA?

Last year I imported a really nice '52 Stude 2R6 pickup from Ontario to Florida. The "cheaper" way is to go to Canada yourself and bring the car across the boarder. That wasn't feasible for me, so I had to hire a customs broker to work directly with the shipping company. The broker's cost was a little more than $300 if I remember right. And the (enclosed) transport to Florida was another $1700, and had to be done by a company that specialized in bringing cars across the boarder. Luckily I found a company that was bringing a lot of cars to and from Florida for the snowbirds, so I didn't have to contract more than one shipping company. If anyone is seriously considering this, let me know and I'll dig out the info on the companies I used.

By the time it was done, it cost me a little more than $2K just to get the truck home and about a month's wait. It was a nice truck that was worth it, and I still made money when I sold it, so it worked out in the end. I'm not sure that would be economical on a $1500 Lark, though.

[Steve T]

Sal--

Hardy har har…I'm rather notorious locally for taking bazillions of photos of cars, those shots on P'bucket are the small tip of a large iceberg…I probably have over a thousand shots just of my own Lark over the years. I probably had a couple hundred even of my '65, and I only had that car about three years with only about two thirds of that time on the road…

Frankly I think Matthew is right about shipping the Lark any distance…wouldn't make sense, you'd be upside-down in the project before it was even home. Now if it were a personally significant, e.g.. family, vehicle, that might change things. Mine's always been an Ontario car, though.

I've had a bunch of inquiries about the car since posting the ad, so it looks, at least, like I may be able to secure her future as an active Stude to the degree I can, and that's really my main hope.

Another SDCer had a thought I didn't…the notion that Betty might be a good starting point for a drag car. (Hm. Betty The Gasser??) I did have a somewhat similar idea at the time I bought the car in 2007 though. There was a hiccup with the ownership, as the guy I bought the car from had acquired it from the family of the late previous owner…and he had never changed the ownership to himself. I actually mulled over, if the ownership issue proved insurmountable, turning the Lark into an old-school stock car, and racing her at Ohsweken and Flamboro speedways and the like. Fortunately the ownership was successfully transferred to me, and Betty and I began a "romance" that's lasted longer than most Hollywood marriages do…

S.

[mbstude]

Steve, I hope you didn't take my response the wrong way.. If you were close to north Florida, I'd give you $1500 for the car just to play around with it for a while, and I don't even like six-automatic Studes. It's tough to find a decent Stude that cheap.

Hope she goes to a good home!