What was Lark image back then?

[lstude]

I was 14 years old when the Larks came out and my Mother had just bought a new 58 Silver Hawk. My friends all thought the Hawk was really cool and couldn't believe that my mother had bought it. They knew I really liked Studebakers, so a couple of my friends asked me what I thought of the Lark. They thought it was too boxy. I agreed with them although I really thought it was kind of cute and an improvement over the 58 sedans.

It wasn't until my mother traded the Hawk for a 61 Lark 259 2 bbl, automatic , that I really could convince my friends of what a fun car it was. I also convinced myself, as I was at first disappointed. My best friend and I spent almost every Friday and Saturday night racing cars from the stop lights.
All my friends were very impressed at how fast it was. Actually I think it was faster off the line than the Hawk with a 289 and 4 bbl.

One night we beat an older guy from the light and he caught up with us at the next light. I thought he was going to lecture me, but he yelled out the window "How do you like your Lark? I told him that I loved it and he said that he had just bought stock in the company (poor guy!)

I took the Lark to college and I would occasionally lent it out to friends. They all couldn't believe how quick it was.



Leonard Shepherd
http://leonardshepherd.com/

[Lark289]

The Lark represented one of the first small cars put out by Detroit when it was introduced in 1959. I am too young to know how a Lark would have been perceived back then.

Was anyone was around at the time that can share their thoughts about the image that the public had in the car in terms of styling, performance and image? I would find it interesting to know your thoughts of the car back when it was originally introduced versus what you think of it today.

TIA,

Jeff



Ready for a trip to the beach!