Survivor vehicles are always fun in their honesty, and this Champ is no exception. Part Lark, part Dodge truck (the bed in this case), the Champ never truly had a chance in the marketplace, but it was good enough and strong enough to last over 50 years in its intended duty. Today, let’s raise a glass to the underdog who won’t go down without a fight.
More: CC 1960 Studebaker Champ
Some here might know that Studebaker had the American Mercedes Franchise for a short while near the end , the Pasadena Mercedes Dealer still had their white Studebaker Champ Shop Truck well into the 1970’s , in the back lot they even had the old blue/red stylized Studebaker ” S ” painted on the wall until the day they closed up shop and moved to newer digs .
-Nate
I think the Studebaker Champ is probably my favourite American vehicle. The Dodge bed I don’t like quite so much, but I think the styling suits the pickup better than the Lark for some reason.
In looking back at the link to original Champ write up, I think Paul is actually wrong — the Lark body NEVER fit on the truck frame properly. It sits up way too high. See how those wheels are away miles from the edges of the fender openings? See how the lark-body bumper recess sits well ABOVE the bumper location needed for the truck? Is there any relationship to the truck bed rails and the Lark body trim lines? The old truck-bed sort of fit behind the body, but it was as awkwardly narrow as the Dodge bed is too wide. Oh well.
There are few good Champs I know of — where they’ve used a recent Dodge Dakota bed to replace the old Sweptline bed — and when you spend enough time modifying the bed, and the frame, the suspension and the like, the bed seems to flare seamlessly into the Lark-based cab. And if you’ve done it right, you’ve also modified the attachments to the frame and you’ve got, finally, a good looking truck! But that kind of body-work madness is not for the faint-of-heart.
And once you’ve gone that far, why not put in a Mercedes diesel driveline to increase the mileage, increase the durability of the engine and still be able to smoke out anyone who tries to sneak up on your rear. That truck lives near Brewster, NY, should you see a brown Champ running down the road with an unpleasant exhaust trail….
Alternately, they could have taken the Lark chassis, beefed up the suspension, and made an “El Larkamino”…
I wouldn’t have put it past them! They did try the Wagonaire…which made a cool Matchbox car. 🙂
+1. That one was my favourite for years.
Drove by one yesterday in Redondo Beach
I love the Champ. Among pickups, it is the backwards, ugly, stupid bumpkin who will work his ass off all day without a complaint.
My Stude-loving neighbor used one of these as his daily driver into the 70s. Red, of course, with the six and a retrofitted 3 speed floor shift. It was crude, even by early 60s standards. But I would own one today in a heartbeat if I wanted an old pickup.
Cheers to the Champ.
I saw one of these just the other day. The mismatch between the Lark cab and the sweptside bed confused me, particularly thanks to the Studebaker tailgate. Now I know why it was the way it was. Thanks CC!
So it is a combination of a Lark and a Dodge. Does that make it a “Lodge” or a “Dork”?
It’s too bad they didn’t repeat their late 30s Coupe Express ute. Cut down the 2-door ‘Conestoga’ body and fit a bed liner; slap the Lark front clip on it; put a supercharged 289 under the hood; and it would have been a lively machine without a lot of tooling expense.
El Hawko? El Dictatoro?
This brings back memories for me – I grew up in Israel during the 60s and those were everywhere, having been part-assembled by Kaiser-Ilyn of Haifa. They were trying to get as much local content as possible to kep the costs down so they had an own version bed, based on the willys pick up which was also made there. Looked just as crude as the Dodge bed… The ad below highlights the lower cost of the Champ when compared with the GM or Mopar offerings, not an unimportant consideration for buyers back then.