Can a Studebaker be sexy? You bet, said the carmaker, especially when the Studebaker is a sporty new Lark convertible. In this three-minute promotional clip, the ’62 Lark is touted as the hottest car in town. Watch this.
By 1962, the storied Studebaker brand was circling the drain. The Packard label was officially killed once and for all in late April, and the company’s official name was now simply the Studebaker Corporation. The automaker produced slightly more than 89,000 passenger vehicles that model year, a tick up from the previous 12 months, but still far fewer than required to keep the doors open.
But if any of this sour news ever reached the production team that created this short Studebaker sales film, it doesn’t show. With jazz flute and a shapely swimsuit model, the Lark’s new features for ’62 are pitched, including the facelifted front end and completely restyled rear. (The new sheet metal was cleverly executed on a shoestring by industrial designer Brooks Stevens). “The Studebaker Lark is a very sexy car,” asserts the voiceover. Well, maybe. The Lark is a memorable car for sure, and here’s a great insight into its features and marketing strategy for 1962. Enjoy the film.
Great film, designed to keep car salesmen alert. I knew Stevens did the GT Hawks but didn’t know he did the Lark redesigns too, busy man.
I learned to drive with my mom’s ’62 Lark convertible. It was a very easy and pleasant car to drive, would like to have one like it today.
I love these cars and this film is a hoot. Don’t you wish you were in the room in 1962 when the marketing guy was sharing his idea of a woman in a bathing suit and high heels leaving her house with a giant suitcase and taking off in “sexy” convertible? Seems to me that this may not have been a committee decision.
She didn’t stash the car keys and driver’s license above the sun visor, since there isn’t a roof or a visor. So where did she keep the keys while she was on the boat? Inquiring minds want to know…
In those days, one could leave the keys in the ignition out in the country without fear of theft
She also managed to put her high heels on while driving, apparently, since she drove off barefoot. If not for her legs, I would have never noticed this.