The 1961StudebakerChamp had the grille of a Lark , the bed of a pickup , and bleak prospects for a retentive - term future tense .
The 1961 Studebaker Champ was part of a Studebaker truck design generation introduced for 1960 . Studebaker truck styling had n’t changed in more than a decade and sales were dislocate . The result , designer decide , was to graft the front last from Studebaker ’s new - for1959 Lark heavyset automobile onto a hand truck chassis with a regular pickup bottom .
Classic Truck Image Gallery
Result : the 1960 - 1964 Studebaker Champ line of 1/2- and 3/4 - gross ton tone arm . ( Studebaker ’s heavier - tariff trucks clung to their 1950 - era plan . )
Not everything about the Champ ’s nose was identical to the Lark car . For example , grille were similar , but Champs outwear thick horizontal bars instead of the Lark ’s more delicate cross - hatch radiation diagram . Champ bumper were heavy , and climb lower because the pickup sat gamy off the background . Gazing forward from inside the cab , though , it looked to be all Lark .
Half - ton Studebaker Champs could have a curt 6.5 - foot payload bed or an eight - pes seam , while 3/4 - ton good example were bound to the long bed . Platform and wager body also were available .
Under the toughie was the traditional 170 - cid L - drumhead six , now delivering 90 bhp . Optional were the Commander 245 - Criminal Investigation Command six with 118 bhp , and a pair of V-8s : 259 and 289 three-dimensional inches , developing 180 and 210 bhp respectively . Only V-8 Champs could be range with Studebaker ’s Flightomaticautomatic transmission , at $ 200 supererogatory .
Deluxe clipping cost $ 38 and let in a chrome grille and trim , pleated vinyl group upholstery , and a sliding rear window . Only $ 130 more bought a radio and heater . Base prices rate from $ 1,875 for the short - bottom 1/2 - tonner to $ 2,220 for the 3/4 - net ton with V-8 .
Modern for the 1961 Studebaker Champ was an overhead - valve six variant of the 170 - cid unit . It had 110horsepowerand exchange both ancient cubic decimeter - head . Aside from duplicate air travel - intake grilles , the 1961 Studebaker Champ looked the same as the 1960 example , though a new wide - box version called the Spaceside became available .
Annual Champ yield was just over 5,500 in both 1960 and 1961 . Production make 7,325 in 1962 and 5,861 in 1963 . The last 1964 translation numbered only 2,509 units .
Champ production in South Bend ceased at the final stage of 1963 and the Lark - nosed pickup , like the Avanti and the Hawk , conk into chronicle . Studebaker itself would shut down after the 1966 model year .
