Lark, family reunited

GARDEN PLAIN -- As a young husband working in the parts department at the Zoglmann Motor Co. in Wichita back in September of 1959, it was a memorable day when Kenneth Scheer sold his grandfather, William Hommerzheim, a brand new Studebaker.

"He came to me because he knew I worked there. Fifty-nine was the first year the Lark came out. All he wanted was something cheap and reliable.

"I worked the parts counter, but if I sold a car, I got the commission. It was $35 on this car and that was a lot of money for a guy making $45 a week back then," Scheer recalled.

His grandfather took exceptional care of the little 6-cylinder turquoise Lark, logging most of his miles driving to a buddy's favorite fishing hole, Scheer said.

His grandfather died in the early 1970s and the Lark went up for auction, being bought by a man in Wichita. It came back into the family when Scheer's brother, Gene, purchased it several years later. Eventually, it went to another brother, Dick Scheer, and when his estate was auctioned off about a year ago, the only thing held out of the sale was the 1959 Lark.

That was because the car was to be privately sold to the man who had sold it new. He trailered the Lark home from Omaha and spruced it up a bit before taking it on the road for joyrides with his wife, Bonnie.

Powered by a 90-horsepower flathead 6 mated to a 2-speed automatic transmission, the Lark doesn't exactly peel the pavement up. "You've got to get your toes in the fan to get 60 miles an hour out of it," Scheer grinned.

"But it'll run right down the highway at 55-60 once you get it up there," he added. The Lark has had the interior restored and a fresh paint job applied, but otherwise is in basically original condition, with only 37,185 miles showing on the odometer.

One of the thrills involved in bringing the car home was discovering the original sales invoice in the glove box, listing Scheer as the salesman and his grandfather as the customer. Scheer proudly displays that document on the driver's rear window for the benefit of folks who can't figure out just what the car is.

With a base price of $1,925, the final sticker went up to $2,516.88 after all the options, freight and sales tax were tallied.

"We drove it to a family reunion at Conway, and for our 51st wedding anniversary, we drove it over to Yoder to eat, but the restaurant was closed on Sundays. So we stopped at the Haven convenience store and had a donut and a cup off coffee. We laughed about that because that was about all we could afford back when we got married," Scheer said.

The Scheers now drive the family Lark to Goddard at least once a month for breakfast. "They deteriorate if you don't drive them," he noted.

A half-century after he sold the car, he says he's not going to let it get away again. "Somebody in our family is going to get this when I'm done with it," he said.