This rare 1962 Studebaker Lark Taxi Cab is owned by Jarrod Hines of Radford, Virginia. It is one of two known survisors from a fleet of 1962 Studebaker Lark Taxis that were used by the Roanoke Yellow Cab Company. The other survivor is in the Virginia Musuem of Transportation in Roanoke. Jarrod's Lark Taxi appeared in the 2015 coming of age movie Coming Through The Rye that was filmed in central and western Virgina. The two surviving Lark Taxis are Number 20 and Number 29. I have been told that Lark Taxi Cabs were a common site on Roanoke streets in the mid-1960's.

For 1962 the Lark was restyled by Milwaukee industrial designer Brooks Sevens. The front received a Mercedes style grille and dual headlights were made standard on all models. The rear was comletely resyled with new rear quarter panels, new trunk lid, and round taillights. The length was increased and all four-door sedans had a 113" wheelbase and measured 188" in length. Prior to 1962, the Lark Taxi was longer than the standard four-door Lark which was only 175" long.

The 1962 Lark Taxi was a purpose built heavy duty model. It could be ordered with a six cylinder or V8 engine, both of which were "Taxi Duty" rated. A heavy duty three speed manual transmission with floor shift was standard and a water cooled automatic transmission was optional. All vinyl heavy duty soliod color upholstery was standard and a passenger side sun visor was optional. Air conditioning was an option but the Roanoke Larks were not so equipped.

Jarrod's Lark Taxi retains its original meter and other taxi cab features including a zippered headliner and external hood release at the top center of the front grille. As with the other surviving Roanoke Yellow cab 1962 Lark Taxi it is devoid of bright side trim, bright windshield and bright rear window trim. The full wheel covers on Jarrod's Lark Taxi have been painted to match the color of the cab body. The 1962 Lark Taxi in the Virginai Museum of Transportation has small hub caps

The pictures were taken at the June 2023 Star City Motor Madness Car Show in Roanoke, Virginia. This two day event typically draws hundreds of cars and thousands of spectators. The car show on Saturday is held downtown on streets closed for that purpose. Proceeds from the show benefit the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

If you own or once owned a Studebaker or related vehicle and would like to see your car as "Stude of the Month" or in the "Cool Studes" section, or if you have other pictures or material that you would like to contribute to this page, please e-mail me at wj2d44@gmail.com. I can accept either electronic or hard copy images. A complete new Main Page will be issued periodically as material becomes available.

All of the previous editions of the Main Page going back to October 1995 have been reposted. In the process of reposting the pages, I have made corrections and revisions as needed, and in some cases added material that was not used when a page was first posted due to download speed and file storage limitations. A complete list of Main Pages and Studes of the Month with links to each is located here.

If you have a particular interest in Bullet Nose Studebakers, visit Bill Junge's Bullet Nose Paradise which is dedicated to the 1950 and 1951 Bullet Nose models.

Until recently this very nice Laguna Blue 1965 Commander Wagonaire was owned by Eric Lund of Earlysville, Virginia. It is equipped with the McKinnon Industries of Canada supplied 194 cubic inch overhead valve six cylinder engine rated at 120 horsepower with a three speed manual transmission. It did not come from the factory with a radio which was fairly common in order to keep the list price as low as possible. The original owner donated it to the National Automotive and Truck Museum (NATMUS) in Auburn, Indiana. The Museum in turn sold it to a Jim Orth in Florida and Eric purchased the car from Jim. The current owner is Jerry Hurchison of Salem, Missouri.

The 1965 Wagonaire was available in Commander or Daytona trim. In addition to the 194 cubic inch six, a McKinnon Industries 283 cubic inch V8 rated at 195 horsepower also available. Both engines were basically the same as used in the Chevy II compact and other Chevrolet models of the period. Studebaker did not produce any fixed roof station wagons for the 1965 model year but the fixed roof option returned for the short 1966 production run. Production of 1965 Wagonaires was 1,824.

Thanks to Eric Lund for the pictures and information on this neat Wagonaire.

For more about Studebaker station wagons, visit the Studebaker Station Wagon Owners and Fans group on Facebook. The group covers all years of Studebaker station wagons both stock and modified. It is a public group so anyone can visit the group and to view its contents. The group has grown to 3,500 members and has hundreds of informative posts. The posts include numerous pictures, original print ads, video links, and other materials all related to Studebaker station wagons.

The 1955 Packard Clipper Custom Four-Door Sedan is owned by Richard Obenshain of Mt. Sidney, Virginia. It is a low mileage original car with nicely perserved paint, trim, and interior. Richard's Clipper Custom is powered by a 352 cubic inch diplacement V8 engine rated at 345 horsepower with Ultramatic automatic transmission. The Custom was the highest trim 1955 Clipper with Packard's innovatiove Torsion-Level suspension, leather trimmed upholstery, and a rear seat armrest as standard equipment. The Clipper Four-Door Sedan was by far the best selling 1955 Packard model with 24,726 produced in three trim levels.

Studebaker and Packard merged in 1954 to form the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Studebaker was the larger company but Packard was in a better financial position. The idea was for Studebaker to be a volume producer in the low and medium price fields and for Packard to be a luxury car maker competing with Cadillac and Lincoln. Packard production continued in Detroit through the 1956 model year. For 1957 and 1958 Packards were built in South Bend and were essentially upgraded Studebakers with Packrd styling. In 1962 "Packard" was dropped from the company's legal name.

The pictures were taken at the July 2023 antique car display at Baldwin Brightview Park Senior Living Community in Staunton, Virginia. This is an annual event at which members of the Waynesboro-Staunton Region of the AACA are invited to bring their cars and trucks to display on the grounds of this attractive complex. This year participants enjoyed near perfect weather and a complimentary lunch provided By Baldwin Brighview Park.

Dan Armstrong from Mansfield, Texas has created a number of crossword puzzles and games for car nuts. Dan has a strong interest in Studebakers, particularly the 1956 Sky Hawk, the performance equipped 1963 Lark Daytona, and the performance equipped 1963 and 1964 GT Hawks. The Studebaker crosswords are copyright by Dan Armstrong and are used with his permission. Thanks to Dan for providing the downloadable Studebaker crossword puzzles for readers of this page to enjoy.

The Johnny Lightning Studebaker Champ Pickup has recently appeared in a third Monopoply issue. As with the earlier Monopoly issues, it includes an exclusive game token in the form of a miniature Champ pickup. It follows numerious previous versions of the Johnny Lighning Champ the most recent being the Hulls and Haulers issues a couple of years ago. Earlier issues include a number of variations with and without camper tops some with themes and a rare White Lightning chase edition. The United States Postal Service American Stamp and Truck Collection included the JL Champ in both white and gold.

In recent years, Johnny Lightning has also reissued its 1957 Golden Hawk and 1963 Avanti Coupe models.

This diecast Studebaker M Series Covered Truck is from a four truck boxed set issued by Norev of France. The set also includes a Studebaker M Series Milk Truck and two Ford trucks. The set is made in China and the castings for all four trucks appear to be basically the same as those used for the Atlas Dinky reissues. The writing on the Studebaker Covered Truck translates to "Potash from Alsace." Although it is a reproduction Dinky Toys truck it is not identified as such.

The Studebaker M Series Covered Truck features a removable canopy and a trailer hitch. A spare wheel and tire are located under the truck. The base is stamped "CIJ Norev Studebaker" but does not show the country or origin. The boxed set is a limited edition of 1,000 each with a numbered certificate. These sets sometimes appear on eBay usually from venders overseas.

A number of reproduction Studebaker Dinky Toys have been issued under the Norev brand including a 1939 Commander Coupe, 1955 Commander Hardtop, and M Series Wrecker. The English version of the Norev model and toy cars website can be accessed here.

More toy Studes can be found in the Stude Stuff area of this page and on my Studebaker Toys Home Page.

Click here for information on ordering hard to find Studebaker toys made by manufacturers such as Johnny Lightning, Racing Champions, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Muscle Machines, Maisto, and EKO.

Jim Geary's book Studebaker Toy Treasures is the standard reference for collectors of Studebaker Toys. This wonderful book has 294 pages of color pictures and details on hundreds of Studebaker toys. Publication date is 2004 and just about every Studebaker toy and model produced up to that time is pictured and cataloged. Jim is making the book available for $25 plus $14 for shipping. Jim will sign the book if requested. It also comes with a CD of more toys than what is in the book. This is a must for the serious Studebaker toy vehicle collector. Jim can be contacted at sanjim76@live.com or send payment to Jim Geary, 181 Allendale Hills Road, Franklin, NC 28734.