Gary Stoner, 47, of Lima, recently purchased this 1962 Studebaker Lark Classic. It came with the original 289 cubic inch, 210 horsepower V-8 engine.
Jim Krumel | For The Lima News
LIMA – Some days you would rather forget, but the memories just won’t go away.
Gary Stoner, of Lima, had one of those moments when he was 16 years old. He was happy as could be driving his 1963 Studebaker when he hit a bump.
“It sheered off the oil plug and I lost all the oil, destroying the motor,” Stoner said.
Without the funds to fix car, he had little choice but to sell it.
“James Duddy was the Studebaker king back then. He snatched it up right away,” Stoner said. “It ended up being one of those cars you wished you never had to sell.”
Now 47 years old and living in a world of Facebook Market Place, Stoner remedied that mistake. He came across a 1962 Studebaker for sale online two months ago. The keys to that car are now safely in his pocket.
He calls that newly purchased Studebaker his “retirement gift to himself.”
“I’ll never make the mistake again of selling the Studebaker,” he vowed. “I’m keeping this as my retirement car.”
He’s done a little work already to restore it, replacing the convertible top. At some point he would also like to get a new paint job, he said.
Stoner’s car is among the last of the Studebakers to roll off the assembly line at its original plant in South Bend, Indiana. The factory ceased automobile production there on Dec. 20, 1963. The next three years it would build cars in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
In all, Studebaker had a 64-year run in the automotive business, selling its first vehicle – an electric car of all things – in 1902. Ten years later Studebaker began producing gasoline models.
Regardless of where the car was built, Studebaker established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability. However, it could never recover from the cash-flow problems it experienced during the Great Depression. The beginning of the end for Studebaker came when it was forced into bankruptcy in March 1933. An unsuccessful merger with the Packard Company in the 1960s failed to save it.
Stoner and his daughter Lilly, 13, had his Studebaker Lark Classic at the Happy Daz Cool Car Cruise-In during May.
Asked if she would like to drive the Studebaker some day, Lilly smiled and looked at her dad.
He noted, “We’ll have to wait and see about that.”
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