bet on whom you talk to , the 1956 - 1961 Studebaker Hawk was either a clumsy , littered continuation of the breathless " Loewy coupe , " or a signally canny repackaging job that introduce the sporty personal railcar to Americans years before Lee Iacocca ever thought about a Mustang . Even Studebaker partisans are divided on these motorcar , which bridged the trend and time gaps between the memorable 1953 - 1954 original and Brooks Stevens ' deftly re - styled 1962 Gran Turismo Hawk .
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But most agree that it was H.P. and a continental flair that make these Hawks payable car today , not add - on fins and pseudo - Mercedes grilles . These low - slung , performance - tailor machines appeared at a time when Detroit was emphasizing bulk , chrome , and " route - hugging weight " – and were thus completely out of step with modern-day value . But while John Q. Public mostly betray elsewhere , a small mathematical group of discerning motorists learned to appreciate these cars . Their fans are still out there today .
bow in October 1955 , the Hawk marked the closing of the Loewy group ’s involvement with the design that had made Studebaker the industry ’s style leader three year to begin with . Retaining the 120.5 - column inch - wheelbase chassis and canonic bodyshell of the 1953 - 1955 Starlight / Starliner , the Hawk stood in penetrating dividing line to Studebaker ’s newly reskinned 1956 saloon and wagons , which still rode a 116.5 - inch roulette wheel base but looked far bulkier and more conservative .
Bob Bourke , the company ’s main fashion designer in the Fifties , stated : " Although I feel the 1956 Hawk series was an improvement over the heavily chromed 1955s , I still prefer the complete , neat appearance of the 1953s and 1954s . " really , Studebaker ’s 1956 styling was quite unpretentious for the time , but the Hawk look like something from Europe . And unlike its predecessors , it hold no obvious styling kinship to other Studes at the front or rear . As Loewy ’s farewell to South Bend , the Hawk was strike , but it appeared only because Studebaker - Packard president James J. Nance had insisted on a full bank line of railroad car in all price mountain range . For similar reason , there were no fewer than four variations : Flight Hawk , Power Hawk , Sky Hawk , and Golden Hawk in ascending order of price , king , and plush .
On the next page , see about the first appearance of the 1956 Studebaker Hawk .
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1956 Studebaker Hawk
The 1956 Studebaker Hawk had no fewer than four variations : Flight Hawk , Power Hawk , Sky Hawk , and Golden Hawk in climb up order of price , magnate , and plush . The lower - line Flight and Power Hawks employed the Starlight coupe body shell , and the upper - level Sky and Golden Hawks used the hardtop case of the original Starliner .
As was by then becoming accustomed at Studebaker , numerous budget restrictions were levy on the Hawk program . Though no one seems to remember the exact tooling costs , Bourke return that the restyle was carried out with very little money . The most obvious change were in the cowl , grille , and trunklid . Collectible Automobileasked him about his large letdown in the 1956 pattern : " I was n’t pleased with the finalization of the decklid . I can only say that I just did n’t specially enjoy the shape of it , the way it kicked up in the back . It was overdone for what it was , and should have been cleaner in some manner . "
There were other brass - lift proposals , of course , but the one chosen was the one most obviously different from the 1955 feeling . The lower - demarcation Flight and Power Hawks employed the pillared 1953 - 1955 Starlight coupe bodyshell , though some 500 pillarless Flight Hawks were also build , primarily for exportation cut-rate sale . The upper - horizontal surface Sky and Golden Hawks shared the tower - less hardtop shell of the original Starliner .
Budget - minded buyers were draw in to the $ 1,986 Flight Hawk . Offered only with Studebaker ’s 101 - HP 185.6 - cubic - inch 50 - head six , it was fuel - efficient but underpowered , though some critics maintain it was the estimable handler in the spate because of its relatively light front goal and lack of serious speed potential .
The Power Hawk was the least expensive V-8 version , convey the business firm ’s familiar 259.2 - cubic - column inch engine with 170 HP as used in the Commander serial . Virtually indistinguishable in appearance with the Flight Hawk , it bid attractive feel and good V-8 go in the pissed pillared trunk , and was fine value at a list price of just over $ 2,100 .
Next up the run was the Sky Hawk , clap by many as the best - looking at of the bunch and powered by the 289 - cubic - in magnification of the Stude V-8 introduced for 1956 . The Sky Hawk was n’t cluttered up with chrome , and lacked what Bourke term " those execrable fiberglass fins . " Actually , it appear a mess like the 1953 - 1954 Starliner .
According to Richard M. Langworth inStudebaker : The Postwar Years , initial planning for 1956 see continuing the circumscribed - yield President Speedster from 1955 , with the same name and appropriate styling changes , at the top of the revise two - room access card . It was also slated to have the 320 - cubic - column inch V-8 and Ultramatic transmitting from the Packard Clipper and , perhaps , a torsion - bar front suspension system .
What emerged was the Golden Hawk , a no less challenging amalgamation of collective components . It was well distinguished from the lesser birds by little fibreglass Phoebe foxily engraft on over the rear wing crease , plus lustrous wheel arch modelling , wide - roast admixture moldings above the rock ‘n’ roll musician panels , and a stainless - steel ceiling isthmus similar to that of the 1955 Speedster . Many Golden Hawks leave the showroom with the attractive Regal wire wheel disc first used on the 1953s .
But what really set the Golden Hawk aside was what had been shoe - tusk in under its low , sloping goon : Packard ’s big 352 - three-dimensional - inch V-8 with a full 275 H.P. . The company gas this as the most brawny car in the blue - Leontyne Price theatre for 1956 , and even hoard a chart comparing the Golden Hawk with 15 other high - execution good example for sheer muscle .
Go to the next page to memorize about the 1956 Studebaker Hawk models ' carrying into action .
The 1956 Studebaker Hawk Performance
The 1956 Golden Hawks with the Packard engine were capable of 120 - 130 mph velocity , but the big engine in the light Hawk body make some grievous manipulation problems . Here we take a face at the 1956 Studebaker Hawk carrying into action .
For the most part , road tests of the 1956 Golden Hawk show about as much vulgar sense as S - P had in stuffing the Brobdingnagian , heavy engine into the light-colored chassis . As former Indy - bring home the bacon race number one wood Bill Holland reported in the March 1956 issue ofSpeed Agemagazine : " You may be wondering whether or not the car is operose to drive , or even if it ’s safe . I will say definitely that this automobile is not a compromise in any way between guard and performance . Just under five feet in height , the car has a center of gravitational attraction so modest that it would be almost impossible to sour over . I put it through several controlled slides and found it recovered utterly . It is equilibrise properly so that it can still be controlled with the steering bicycle while it is sliding . " Even more amazing was this : " I shoot the Studebaker over some bumpy , windy , mountainous route on the test grounds and find that I never once had to ' fight ' it . " No honorable mention anywhere of the lumbering front close and consequent ailment - handling .
Tom McCahill had a more realistic assessment in the April 1956Mechanix illustrate : " The [ Golden Hawk ] is quite a nose - heavy railroad car ( because of its heavy engine ) , and it is almost unsufferable to make a degraded - getaway beginning on any aerofoil without encounter wheel spinning . I feel that if I ’d shoved 200 - 300 lbf. of backbone in the trunk to equalize the weight distribution , my time would have been considerably better . "
Motor Trendaccurately discover the handling as " strained when the machine was throw into a hard U - twist at relatively gloomy ( 20 - 45 miles per hour ) speed . It was here that the toilsome Packard V-8 made itself patent , for the front remainder became torpid as the stressed roulette wheel rolled under . "
Our other two 1956s were much more mundane , and were equipped with the troublesome Twin - Ultramatic . Though we never ran either one flat out , those who seek it with standardised railroad car verbalize of stop number in the 120 - 130 miles per hour range . Because of poor mental testing condition at Daytona Beach , tester McCahill was n’t able to see much over 120 miles per hour with his car . Later he mull over that if conditions had been better , " it is my sincere feeling that it would have just tipped 130 and last out there as unbendable as the grinning on the Mona Lisa . "
On the next pageboy , scan about modification made to the Studebaker Hawk batting order for 1957 .
The 1957 Studebaker Hawk
Although the Studebaker Hawk did n’t quite attain 20,000 gross sales for 1956 , it was one of the more successful product from a company that was sliding ever close to quenching . Falling sales , inept direction , and a growing cash crisis are the reason the Hawk seam was trimmed to just two models for 1957 : a revised Golden Hawk and a Modern pillared Silver Hawk , replacing the three lower 1956 offerings .
New chief hairdresser Duncan McRae contribute larger concave Phoebe made of metal , eliminated the old sculptured contour blood on the torso - side , and modified taillamp assemblies . The Silver Hawk lark a simulated air easy lay on the cowling and full - length chrome side moldings . change specific to the Golden Hawk included a fiberglass hood overlay that conceal a hole pre - gelded to provide clearance for the novel supercharger .
replace a blow variation of the 289 for the hard Packard V-8 made a world of difference in the 1957 Golden Hawk , in the main because it took 100 ponderous pounds off the front remnant . At the same metre , engineers interchange the Packard reflexive for the more reliable Borg - Warner unit that Studebaker marketed as Flightomatic .
Though the 1957 Golden Hawk had the same amount of raw horsepower as the 1956 , it was down on modest - final stage clout because of fewer three-dimensional inches and low concretion . The supercharger was a varying - ratio centrifugal unit by McCulloch , driven from the crankshaft .
In normal driving the electric fan just loafed along , producing only 1 - 2 pounds per square inch pressure in the intake manifold . Pressing the " go " pedal triggered a solenoid that widened the supercharger pulley , causing a leaping - loaded loafer arm and pulley block to pull the belt to the basis of the widened supercharger pulley V. This greatly speeded up the impeller – to about 30,000 rev – thus produce up to about 5 psi manifold pressure , though you could start to feel it make from as piddling as 2,300 locomotive rev . The compressed mixture was forced through a Stromberg two - bbl carburetor totally enclosed in a balanced - insistency chamber .
All Hawks assume finned brake drum for 1957 , and Twin Traction confine - miscue derivative , first released on the 1956 Packard , was optional with any V-8 . The Silver Hawk was powered by the old reliable L - head six as standard , with normally suck out 210- and 225 - horsepower versions of the 289 available at extra price .
As you might expect , the 1957 Golden Hawk had much improved handling compare to the 1956 , though even the lighter Studebaker engine was heavier than it should have been for its size . Test reports were far more favorable , and it seemed motor noters were finally come clean with their true opinions of the 1956 .
A late comer for 1957 was " the extremist - impertinent " Golden Hawk 400 , appearing in time for the spring merchandising time of year . Studebaker ’s finest car that year , it is unquestionably the rarest model of this generation . Priced nearly $ 500 above the standard Golden Hawk , the 400 boast deal - buffed top - grain leather upholstery in white or tan . If the car was two - inflect – and most were – the air breathing in interface flanking the lattice were painted to match the contrasting color on the fins ' concave surface . Although exact production has yet to be established even now , it is thought only 200 - 300 of these cars were dispatch .
Continue to the next page to read about 1958 - 1960 Studebaker Hawks .
The 1958, 1960 Studebaker Hawk
As the 1958 Studebaker Hawk was roll around , S - P ’s fiscal post was precarious , so both Hawk model were expect over with only small revision . Air conditioning was available for the first metre , and one - inch smaller ( 14 - inch - diam ) bike lower drive top slightly .
A surprising new mutant on the Hawk stem debut to replace the late 400 : a Packard Hawk , with unusual front - death styling that some name as " the old duckbill . " Again the work of stylist McRae , it was inspired by Roy T. Hurley , president of Curtiss - Wright Corporation , which was then a management consultant to S - P. Hurley was said to have been partial of a Maserati 3500GT personify by Allemano , and ordered up a Hawk with a like olfactory organ for his personal use . S - phosphorus managers saw this car and , surprisingly , decided to put it into production with the Packard name bind .
war hawk sales slumped badly in 1960 as Studebaker dealers concentrated on the popular Lark compact . There were few appearance changes but many mechanical improvements in the Hawk ’s final years .
The focal point of the one - yr - only Packard Hawk was its low , fiberglass hood and wide " catfish - rima oris " grille . It also had distinction at the seat , where a trunklid borrow from the 1953 - 1955 coupe was adorned with a faux excess tyre cover a la Virgil Exner ’s then - current Imperial . McRae told author Langworth in a 1974 interview that this mannikin ’s curious exterior " armrests " were applied to " give the effect of internal overflow reminiscent of crash padding around the border of early aircraft cockpit . " The interior was well-nigh identical to that of the 1957 Golden Hawk 400 , but was offered only in tan . Ironically , this railroad car was really less a Packard than the 1956 Golden Hawk had been , because it was power by the pressurize Studebaker V-8 – with Packard valve cover decals .
All Packards , including the Hawk , disappear for 1959 , along with the former full - sizing Studebakers . The society now pinned its Leslie Townes Hope for natural selection on the pert , compact Lark , built on a slimly shortened version of the 1953 sedan chair / wagon platform .
The Studebaker Hawk nearly died , too , mainly because of sorry 1958 sales ( only about 8,230 building block ) . What kept it alive was pressure from dealers , who wanted a companion manikin to sell alongside the Lark . The company bind , but it had to rationalise its red somewhere , so there was now only a unmarried pillared Silver Hawk , available with a destroked 90 - HP 169.6 - cubic - inch six or the " belittled - stoppage " 259.2 - cubic - column inch V-8 in 180- and 195 - horsepower soma . Air conditioning , power direction and brakes , and machinelike stay on on the alternative roster , but finned brake drums were no longer available and the six / automatic jazz group left the Hawk horribly underpowered .
Minor appearance tweak let in relocated parking lamp ( from the front fenders to the side grill ) , " Silver Hawk " nameplates on the fins , and the return of 15 - inch steering wheel . Reclining front tail end were a new option . cut-rate sale continued in the basement , with 5,371 V-8s and only 2,417 six - cylinder cars build for the example year .
The 1960 variant did n’t go on sale until February of that year , and was now just called Hawk . Though styling was pretty much as before – and looking quite dated – there was good news under the cowling , where the six was drop in favor of the 210 - horsepower 289 V-8 as standard . The 225 - horsepower whole was optional . operation buffs applaud the borrowing of heavier - duty rear axle , transmission batch , and cool organization , as well as reinstatement of the finned drum brake . New options included split front seat , headrest , and tach .
On the next page , learn about the Studebaker Hawk ’s final model year .
The 1961 Studebaker Hawk
Many Studebaker Hawk fan feel Studebaker make unnecessary the best for last with the valedictory 1961 model . The grounds : first - fourth dimension accessibility of a four - hurrying floorshift gearbox , supplied by Borg - Warner .
show change were few , and a company press handout trace the 1961 Hawk as " retaining its classical ' gran turismo ' sports railroad car styling . “Motor Lifemagazine thoroughly enjoyed its four - speed psychometric test railway car : " At or near sea story , we could stuff out in high paraphernalia from very low rpm or snap into third for more rapid passing speeds . "
Top stop number was 120 mph " concord to the elevator car ’s instruments , " think the actual speed was probably closer to 115 miles per hour . Signalling the remainder of this line , Studebaker announce only 6,110 of the 1961s would be built , each carrying a peculiar numbered dash plaque grave with the buyer ’s name . As it flex out , need was more limited than even that humble figure , and a mere 3,929 examples were built .
Of course , Studebaker was n’t finished with the Hawk , though it was finish with the finny 1956 styling . But even if it was n’t a achiever on the sales event chart , this Hawk generation was doubtless influential . In fact , there ’s every reason to believe that Chevrolet took a salutary long looking at at it when creating the Corvair Monza , which sic the step for the buckets - and - cabinet sporty car rage that was sweeping Detroit by 1962 .
As we know , Studebaker fall in melodic phrase with the more sophisticated Gran Turismo Hawk , which has tended to shadow the earlier models for both historical involvement and enthusiast esteem . But it ’s only a affair of clock time before the 1956 - 1961 Hawk achieves far-flung recognition as a collectible automobile . If it endure in comparison to other late - Fifties collectibles – and it does in several way – it is because it was a Studebaker , the product of a caller then on the ropes due to its inauspicious habit of being either a piddling too early or a little too lately . In the end , South Bend ’s winged warriors were a little of both . They deserved better .
