CC Cohort john875 just posted this ’63 Lark, which he caught on a street somewhere in Australia. It’s a bit odd to see one with RHD, but that pales in comparison with the wheels, which can be identified as coming from an (Australian) Ford Fairmont. Even though I’m generally pretty open-minded about such things, I’m sorry but this is just all wrong. Somebody, give him a ticket for doing that. What say you?
Mixing wheels from different eras rarely works well.
Agreed — slab-sided aluminum wheels just don’t work on older vehicles period.
The wheels are the only nice thing about this car.
The car is the only nice thing about those wheels.
That wasn’t very nice Mr. Martin! *snicker*
I’m not real fond of either but I lean more towards bjcpdx..
Ford’s wheels fit onto Stude hubs? Is it normal for wheels of different makes and periods to be interchangeable, or is this a coincidence?
How do you know they’re Stude hubs?
Good point.
I used to know many of the interchanges for wheels back in the 60’s and 70’s when I was still fooling around with cars a lot. Buick wheels would fit a Studebaker truck, but Stude cars iirc had the same bolt circle as Fords. 48 and older Fords had a bigger bolt circle – Lincoln or Mercury wheels would fit them.
1966 Chrysler 14-inch wheels had more offset than the 1965 wheels, so the fancy heavy diecast 1966 300 wheel covers wouldn’t fit my 300L. (It was probably a good thing.)
1957 Chrysler wheels – and tires – would fit my 58 Plymouth convertible if I didn’t mind a little rubbing at full lock, but the reverse swap didn’t work – don’t remember now exactly why – I think they just didn’t seat correctly against the hubs.
There are a couple of issues related to wheel interchange (as other comments have touched on). To bolt up to the wheel hub, a wheel needs the same bolt count and bolt circle diameter as the hub (some common patterns are 4 X 100mm or 5 X 4 ½”). These tend to be fairly standard and interchange from car to car (particularly for manufacturers on the same continent).
The wheel diameter must be great enough to fit over the brake components, but small enough to fit under the fender.
Wheel offset, which defines how far the hub mating surface is offset from the wheel centerline (and may be positive or negative), should match the factory wheel. Offset tends to be positive on front wheel drive cars, and since the late seventies has moved in the positive direction for rear wheel drive models. Wheels with too much positive offset may rub on suspension components, and the incorrect offset MAY overload and damage wheel bearings.
Finally, the wheel width (and tire) must be narrow enough to fit under the fender.
Here’s a website that lists wheel bolt patterns for multiple models and manufacturers:
http://www.teufert.net/wheels/bolt-pat.htm
I learned the hard way that the chrome Buick road wheels from 1971-on will not interchange with the 1964-1970 version even though they look nearly identical.
There are lots of variations of the Pontiac Rally II wheel which also makes life interesting….there are varying bolt patterns, offsets, and of course rim diameters. It’s crazy but a full-sized 5×5 Rally II wheel from a ’72 Pontiac is different than a ’73 Pontiac — they bolt up and they’re both the same width…but the post ’72 trim ring will not fit the pre’72 wheel.
Good question. I know that Chrysler K-car wheels will fit on the smaller bolt pattern FWD GM hubs — (pretty much any “small” FWD GM cars (J-bodies, Fieros, N-bodies, JA1-equipped A-bodies, etc).
I’m almost sure I saw some mid 70’s Ford Pickups sporting the 5×5 Buick Road Wheels in the past but I may have it backwards — it may have been a mid 70’s GM truck wearing those solid aluminum wheels off a ’75-’78 Marquis…
As is my role today, I will be the outlier here and say that I kind of like the look. I won’t go quite so far as to say it completes the Mercedes look that the Stude designers were going for, but I don’t think these wheels look at all bad on this car.
> completes the Mercedes look
In the small photo, the wheels look a dead ringer for MB 190 type wheels. Good catch, Mr. Cavanaugh! I knew something was bothering me about that photo.
I agree, they aren’t that bad.
I wonder how many of today’s Aussies have even heard of Studebaker. People must think this is some sort of retro Benz.
Studebaker in 1963 held pole position a Bathurst for Australias great race and were used as police patrol cars, they were one of the few V8 cars on the market
Ironically that Studebaker was in a good position to win the race until it sheared the RH front wheel studs going around Murrays corner at the end of Conrod Straight.
The Criusers, Larks and Hawks were quite popular in Australia as were several AMC products such as the Hornet and Matador. I once owned a Rambler Ambassador Classic and a 62 Hawk GT.
Were these fully built in South Bend, or were they shipped CKD and assembled in Oz? Either way, it’s curious that Studebaker invested in marketing and product support in a relatively small and very distant market when they had been circling the drain since the mid 50’s except for the sales blip in 1959-60 when the Lark was new.
Almost certainly CKD. There was a CKD “factory” building Studebakers in Haifa, Israel for a couple of years after the Canada plant shut down, from kits they had on hand.
Neat, I didn’t know any of that, thanks! Maybe Studebaker should have moved south rather than north. 😉
…and let me add this thought: At least they aren’t dubs.
Thank God those aren’t dubs!
I don’t mind being “that guy”. I would take that car in a second. Always did like them. Don’t care what wheels it has. It was Nova, falcon, and valiant but better and IIRC the optional 283 (for some years) made it up there with the best.
I think I’ll go take a nap now.
259 and 289 for genuine Stude engines, and 283 for the last 2 years of Canadian production which used Chevy engines.
This car has the 289 (assuming that the specs for Australia are the same as for the U.S.). I thought there was something different about this car compared to the photo of a ’63 I have on CC Cohort Flickr.
Sure enough, oldcarbrochures.org tells me that this is a Cruiser which had a nicer interior and more standard equipment including the 289.
Don’t care for the wheels but I’ve always thought this was a handsome little car. Back when I was in high school in IN I had a friend who worked for Studebaker in South Bend. He bought one of the last Cruisers in burgundy with a very nice black interior. The Cruiser was a daily driver for him and his wife and he brought home a pile of spare parts to keep it on the road for years -until the tinworm took over. He also had a Golden Hawk that was driven sparingly and kept in beautiful condition.
Which “that guy”? A lot of us here like the Lark. 🙂
I say give him a pass: The Lark is in good shape (very good, apparently) and it’s road-worthy; I’m jealous. As for the wheels: I’d replace those with some timeless shiny dog-dishes.
Looks like a good ol Stude RHD is normal the wheels dont really suit but Im a black steel kinda guy. I run 406 Peugeot rims on my 59 Minx same stud pattern and offset but I can use modern size tyres
I kinda like the wheels with the Stude. There’s a slight rake to it also. Maybe he changes them out (back to original?) when the mood suits. There just aren’t that many choices for 13″ or 14″ tires anymore.
I cribbed on the wheel description slightly – they originated on the 1988 EA model Ford Fairmont Ghia which ran through to 1991, the top of the line short-wheelbase sedan, and were then fitted to the 1991 EB model Fairmont (one trim level down). They are a 15×6.5″ size from memory.
Stude’s of this era were assembled locally, and there is every chance they used some local components eg brake systems in addition to interior trim & glass. I have a magazine or two with some info on these cars, eg the local version of the Javelin had a different interior trim to the US version to position it further upmarket.
That wheel design was called the ‘Blade’ by Ford – my grandparents ’91 Fairmont Ghia had a set from new. They looked good at the time, but look a bit blocky now.
I’m wondering if the Ford alloys are sometimes chosen for non-Fords because the original factory hubcaps for the Studebaker/etc were no longer available and owners still wanted there car to look smart?
Australian Falcon/Fairmont alloys have been a very popular choice since the 80s on different makes. I haven’t seen them on a Studebaker (until now!), but over the last 20yrs I’ve seen 2 or 3 Rambler Matador/Ambassador sedans wearing Ford’s 15″ ‘Snowflake’ design alloys. Snowflakes are a very nice looking wheel – especially the earlier chrome+black ones – although they look quite lost and narrow on a Rambler! Snowflakes and Blades especially are still very popular additions today to Toyota Hiace vans – the Snowflake/Blade offset is more positive than the factory Toyota steels, so they make the Hiaces look chunky and less inclined to fall over in a crosswind. It’s always amusing to see a Hiace with Snowflakes with the Ghia or Ford centre cap!
Umm…VIC plates.
I may be able to spot it live one day.
Pretty sure I’ve seen this one before and been unimpressed with the wheel choice as well!
Hi ,
this photo has been taken in the last coupla years,
coz the Knox Club had a refurb,
the Loction is at the Intersection of Stud and Boronia Roads Victoria, Australia.
I dare say it is an ex Victoria Police Car……… they were a pale Blue .
Yes, I seem to remember that they were CKD Assembled at Fishermen’s Bend,
Port Melbourne Vic.
I was an Apprentice at the Government Aircraft Factory in the 60’s, and Ray used to give me a lift from the “Y” in his “clapped out (sorry Ray ) dark Red earlier model Lark,
for a bomb ,
….it still had the power and we used to tear down the old CAC/GAF Landin’ Strip to the GAF Car
Park .
cheery Stude mumbas
Geoff Saunders
Ferntree Gully Vic .