1963 Studebaker Lark

Professionally prepared by Andy Robinson of Robinson Race Cars for his own personal use, this is possibly the only Studebaker Lark in Europe with FIA Historic Technical Passport (HTP) – and this passport is valid until the 31st of December 2028.

Eligible for the Goodwood Revival, Members’ Meeting, Silverstone Classic, Spa 6 Hour and many others, it has yet to be raced after having been built by one of the county’s foremost experts.

A full nut-and-bolt rebuild, it features a full suite of race-spec safety and performance equipment including an Avanti R1 Jet Thrust engine that has been dyno-proved to produce 296bhp and 315lb/ft of torque.

Now ready to thrill and delight its new owner on the road or track, this is your opportunity to buy a unique, turn-key, historic race car for not a lot of money…

For those not familiar with Andy Robinson, he is also the builder and driver of championship-winning Pro-Modified dragsters; by the way, the whole cars, not just the 3000hp+ engines. We understand he knows what he is doing!

The bodyshell is presented in its original ‘California patina’ and what the vendor refers to as a ‘barn find’ paint job. The finish looks terrific and makes for an much more interesting visual than the usual boring race car paint job.

The body was removed during the rebuild to allow the chassis and suspension arms to be powdercoated and the bolts were replaced with high-spec AN items wherever possible.

The rear bulkhead and parcel shelf were replaced with custom-fabricated aluminium items to save weight, as were the doors and rear side panels.

The bodyshell is reinforced with an Robinson Race Cars eight-point roll cage that has been built to Appendix K specification. As such, the installation includes door ‘X’ bars, a roof diagonal, a dashboard bar and other bracing. It is, in other words, a proper job.

The windows have been replaced with lightweight Lexan panels, and the laminated windscreen comes with a spare, just in case…

Other race-specific equipment includes a Cartek rear rain light, and front and rear tow straps.

The car sits on genuine 15-inch Minilite alloy wheels fitted with 550x15 Dunlop Racing tyres. These are retained to the hubs via longer ½-inch wheel studs. Two more sets of wheels and used tyres are included.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you an insight into their attitude towards maintenance.

Problems? Well, aside from the inevitable marks that any car of this age and patination will display we have spotted some rust in the upper door frames on both sides.

The interior safety equipment includes a Racetech FIA-spec driver’s seat that is valid until the end of 2021, a fibreglass passenger’s seat, and TRS/RRC five-point safety harnesses.

A full suite of classic Smiths gauges sit in the original dashboard behind a Mota-Lita steering wheel.

The wiring loom and electrical system is similarly impressive. It comprises a custom lightweight wiring loom made using Type 55 wire and weatherproof connectors, an Odessey battery, a Cartek electrical cut-out switch, a custom-built switch panel with resettable fuses, a Cartek shift light on top of the dashboard, and an auxiliary Smiths rev counter.

There is also a Lifeline four-litre fire suppression system, a 140-litre foam-filled aluminium fuel tank and, while the interior is typically race car-spartan, the attention to detail is incredible.

You want examples? How about the hand-lettering on the switch panels between the seats? It’s utterly gorgeous and the time and attention that has been lavished on it should reassure you that this car has been built with an uncommonly high degree of pride in the workmanship.

Humour too, so please take the time to appreciate the details that made us smile.

Oh, and the infamous Exclusive Beauty vanity package? Well, the glovebox does feature that glorious ‘Vanity’ badging, although we suspect the contents will have been removed in the interests of weight saving. Or good taste…

The car’s mechanical specification includes the gloriously named Avanti R1 Jet Thrust engine, whose eight cylinders have been proven to develop a whopping 296bhp and 315lb/ft of torque.

The engine’s specification includes JE pistons, Sealed Power zero-gap piston rings, Carillo connecting rods and Chevy P bearings, an OE forged crankshaft, gas-flowed cylinder heads, stainless-steel inlet and exhaust valves, a Doug Herbert camshaft with solid lifters, aluminium camshaft gear, Manton pushrods, a vibration-free custom balancer, a modified and baffled sump, an aluminium inlet manifold fitted with a new Carter 600cfm AFB carburettor, and an MSD 6 with an adjustable rev limiter.

Auxiliary components include an MSD 6 ignition system, MSB HT leads, a Pertronix pickup distributor, BMRS hoses and fittings, a 24-row oil cooler and electric fan, an aluminium catch tank, a WOSP starter motor, and cast aluminium Studebaker rocker covers.

The attention to detail throughout the car is remarkable and no component better illustrates that than the custom-fabricated, Tig-welded, 2½-inch twin-pipe stainless-steel exhaust system that includes an O2 sensor. The full exhaust system gives a decibel reading of 92 – and it looks as good as it sounds.

The engine feeds it considerable power to the rear axle via a Helix clutch, billet flywheel, an OE T10 gearbox rebuilt with a close ratio gearset, a Hurst shifter, and a Dana 44 OE rear axle fitted with a Gripper differential and beefed-up half shafts.

And yet, power is nothing without control so the Lark is also fitted with optimized front and rear suspension with custom Gaz adjustable dampers on all four corners and an in-house 1¼-inch front anti-roll bar constructed of EN16T and 3/8-inch rod ends.

Braking is courtesy of a heavily modified system comprising an RRC bias pedal box using Girling master cylinders and an adjustable pressure regulator, Brown and Miller flexible front and rear brake lines with copper nickel hard lines, OE Dunlop front calipers fitted with a BG Developments piston set and Pagid RS race pads, and eleven-inch OE finned drum brakes on the rear fitted with competition-spec brake shoes.

A spares package is available:

• Front screen - new

• Front grille - used but in good condition

• Spare set of cylinder heads - standard R1

• Aluminium inlet manifold

• Cast iron inlet manifold - standard

• Standard rocker covers - pressed tin type

• Two JE pistons – new

• New cam and lifters - with more lift and duration

• New flywheel - billet with integral ring gear

• Two sets of Minilite wheels with used Dunlop racing tyres

• Gear box spares - case and other parts

• Spare Mintex 1144 front pads - little used

• Spare rear shoes with BG Developments competition linings - new

• Spare rear wheel cylinders x 2

• Various gaskets

• Assorted Studebaker parts

The Studebaker comes with a thick history file comprising spec sheets, a detailed list of the work that has been carried out on it, the HMRC certificate showing that the import duty has been paid, California Title plus the all-important HTP paperwork.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been modified and built to a very high standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

The owner, Andy Robinson, is one of the most well-respected engineers in his field and he built this Studebaker up for him and a mate to race and enjoy, which means the emphasis was on building a car to his own personal specification, albeit with the need for FIA HTP homologation in mind.

So, money was no object and the specification is glorious. Always conscientious, he’s stuck within the spirit and letter of the rules, which means that while it might be a couple of horepower down on some of its contemporaries, the car’s lucky new owner can have enormous fun without having to worry about a post-race check on its engine specification…

And how much is this wonderfully engineered slice of Americana going to cost you? Well, it’s hard to gauge given its unique status but we think the virtual hammer will fall somewhere between £21,000 and £40,000 – or considerably less than you’d have to stump up for the much more common Ford Mustang.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Hampshire; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.