1963 Studebaker Avanti & Lark & Ford Falcon Disc Brakes

In 1963 Studebaker Corporation was the first car company to offer Disc Brakes on it's production cars to the public. They were available on the Avanti, Hawk and Lark. In this commercial, there is a comparison of a Studebaker Lark with Disc brakes vs a Ford Falcon with traditional brakes. The test was run dry and also wet. Of course, the Studebaker out performed the Falcon.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• 1963
• Studebaker
• Avanti
• Lark
• Commercial
• Ford
• Falcon
• Advert
• pub
• publicite
• werbung

[BeatleBangs1964]

Ford Falcons rule. The Better Idea was a damn good car. It's as simple as that.

[OsbornTramain]

Larks were to market first and had many better features than the Falcon. Flat floors, bolt on fenders, More Headroom etc etc etc

[ARCANOE]

Studebaker were years ahead of its time, beautiful cars with awesome ingeneering, someday I could drive and buy one of those beauties. Thanks for this great video.

[OsbornTramain]

Studebaker was never considered a great engineering company. They were first to the market with Disc brakes and they had the hill holder feature too. But that's it. The Avanti did offer some safety features. The 1966 Studebaker basically road on an extremely dated 1954 Chassis. Their V8 reversed engineered Caddy V8. GM, Chrysler and Ford and AMC were ahead of Studebaker in major developments like Air Cond, Suspensions, Transmissions and Engines. Let's not further myths.

[leadman1979]

Yes,but"Listen to Bove describe the Studebaker driving experience: "With its disc brakes, it stops equivalent to today's cars. It handles better than any American sedan of that era, and its acceleration performance is exhilarating. Its launching characteristic is not like the Hemi Road Runner, but is still very good. I actually like the launch sensation better"

[OsbornTramain]

Absolutely agree, I own an Avanti and also a Avanti Powered Pursuit Marshall.......my two favorite cars that I own. But, they were not advanced for their times. I've owned Studebakers for 25 years and have heard countless people at car shows say..."they were so advanced"....they simply weren't, it's a myth. Not compared to GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC

[Taranau]

They were pushing new roads,here in America,at the time.If you wanted a tougher car,there were several 4X4's;like the Jeep Wagoneer,etc.Cars were getting cushier suspension for the smoother roads we were getting.Now,all those roads are getting worse than dirt roads and tougher cars would be a good thing.

[Taranau]

Yup...Standard on the Lincoln and optional on the others.But,like I said elsewhere,Americans have a tendency to buy what's trendy,and I really don't think four wheel disc brakes were trendy at the time...Or even now,really.Although,those who are performance minded like them a lot...I'm afraid most people would rather spend the money on GPS and I-Pod readiness.

[joh2]

Actually, the US Granada (and related Mercury Monarch) itself had the option of 4-wheel discs, however I doubt there would many about, or if it was a popular option...

[Taranau]

The Lincoln Versailles(Granada in disguise)had them in the late Seventies.Versailles was not a big seller and that may have played in.But,the rear ends bolt right into most big Mustangs,and finding a Versailles with it's rear disc brakes still on it is now a rarity.

[joh2]

Good point - the Jaguar Mark II also had 4-wheel discs (some had small red triangle badges on the rear tell other motorists not to follow too closely!)...

I always recall Holden in Australia boasting about having disc brakes on their cars in the 1960s, even badges on the foot pedals - problem was it was front only. It was only in 1977 when one could buy a 4-wheel disc Holden...

...come to think of it, many of the mainstream US cars never received 4-wheel disc setups until the late 1980s...

[1bluesbrother]

I need some lark brakes on my ford focus.

[leadman1979]

Type south bend stealth into google search and read the article from Hemmings Motor News.The running gear was a bit dated but in some cases more competent than the offerings from the big 3.