After World War II ended, Americans knew what they wanted: overhead-valve V8s and plenty of them! It took a few years, but almost every manufacturer had one by the mid-1950s. Studebaker joined the V8 club in 1951.
The Studebaker V8 was manufactured until 1963, with displacements ranging from 232 to 304 cubes. A heavy but reliable powerplant, the Studebaker V8 powered many a daily-driver Commander or Lark… but it goes without saying that we're more interested in the batshit-crazy supercharged versions. The Golden Hawk of 1957-58 got a McCulloch supercharger and churned out an impressive-for-the-time 275 horses. We all know about the Avanti, which got 289 horsepower out of its blown V8, but even cooler would be a factory-installed supercharged R2 in a '63 Lark, an option that meets with our highest approval. How about a 12-second Lark?
[Bill's Stude Page, Image source]