Join us for a test drive of the sporty new ’64 Studebaker Daytona Hardtop.
This brief 1964 Studebaker clip has a fresh angle: It’s a hypothetical test drive of the Indiana carmaker’s latest Daytona Hardtop with a woman behind the wheel. As the announcer clicks off the new and improved features for ’64, he notes—with a hint of condescension—that lady drivers might not even be aware of all the important advances, from the uprated radiator to the crankcase ventilation (PCV) system. For a moment we want to ask why the announcer brought them up in the first place, but in 1964, continuous mansplaining was par for the course.
To our eye, the ’64 Daytona Hardtop was a handsome ride, thanks to yet another clever, low-budget makeover of the aged Lark platform by freelance designer Brooks Stevens. A new front end sported a trapezoidal grille bracketed by quad headlamps, and the Lark name was all but banished but the lineup. (In ’65 it disappeared completely.) Models ranged from the base Challenger to the deluxe Cruiser, with the Commander and Daytona in the middle in price and equipment. And as the sporty offering in the line, the Daytona included hardtop and convertible body styles. At $2.451, the Daytona Hardtop was priced in Pontiac Tempest/Olds F-85 territory.
Of course, when this spot was produced, the announcer had no way to know that ’64 would be Studebaker’s last model year in America. After the South Bend, Indiana factory was shut down in late 1963, the company would carry on in Canada for two more model years, but without the Hawk and the Avanti, and without the hardtops and convertibles. In the cramped Hamilton, Ontario plant, there was room to produce only a handful of models (with engines supplied by GM of Canada). So here’s a look at the last pillarless hardtop model ever produced by the Studebaker Corporation. Video below.
Something about the Studebaker name that continues to beckoning me to say I miss it more all the time. The more one gets to know the story the more intriguing it gets. Maybe because they have such deep roots from the very beginning like being the producers of the Conestoga Wagon for example,lots of maybes enter into this and thus the intrigue enters over and over again.One trip to their museum in South Bend Indiana is literally a history lesson of American enterprise at its greatest. I highly recommend this visit to all.Thanks again to this fine website for your research highlighting a company that will be respected for the ages for what they represent.
Yes Bill; it’s all history now but what a legacy they left us- that Daytona is a very nice looking ride and flies below the radar. Love the wheel discs!
A point well made Dave.I wish Studebaker had survived but they certainly did make their mark with models contemporary with the times.The Hawks and Avantis were an ultimate automobile as well as the Daytona model in their respective ways. For that matter the Larks were sensational cars.Enough can not be said here of the legacy of Studebaker. This article is a timely tribute for Memorial Day as well as sighting the Daytona model for its uniqueness.We must not forget the war effort Studebaker made during W.W.2. .
It has rear suspension!