"You Gotta Drive the Lark to Believe It!": The Studebaker Connection

[missy's pop pop]

Much has been made of "Mr. Ed," but little is known about the connection between Studebaker(-Packard) Corporation and the "Mr. Ed" series. If I am not mistaken, "Mr. Ed" may have been the last television series ever sponsored by Studebaker.

In the book THE FAMOUS MR. ED, it is mentioned that when "Mr. Ed" went into first-run syndication for the 1960-61 season, Studebaker earmarked $50 from the sale of every 1960 Studebaker Lark, Hawk and truck to go into the advertising budget for the show. I don't know how many 1960 Studebakers were produced, but everyone who bought a new Studebaker that year indirectly financed the production of the first year of the show!

(My favorite "Mr. Ed" Studebaker commercial featured Zsa Zsa Gabor as "a typical American housewife" who told why she loved her '62 Lark. If you watch the commercial closely, you'll notice the driver's door of her Daytona 2-door hardtop never latches completely when she closes the door! I remember seeing the commercial some years ago on YouTube.)

It is interesting that when Studebaker closed its doors in 1963, Ford Motor Company took over as "car provider" to Wilbur and Carol!