1959 Studebaker Lark.
By the end of the 50 's, the owners of the well-known firms in the past have seriously thought Studebaker, to send a retired veteran of the auto industry deserve " " Packard'om following liquidated. Why, they say, prolong the agony? However, after weighing all the " for " and " v. ", decided to give the " patient " last chance ...
Once-thriving company town of Studebaker Saunt band by the end of the 50 's, that is, up to the handle. Bad design, inflated prices, and to top it all off, and the poor quality of vehicles with a letter pushed S on the hood not only old customers, but also to dealers, who did not want to go to the bottom together with the company--underachievers.
Lark (Lark).
Of course, serious investments, respectively, and a serious risk of none of the leaders of the cartel Curtiss-Wright to go wasn't going to. The new Studebaker Lark (Lark " "), 1959 virtually no different from last year's Commander'a. However, the Chief Designer of the company Duncan Macrae tried my best: mercilessly cut down a quaint Kiely, shortened the Chuck, removed the twin headlights, sophisticated decor and tinsel. Instead the machine got " seren′kuû " trapezoidal grille, window line with a little creased and taillights-" drops " with inclined at an angle of 45 degrees chrome John strangways owned--but almost imperceptible inadvertent plagiarism with Buick that same year.
Dropping the extra " fat " (almost a hundred kilos), " Skylar ", even with relatively small motor in 259 cu. inches (4244 CC), was enough to prompt. Maximum speed was 160 km/h and acceleration to 60 mph (96 km/h) took about 9 seconds.
A modest but elegant Clipper fell to my liking Americans. Times were not easy. After the recession of 1958, many preferred to save money, so cheap and compact cars, which immediately and unconditionally Lark, was suddenly enjoy the intense demand. Sales immediately soared to 131 thousand. pieces that were almost two times more than last year. And even in the following year, 1960, from studebekerovskih plants vyporhnulo 126885 gate " the Lark ". Despite the emergence of new " of these compacts " Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant (see. MNews No. 3/2002). Trying to consolidate the company produces high-speed version of Lark first with 210-225 and then-strong motor 289 cubic capacity. inches (4736) from sport Hawk. Such a powerful Compact easily overcame mark in 200 km/h, being dispersed to " American " for hundreds of 8.4 seconds. In 1963, almost simultaneously with the famous Pontiac GTO, saw the light of day SuperLark--Daytona R2 with an engine of the same size, only equipped with centrifugal supercharger drive of Paxton. Power 290 " horses " well enough to easily overcome the bar at 215 km/h, and no problem tucking arrow speedometer for a 60 mph in 7 seconds. For active safety are powerful ventilated disc brakes from Bendix, installed on the front wheels. By the way, the first in America. The only pity is that almost none of the large army of street racers did not pay any attention to this machine. Moreover, in most modern books on Muscle Cars, Studebaker Daytona is not even mentioned.
Lark's success is only temporary respite. Very soon the buyers have lost all interest in the company's production of the Saunt band. Did not help and the intervention of the famous industrial designer Brooks Stevens. And let them become Studebaker reworked thoroughly wipe away at Mercedes, new fans have not increased.
Author`s e-mail: chikorii@rambler.ru
