Watch the two classic legends go head to head in a wild drag race.
For most people, the name Studebaker is not entirely synonymous with power and performance. However, this article is not for most people. This is for the special few who know their stuff. Going head to head in a battle for both the best driver and best car are a 1963 Studebaker Lark and a beautiful 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle. While it may seem like an easy win for the Chevelle, the seriousness of the situation quickly presents itself when you look under the hood of these bad boys.
Powering the Cherry Red ‘63 Lark is a 289ci V8 that came equipped from the factory with a massive supercharger which puts out about 6 pounds of boost. Needless to say, that was a lot for the time and it ended up bringing that engine to an output of 289 horsepower. Compared to the Chevelle which produces around 300 horsepower from the Turbo-jet 400ci V8 and you’ll quickly see that the engine in the Studebaker is far more efficient at making power. The lightweight and comparable power output to the Chevelle may end up affording the Studebaker the win. This is because the Chevelle is about 400lbs heavier than the Studebaker.
Round one was close, the Chevelle jumped off the line at blistering speeds while the Studebaker stayed back in the beginning. Farther down the track, the Studebaker began catching up but was off by about a tenth of a second. This left the track times for the first race at 13.21(Studebaker) and 13.12 for the Chevelle. The second race was significantly more interesting with the Studebaker running an insane 12.7-second pass. Things were looking dim for the Chevelle as well due to its own time of 13.7 seconds. Finally, for the last race, the Chevelle managed to pick up speed and run a 13.1 second quarter mile but the Studebaker was once again successful at 12.7 seconds.
