Kudos to George Krem and Bob Coolidge

[Stu Chapman]

Your extensive coverage of the Holman and Moody Larks in July's Turning Wheels is very interesting reading. Studebaker really did have a great reputation in competition, both in the United States and Canada, and your mutual knowledge of it is second to none. Thanks George and Bob.

Stu Chapman

[R3 challenger]

Your extensive coverage of the Holman and Moody Larks in July's Turning Wheels is very interesting reading. Studebaker really did have a great reputation in competition, both in the United States and Canada, and your mutual knowledge of it is second to none. Thanks George and Bob.

Stu Chapman

Thanks, Stu. Bob Coolidge and I have collected information on this subject for years, and the time seemed right for an article. Bob sure knows a lot about Studebakers in oval track racing. One can always wish for more material; the Homan & Moody file of information on these Larks consists of 41 pages, mostly typed but some hand written. Deciphering, analyzing, and combining all that information was quite a job and we still don't know certain things, such as the exact camshaft specifications and the lift ratio of the Ford rocker arms used. But at least that file included copies of the original window stickers from those Larks (not good enough to print in TW, but readable). Those window stickers gave me the serial numbers of the cars. I then contacted Andy Beckman at the museum, and he supplied copies of the original production orders, which then gave us more information that could be explored in parts books and elsewhere. Following rabbit trails like that made for a fun project.

George

[2R2]

Great articles, as the H/M Larks were always cars I was hoping information would come to light on. Thanks to George and Bob for all of their hard work to bring discover and share this information!

[BobPalma]

"Amen" to all the above.

Remember, the whereabouts of all those cars are unknown. Now that we have the Serial Numbers out in front of the Studebaker World, let's find one or two of them! BP

[8E45E]

I'm looking forward to reading it when I receive my copy of TW mid-month. (Provided Canada Post does not go on strike.)

Craig

[raprice]

It never ceases to amaze me that the incredible variety of articles that appear in TW reflect the incredible diversity of our membership. Even though I'm not a mechanic, I can still appreciate those articles every month. Case in point, the Holman Moody article in the latest TW. Fascinating!!!
Rog

[BobPalma]

Holman & Moody citation here:

http://mecumauctions.com/lots/DN0716-252663/1963-ford-galaxie-500xl/

What a legend. We should be happy they had such a good, documented connection to Studebaker. 'Too bad Studebaker didn't have the resources to have them campaign more Studes back in the day. BP

[studegary]

Thanks to George and Bob for completing a project that I started many years ago. I interviewed Jocko Jr., who was at the speed shop and at Lime Rock when the Larks were prepared and raced. He provided me with pictures of the Larks at Lime Rock. I submitted the information from the interview and the pictures to the TW Editor. Like most of what I have submitted, nothing came of it. I didn't retain copies of anything and Jocko's Speed Shop burned to the ground shortly after that. I did communicate with George on what my memory retained about this.

EDIT: The part about the Larks being shipped north intrigues me. I wonder if they came to Jocko's Speed Shop in Poughkeepsie, NY as payment for services rendered (tuning, driving, etc.). If so, they probably rusted out in short order

[R3 challenger]

Thanks, Gary; it was fun to do. It's too bad that we don't have more information as to exactly where those Larks went. Let's hope that at least one will show up, now that the serial numbers are published.

George

[trnstrtrk]

Thanks, Gary; it was fun to do. It's too bad that we don't have more information as to exactly where those Larks went. Let's hope that at least one will show up, now that the serial numbers are published.

George

It was a real pleasure to work with George Krem on this project. Lee Holman allowed me to make copies of the information in the Holman & Moody files on the Larks. This was done on the Monday of the Studebaker Drivers Club International Meet in Charlotte, NC in 2004. Later, I found that the day I was copying the files was the same day that Ralph Moody passed away. At a later date and a different location I spoke with Mrs. Moody and their daughter. Neither of these individuals had any detailed knowledge of the Lark project. I do hope that at some point additional information will come to light as to the final disposition of the three racing Larks. I was told by Waddell Wilson a former engine builder at Holman & Moody that the cars were kept in running condition during the years they were left at H & M. Further, that Ralph Moody was driving one of the Larks around the grounds at a high rate of speed and encountered a just put in place parking bumper. Ralph could not dodge the bumper and went over it damaging the steering apparatus which was repaired.
In September of this year, I will be participating in the 7th Annual Sebring Thunder. A car show and rally held in Sebring, Florida. The most attractive feature of this event will be the opportunity to drive the Sebring International Raceway Track. I am sure my speed will be well below the 138 MPH that Curtis Turner reached in his Lark.
Thank each of you for the kind comments posted.

[StudeDave57]

That was a gooood read!!!
Thanks Bob and George for putting it all together. I'm bummed to hear of Gary's contribution being lost somewhere. I wonder how many unanswered questions have now been lost to the sands of time...?

[sgriggs]

I was intrigued by the neat little supercharged Lark cover car (tribute car to the Holman-Moody racecars). The brief blurb in TW said this engine made 425hp with a Paxton supercharger. Has this car ever been to the drag strip? I bet it would be into the 12's. Has it ever been featured in more detail in TW?

Scott Griggs
Louisville, KY

[R3 challenger]

I was intrigued by the neat little supercharged Lark cover car (tribute car to the Holman-Moody racecars). The brief blurb in TW said this engine made 425hp with a Paxton supercharger. Has this car ever been to the drag strip? I bet it would be into the 12's. Has it ever been featured in more detail in TW?

Scott Griggs
Louisville, KY

Scott, as I worked on the article, Bob Palma, Bob Coolidge, and I looked for a nice 1960 Lark VI two-door sedan that was for sale at the South Bend swap meet two or three years ago. It was Gulfstream Blue--the color of the Holman & Moody cars--and it was for sale. As I recall, the price was around $6,500 or so. I remember looking at it and thinking that it would be a good candidate to make a H & M clone Lark. 'Should have bought it; that would have been a good cover car for the July issue. After striking out in our efforts in finding a Gulfstream Blue 1960 Lark Deluxe two-door, I finally decided to have a professional photographer take some photos of my car to go with the article; my car looks the same as the H & M cars except for color.

As for my red '60 Lark, it has not yet been on the drag strip because it still needs a few more things. For example, while it has HD springs, it still has lots of wheel hop when launched hard; fixing that is a must and is on my list. The car has many performance-oriented details: R3 valves, lots of head work, 304.5 CID with forged R3 pistons, chamfered cylinder bores (like the R3), reworked R3 exhaust manifolds, port-matched intake and exhaust manifolds, large diameter intake hose, blueprinted blower(s), reworked internal passages in carb bonnet, 9.7 compression ratio (about the same as R3), lightweight starter, aluminum flywheel, lightweight battery, and much more. So basically, it's equivalent to an R3. I built it to look more-or-less like what a person could have put together from mostly Studebaker parts back in 1960--in other words, there's more there than meets the eye!

After work on wheel hop, I hope to get most of the undercoating off--that's in the neighborhood of 100 lbs, which will get the weight down right around 3,000 lbs. Too many other projects are on the list!

George

[8E45E]

After striking out in our efforts in finding a Gulfstream Blue 1960 Lark Deluxe two-door, I finally decided to have a professional photographer take some photos of my car to go with the article; my car looks the same as the H & M cars except for color.

Too bad Ann wasn't aware. I bet she could have Photoshopped it into a blue car.

Craig

[studegary]

I had another thought on where the original Larks went. Did the dealership in Florida actually buy and pay for the Larks? Perhaps it was a deal "sort of" backed by Studebaker where Studebaker provided the Larks through a local dealer. There may have come a time when the cars had to be returned to Studebaker (taken north - to South Bend). I can see where Studebaker did not want these cars out in the public. These Larks would even still be considered new cars since they most likely were not titled.