1963 Studebaker Wagonaire

Station Wagon

259 V8

Automatic

63V8388

Clear

1963 Studebaker Daytona Sliding Roof Wagonaire The Studebaker Wagonaire was produced from 1963–1966. Although a fixed roof version was available, most were sold with a retractable sliding rear roof section that allowed the vehicle to carry items that would otherwise be too tall for a conventional station wagon. It was a pretty exciting concept... Only 19,122 of these wagons were made over the four years of production; 11,195 in 1963...a scant 2,835 of those were the top of the line Daytona V8 models like this one. Finding ANY vintage station wagon in exceptional condition is like looking for a needle in a haystack...even with the more common makes and models with high production numbers a nice one is tough to find. Most wagons were used hard, poorly maintained and discarded when they were all used up. This Daytona Wagonaire is an exception. A friend of mine in Los Angeles found this dry, Southern California car several years ago and started into the restoration. He took the car completely apart and had a professional body shop strip it to bare metal, remove the dents, and dings, and paint it back to the original color...base coat/clear coat. At that point, priorities changed for my friend and he sold me the project. I was impressed with the car when it arrived at my shop. There was no sign of rust or repaired rust anywhere on the car. It was laser straight. The fact that it was still mostly apart did not bother me. I have owned and restored several Studebakers and know these cars well. The restoration took two years to complete. I finished in January of this year. Nicely Equipped The car is the original Ermine White with a blue vinyl interior. It was built with the 259 cubic inch V8, Flight-O-Matic automatic transmission, tinted windshield, power steering, power brakes, undercoating, electric rear window, white sidewalls, full wheel covers, heater and defroster, electric windshield washers, push button AM radio, and front and rear bumper end wings. The car is still as built except for the windshield washer and the bumper end wings. Newly rechromed bumper end wings will be included, but I didn’t like the look of them on the car and didn’t reinstall them. Although not shown on the production order, the car has one of the rare, original Studebaker roof racks. Most likely installed by the delivering dealer. At some time in the past, an aftermarket air conditioning system was added. I did not reinstall this system, but I will include it with the car. It is complete except for the dryer and includes the custom bracket to install the Sanden compressor. The evaporator has some chipped and cracked plastic. I have not tested the components of this system. Exterior As mentioned earlier, the body work and paint was done by a professional shop in Southern California. The car was disassembled, stripped, straightened, repainted base/clear then cut and buffed. It was painted while apart and with the glass out. The door jams and door bottoms are as nice as the exterior surfaces. The interior trim pieces have been redone professionally as have the floors and cargo area. The wheel wells in the cargo area have some shop wear scratches that I did not touch up. There are a few small chips that I have touched up on exterior surfaces but they do not show enough to photograph. All weatherstripping, door seals, window channel, windshield gasket, sliding roof seals, and window anti rattle “fuzzies” have been replaced with new except for those surrounding the rear quarter windows. Good used seals were used there since they are not being reproduced. Most all the chrome has been re-plated including bumpers, roof rack, hood ornament and other trim. The grill surround and tail light bodies were nice and reinstalled without re-plating. I was able to find a set of near NOS wheel covers for the car. I have not detailed the undercarriage. It still wears its factory undercoating. There is no rust visible on the frame or body pan. Interior The seats were stripped to their frame and the metal parts were sand blasted and repainted before being reupholstered. Although I retained the original pattern and colors, the vinyl used on the seats is far superior to the original and the seats are more heavily padded than original. The door panels are excellent used ones. The cut and sewn, fitted carpet is new The heavily padded dashes of these 63 Larks are prone to disintegrate over time...especially those that lived in the southwest and were exposed to a lot of sun. Replacement dashes are essentially nonexistent. This dash has been professionally recovered then dyed to match. There are stitched seams that were not present on the originals and the padded glove box door does not fit as well as I would like it to. Although I don’t feel it detracts from the overall appearance of the interior, it is a compromise based on the fact that a perfect, original dash was out of the question. The headliners in these cars are unique. They are made up of 7 panels and were originally constructed of embossed cardboard. These are not being reproduced. I had this headliner custom made from scratch out of heavy, coated package board cardboard covered with a white, marine, perforated, vinyl headliner material. Since these headliners are not available, I documented the fabrication of this one. For those of you doing your own sliding roof Wagonaire, the link above supplies the information and pricing for ordering a headliner “kit” from the shop that did mine, and/or the contact information to get full size templates of the 7 panels at no charge. Drive Train The engine is the 259 cubic inch Studebaker V8 that was used from 1955 through 1964. The serial number of this engine crosses to one built in 1960. Because of this it does not have the full flow filter that was introduced in late 1962. The engine is excellent, however. I partially disassembled it prior to installation to check its condition. It was like new clean inside with cross hatching still showing on the cylinder walls. I reassembled it with new gaskets and seals and installed rebuilt 63-64 cylinder heads. It runs smooth and quiet and cool, makes plenty of power, does not smoke under any conditions. It does leak a couple of drops after sitting overnight. I’ve installed a Quadrajet 4 barrel with electric choke. It has a dual point distributor. The radiator is a heavy duty 3 row. It has been rebuilt and tested along with the heater core. All coolant and heater hoses are new. I’ve rebuilt the power steering pump, control valve, and cylinder ram. All 4 power steering hoses are new. The transmission is the original Flight-O-Matic. This is a 3 speed Borg Warner automatic used by many other manufactures at the time including Ford. It starts in second gear unless you move the lever to “L”, or floor the gas pedal. Then it will start in low. It was clean inside when I removed the pan. I adjusted the bands with the factory tools and installed a new filter, pan gasket and fluid. It performs exactly as it should. Good crisp shifts. The rear end is the stock open Dana 44 with 3.31 gears. The exhaust system is new from the heat riser to the tail pipe. It is a reproduction of the OE single exhaust system. Original type pipes, muffler, hangers and clamps. Suspension Steering and Brakes Front end parts were replaced as necessary. Suspension and steering are tight. There are overload springs in the rear. The front shock absorbers are new and the rears were good and were reused. The rear brakes are stock, self adjusting, with finned drums. They have been completely rebuilt. The fronts are a disc brake conversion by Turner using all new modern components. The master cylinder is a dual chamber and the brakes are power boosted. New flex hoses were installed and hard brake lines were replaced whenever there was a doubt as to their serviceability. The wheels are stock Studebaker sandblasted and painted. All 4 tires on the ground match and have near new tread. The spare and factory jack are in the compartment under the load floor. Electrical The AM radio has not been hooked up or tested and a speaker has not been installed. Everything else works correctly...lights, horns, gauges, electric rear window, lighter, wipers, etc. The wiring harness is an excellent original. Drive Report I’ve restored several Studebaker Larks and owned original, unrestored ones also. This one runs and drives with the best of them. It idles nicely, has plenty of pep, rides smoothly, and is rattle free. Here’s a short video of the car running and driving and a demonstration of the sliding roof... A Word About Vintage Cars in General and This One in Particular If you are considering a first vintage car purchase, I want to make sure you understand that a 50 year old car...even one well restored...is not as safe, not as economical, not as dependable, nor are they as comfortable, or perform as well (accelerating or stopping) as a much newer car. In addition, if you will need to farm out maintenance and repairs, it may be difficult to find a mechanic that knows carburetors, points type ignitions, drum brakes and other features unique to vintage cars. I thoroughly enjoy these old cars in every way. I like finding them, restoring them, and driving them. I encourage others to get into the hobby that I like so much, BUT we all need to be realistic about these cars’ limitations...and our own limitations. This car is no exception. I’m a pretty good mechanic and I have built this car to my standards. I have addressed any problems that I have discovered since the completion of the restoration. That doesn’t mean, however, that some problems may not have been detected by me or that additional problems won’t crop up sooner or later. They surely will. It’s a 50 year old car. Be prepared for them. One issue with these cars even when new, were leaks in the sliding roof seals. Soon after the first cars were produced, Studebaker came out with revised seals that were retrofitted to the early cars. These helped with the leak problem. I installed the new seals in the sliding roof. I have also adjusted the sliding roof mechanism for a tight fit against the seals. In addition, I have installed new drain hoses to remove any water that does get in the sliding roof track. I would still not guarantee the roof will be leak free. If I kept the car, I would not drive it in a heavy rain, and I would be very careful when washing it and not flood the sliding roof area. The car is located in Bellingham, WA 98225. You may pick up the car in person, or I will help load the car on the carrier of your choice. A $1,000 deposit via PayPal is due 48 hours after auction close. Payment must be made in full within 7 working days following auction close. Title and car will not be released until funds clear. Vehicle must be removed within 4 weeks of auction close unless you make other arrangements with me in advance. I have a clear Washington title to the car in my name. As with any vintage car, no warranty is expressed or implied. Please feel free to ask any questions about the car or to request greater detail about any part of the car. You can contact me through eBay or call me at 360.224.1428. I welcome a personal inspection by prospective buyers prior to auction close, or by a friend in the area, or a by a professional appraisal service. I can also supply additional pictures if you need them Under Construction Exterior Every vintage wagon NEEDS vintage travel decals. I got mine from Lost Highway Art Interior Engine Undercarriage Serial Numbers Included AC Components Period Advertisements