1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk, click picture to enlarge.In 1956 I had just gotten out of the army after a tour of duty during the Korean War. I was working at an International Harvester Truck parts company saving a little money to go to college with. The IH dealership was owned by the Dixie Oil Company in Brunswick, Georgia. As things turned out I must have been a fairly good looking young man and everybody there at the parts supply place was trying to get me paired up with the owner's daughter but I was not taking the bait. Wouldn't you know that I was just a POOR ex-GI trying to go to college to make something out of myself but the owner's daughter was a super-rich girl so we were worlds apart in our cultural standings. It just wouldn't work. No way Hose' (pronounced ho-say). Anyway the point is that the girl owned one of these Golden Hawks. Here's the "Rest Of The Story".
These Studebaker's were styled by the industrial designer, Raymond Loewy and were considered trend-setters in their day. This vehicle has been restored in its tri-level Studebaker original colors of Mocha-Doeskin, one of the most popular colors for the Golden Hawk. The automobile was shipped new to Franklin, In. In 1972 a poll of stylists representing the Big Three Automakers voted Raymond Loewy's design of the Studebaker Starliner Coupe the predecessor of the Golden Hawk an 'industry best'. Mr. Loewy was also named one of the most influential Americans by 'Life' magazine.
This car received a full restoration that was completed in the year 2002.The Studebaker Golden Hawk was produced from 1956 through 1958. The styling was influenced by Raymond Loewy's design studio who used the shape of the Champion and Commander of the early 1950's as its beginning point. The Golden Hawk had an eggcrate grille and a pointed front end nose. In the rear were tailfins with integrated tail lights. The brake light and backup-light were stacked in the rear. The rear window was wrap-around. There were a variety of colors to select from, including the popular two-tone color schemes. Under the hood was a Packard 352 cubic-inch V8 engine rated at 275 horsepower. With its low body weight and powerful engine, the Golden Hawk could race from zero-to-sixty in around 7.8 seconds and reach top speed at 125 mph. A McCulloch supercharger was later added which raised horsepower to 275. A fiberglass overlay on the hood was added which provided extra room for the supercharger. In 1956 there were four Hawk models to select from, the Golden Hawk, Flight Hawk Coupe, Power Hawk Coup, and the Sky Hawk hardtop.
A two-door pillarless hardtop coupe type vehicle, the Studebaker Golden Hawk was produced in South Bend, Indiana from 1956 through 1958. This was the final Studebaker until the introduction of the Avanti that had its styling influenced by industrial designer Raymond Loewy's studio. The Golden Hawk featured the basic shape of the 1953-55 Champion/Commander Starliner hardtop coupe but featured a large, nearly vertical eggcrate grille and raised hoodline rather than the previous vehicles swooping, pointed nose. The rear of the vehicle featured a raised, squared-off trunklid instead of the earlier sloped lid and new vertical fiberglass tailfins were added to the rear quarters.
To give room for a larger engine, the raised hood and grille were added to allow for Packard's large 352 in³ (5.8 L) V8 which delivered 275 bhp (205 kW). Because the Golden Hawk was so light, this big, heavy engine gave the vehicle an amazing power-to-weight ratio for the time period. The Golden Hawk was second only to the Chrysler 300 B in 1956 American car production, and the pricy Chrysler was a road-legal NASCAR racing car. Much like the Chryslers, the Golden Hawk could be considered a precursor to the muscle cars of the 1960s.
The Golden Hawk with its heavy engine came with a bad reputation for poor handling and being nose heavy. Many of the road tests were done by racing drivers, and found that the Golden Hawk could out-perform the Chevy Corvette and the Ford Thunderbird in both 0-60 mph acceleration and quarter mile times. The fastest reported time in magazine testing was 7.8 seconds while top speeds were quoted at 125 mph.
A large variety of colors that included two-tone were available for this year. Initially two-tone schemes involved the front upper body, while the roof and a panel on the tail were painted the contrasting color while the rest of the body was the base color. For 1956 the upper body above the tail-line, including trunk were painted the contrast color with the tail panel in 1956 while the roof and body below the belt line trim were painted the base color.To keep the prices down, an increased options list and reduced standard equipment were used in comparison to the earlier year's Studebaker President Speedster which was replaced by the Golden Hawk. Turn signals were even an option, technically.
In 1956 the Golden Hawk was matched with three other Hawk models and was the only Hawk not technically considered a sub-model within one of Studebaker's regular passenger car lines. The Flight Hawk coupe was a Champion, the Sky Hawk hardtop was a President and the Power Hawk coupe was a Commander.For 1957 and 1958 the Golden Hawk continued on with minor changes. Eventually sold to Curtiss-Wright, Packard's Utica, Michigan engine plant was leased during 1956 and marked the end of genuine Packard production. For two more years, Packard-badged vehicles were produced, though they were basically dolled-up Studebakers. The Packard V8 was no longer available and was replaced by the Studebaker 289 inch (4.7 L) V-8. A McCulloch supercharger was also added to the lineup and gave the same 275 horsepower 205 kW) output as the Packard engine. The cars maximum speed was improved and now the best-performing Hawks (before the Gran Turismo Hawk) was improved and was now available with the Avanti's R2 supercharged engine for the 1963 model year. For the 1957 model year, the Golden Hawk featured some updated styling. A new fiberglass overlay was added to the vehicle and now covered a hole in the hood that was needed to clear the supercharger.
