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| The Studebaker Skytop Registry Skytop Pictures - Surviving Cars Page 2 - 1963 Cars |
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Quick Link to "Page 1 - 1961 and 1962 Cars"
| The three Skytop Pictures pages are a 'first shot' at presenting the huge number of Skytop
images that have been collected in the past 10+ years. If the image was
provided by a specific person or Internet source, that is noted with
the picture. On most images, the smaller image can be clicked to open a
new window with a larger sized image. Of course, any Skytop contributions are always welcome!! Cars you own, cars you owned years ago, ads, factory photos, etc. If you have an image to contribute, please email us at webmaster@studebakerskytop.com |
Viewing hints: the pictures that have a bright blue border around them can be double-clicked to bring them up in a large format. After viewing the picture, to get back to this page, use your browser's 'back' arrow. (There is a way to make these open in a 'new' window, but we haven't figured that out yet! :-)
| George Hamlin's 1963 Lark Custom 4-door (63S 25066)............... Details - Model: Custom 4-door sedan Engine: 170 OHV 6-cylinder Transmission: 3-speed Manual with Overdrive Other Options: Radio, reclining seats, Climatizer Location: Fulton MD Additional Information - George included the following when he emailed these great Christmas-time pictures:
"This
car was ordered with blue (blue!) exterior and red interior. It looked
dreadful, though that was an authorized combination. The change to
red is more in keeping with the car's character; it's 1961-2 Blaze, not
1963 Regal, just because I like it better. I also added, some 10
years back, the stainless B-pillar molding that is supposed to be on
the car but which someone on the line forgot to install. I
always liked the car but didn't realize it was such a Big Deal until
one of the International Meets - Indianapolis, I believe - these people
came up to it and started mooing 'Oh lookit, it's a 4-DOOR SKYTOP!'
They had never seen one. After that I had it painted; I figured,
such a special car deserves better paint.' Webmaster's Comments - George Hamlin is an award-winning automotive author and historian whose subjects include Studebaker, Packard, and Professional vehicles. George also has a stable of very interesting vehicles, including this great Skytop, a restored Zip Van, and a 1951 Boyertown Studebaker 2R6 Delivery Van (link to a TW article on the 2R6: http://www.studebaker-info.org/TW/tw0403/tw0403p07.html). George is playing the role of Santa in these pictures. The third picture shows how the reclining seats fold down; George says "I keep it rigged this way all the time. I guess my reasoning is here's a stunt the Avanti, Hawk, convertible, and hardtop folks can't do". |
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Pictures courtesy George Hamlin   |
| Gordon Hamilton's 1963 Lark hardtop (63V 5224)............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop Engine: 289 R1 V8 (engine number JT1228) Transmission: Flightomatic w/column shift Other Options: R1 engine, power steering, power drum brakes, factory air, tinted glass all windows, AM radio, full wheel discs, bumper guards and winguards, Twin Traction, reclining seats, Climatizer, was built with Firestone 500 whitewall tires per the production order. Location: Victoria AUS Additional Information - Bill
and Shelia Pressler owned this Skytop from 1988 to 2011, and had Westmoreland Studebaker
restore the car. Bill noted this about the
restoration work: "It was restored to be driven, by Craig Piper of
Westmoreland Studebaker in Blairsville, PA, from 6/93-6/95. I
wanted it to be authentic but didn't want to be afraid to drive
it. When I bought the car from Rick Greene of Galena, OH, it was
rusty most notably in the inside rear quarters. You could look in
front of the LR wheel and see the red vinyl interior of the
car! It also had a lot of "mud" in the trunk area Craig cut
out these old inner quarters and welded NOS from Newman and Altman in."
Notably, this car was the first Avanti-powered Skytop built. Much more
about Bill's car - including pictures, Production Order, Drive-Away
Shipper Form, original owner, etc - can be found on the Avanti-Powered Skytops page. In addition, information about this car's early years can be found on the Skytop Stories page. | |
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Pictures courtesy of Dave Arnold and Robert Andrews     
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| Paul & Cheryl Mikkelsen's 1963 Lark hardtop (63V 10567)............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop Engine: 289 R1 V8 Transmission: 4-speed Other Options: TT, PDB, Bucket Seats, A/C Location: Nebraska USA Additional Information - Paul has owned this car since the mid-1960s. More information about Paul & Cheryl's car can be found on the Avanti-Powered Skytops page. |
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Pictures courtesy of Paul Mikkelsen   |
| Hershel Johnson's 1963 Lark hardtop (63V 8817)............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop Engine: 289 R2 V8 Transmission: Heavy-Duty Flightomatic Other Options: PDB, tinted glass all windows Location: California USA Additional Information - Per
the Jet Thrust Roster, Hershel was the Owner of this car as of
approximately 13 years ago. The first picture shown below was taken many years
ago (1970's?) at one of the National Studebaker Meets. The second picture, provided by Richard Quinn, was published on a calendar. More information about this car can be found on the Avanti-Powered Skytops page. |
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| Joe & Judy Harris' 1963 Lark 4-door (63V 26870)............... Details - Model: Regal 4-door sedan (body tag 63V-Y4 4000) Engine: V8 Transmission: 3-speed manual Other Options: Disc brakes, split reclining seats, head rest Location: Parted Out/Scrapped Additional Information - Car
discussed on SDC Forum, and was for sale. Received an email from Joe
Harris on 5-27-08 looking for top material; Joe purchased the car
in June of 2008. Joe reported in a 12-21-2018 email that the car had
been parted out, but the roof section was saved. The roof section is
available for sale; if someone has interest, email the Registry
Webmaster at webmaster@studebakerskytop.com for Joe's email address. |
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Pictures courtesy of the SDC Forum website  |
| Gary Williams' 1963 Lark hardtop............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop Engine: 289 R2 V8 Transmission: 4-speed Other Options: ? Location: Ohio USA Additional Information - This car was restored in the 1980s by John Metzker (of the Turning Wheels Co-Operator
automatic transmission advice fame).
Three of the pictures below were taken by your Webmaster at the
Springfield MO SDC International Meet in the mid-80's, and show John
Metzker in the car. John has provided us with a great Skytop Story about the
buildup of this car HERE. |
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Pictures courtesy of Michael Bostedt and Paul Warta      |
| Ben Rew's 1963 Lark hardtop (63V 3I774)............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop (body tag 63VJ8-3238, plus SUN ROOF streamer tag) Engine: modified V8 Transmission: Powershift Other Options: PDB, PS Location: Florida USA Additional Information - Ben's
Skytop is a really nice modified car with a lot of surprises. Shiny
underhood area, neat custom interior, some cleanup on the back end of
the car, and a stout259 that has been bored and stroked to 301 cubic inches.
Ben says the car was saved from a repair shop in California by Mike
Myers of Ohio, and "Mike sold the car to me because he didn't
want to sell me the 62 convertible I was painting for him". Be sure to check out the YouTube video link at the bottom of the pictures! Ben also has a second Skytop now, and we will be posting pictures and info about that one soon! |
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Pictures courtesy of Paul Warta     Cool Extra: click HERE to watch a YouTube video of Ben Rew's Skytop!! |
| Skytop Mystery - 1963 Custom 4-door sedan...........FOUND!! Details - Model: Custom 4-door sedan Location: Southern Virginia in the 1970's Webmaster's Previous Comments - We
just had to include these pictures here, even though this car is not
currently accounted for. WHY? Because we have some really neat pictures
of the car in the 1970s
(check out the rare-today Aero-Strut hubcaps) taken in
southern Virginia by Leonard Shepard. This car has to be one of the
prettiest Skytops built, and would be a great car to own today.
Someone obviously cared a lot about this car in the '70s, so hopefully
it still exists, just waiting for some Skytop fan to uncover it. This car has been found! Well, not exactly found, because George Hamlin has known where it was for years. In a December 2018 email, George informed us that this car is his '63 Custom 4-door serial number 63S 25066. George wote: "You do know that the blue job with Virginia plates.........is now my red one, yes? Ex-Bob Robb of Virginia, now it's red and living in Maryland." See more about George's Skytop at the top of this page. |
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Pictures courtesy of Leonard Shepard  |
| Paul & Michele Warta's 1963 Lark hardtop (63V 31447)............... Details - Model: Daytona 2-door hardtop (body tag 63V J8 2112) Engine: 289 R1 V8 Transmission: Powershift Other Options: TT, PDB, A/C, rear swaybar/traction bars Location: North Carolina USA Additional Information - Paul
& Michele have owned this car since 2003, but have know about the
car since the early 1980s. In the early '80s, it was owned by Hal Lewis
of Greensboro NC. Paul considered purchasing this car in the early '80s
when looking for his first Studebaker, but purchased a '64 GT Hawk
R1/full package car instead. Paul says: "Once I found out more about
Avanti-powered Studebakers and the Skytop option, I kicked myself for
not purchasing the car when I had the chance." Hal Lewis sold the
car to Denny Conrad in Virginia, and Paul tried his best to keep up
with the car. Finally in the late 1990s Denny decided to sell the car,
and Paul was finally able to add it to his collection. The car is a
decent 20-footer, and parts are being collected for a full correct
restoration; until then, it shares daily-driver duties with a '54
Champion 4-door sedan. More information about Paul & Michele's car can be found on the Avanti-Powered Skytops page. |
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Pictures and Production Order courtesy of Paul Warta; Retail Sales Card courtesy Bill Pressler    |
To go to "Page 1 - 1961 and 1962 Cars".........Click HERE
Questions or comments? Please contact us at webmaster@studebakerskytop.com