Multiple Goodwood Race Winning
Studebaker Lark Daytona
Multiple Goodwood Race-Winning Studebaker Lark Daytona
Purpose-built Studebaker Lark Daytona developed for historic touring car racing by Fortec Motorsport.
Now run, rebuilt and prepared by the prolific Jordan Racing Team and powered by a 430bhp Chevrolet V8 built by Peter Knight.
Proven Goodwood pedigree – aggregate winner of the 2020 Goodwood SpeedWeek St Mary’s Trophy and the 2021 Goodwood Members’ Meeting Pierpoint Cup.
Offered with spare wheels, assorted body panels and with a Goodwood Technical Declaration.
Exciting possible race eligbility including: Goodwood Revival and Members Meeting, Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars and HRDC ‘Top Hat’ Pre-66 Touring Cars by invitation.
UK road registered, opening up the potential of competitive road rallies such as the Modena Cento Ore or Rewind Tour of Britain.
A distinctive and charismatic crowd favourite ‘60s Touring Car.
The Lark – Studebaker’s first ‘compact’ car
Introduced for 1959, the Studebaker Lark arrived at precisely the right moment for an American motor industry beginning to recognise a growing appetite for smaller, more economical cars. While Detroit’s traditional full-sized saloons still dominated the highways, Studebaker’s management understood that changing tastes – helped by the recession of the late 1950s and the growing popularity of imported European cars – created an opportunity for something lighter, sharper and altogether more modern in character
Rather than commit to the enormous expense of developing an entirely new platform, Studebaker cleverly reworked its existing chassis architecture into a more compact package with clean proportions and unusually restrained styling.
The result was a car that felt agile, practical and refreshingly understated beside many of its chrome-laden domestic rivals. Early Larks proved an immediate commercial success and helped to turn around Studebaker’s fortunes, while the availability of both dependable six-cylinder and brawny V8 engines gave the range an impressively broad appeal.
As the model evolved into the early 1960s, the Lark developed beyond simple compact transportation and began to acquire a more sporting identity. Revised styling sharpened the car’s appearance, while improvements to suspension, interiors and drivetrain options steadily pushed the range further upmarket.
The introduction of the more luxurious Daytona model cemented that transition, combining compact dimensions with stronger V8 performance and a distinctly driver-focused character uncommon among American saloons of the period.
By the mid-1960s, Studebaker’s engineering ambitions remained undiminished despite mounting financial pressures. The company’s close association with high-performance projects such as the supercharged Avanti programme further enhanced the reputation of the Daytona and Lark platform, with compact dimensions, robust mechanicals and strong V8 power making the cars surprisingly capable competition machines.
Their combination of durability and performance saw Studebakers successfully campaigned in period touring car and stock car competition in both the United States and Australia, where their rarity and distinctive styling ensured they stood apart from more conventional rivals.
Although Studebaker ceased automobile production in 1966, the Lark and Daytona models remain among the company’s most important achievements – charismatic and cleverly engineered compact American performance saloons that captured the spirit of an independent manufacturer determined to do things differently.
This car:
This Studebaker Lark Daytona – finished in eye-catching white and gold – was initially turned into a historic racer by Fortec Motorsport. When acquired by its current owner in 2019, the Studebaker was completely rebuilt by the Jordan Racing Team and brought in line with the requirements of organisers. The car was refinished in its US inspired Old English White & Gold paint scheme, and has continued to be maintained and prepared by JRT, with the team’s meticulous attention to detail evident throughout
Power comes from a small-block Chevrolet V8 engine built by renowned specialist Peter Knight, producing approximately 430bhp.
In recent years, the Studebaker has proved incredibly quick and competitive on some of historic racing’s most prestigious touring car grids. It scored an aggregate victory in the one-off Goodwood SpeedWeek event in 2020, winning the St Mary’s Trophy in the hands of French sports car racing ace Nicolas Minassian and the current owner.
The following year it was once again victorious at Goodwood, winning the Pierpoint Cup – a race for pre-1966 V8 saloon cars – at the 78th Members’ Meeting with the current owner once again at the wheel, this time sharing driving duties with 2013 British Touring Car Champion Andrew Jordan.
Accompanied by a quantity of spares including spare wheels and assorted body panels, this is a rare opportunity to acquire a front-running, V8-powered historic touring car with proven Goodwood pedigree, prepared by leading specialists and offering a genuinely distinctive crowd favourite among the more familiar grid regulars.
With a Goodwood Technical Declaration, the Studebaker can be eligible for and would be a potential race winner at the Goodwood Revival and Members Meeting, subject to invitation. Further use in the current ownership has extended to the Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars and HRDC ’Top Hat’ Pre-66 Touring Cars.
Sporting a current UK road registration, further event usage could open up including the Modena Cento Ore, Rewind Tour of Britain and more, making it one of the most versatile cars out there.
Fast, charismatic and hugely competitive, the Studebaker Lark combines pace, presence and the proven results to stand alongside the very best touring cars of the era.
