1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk

 

A little history of this !956 Studebaker before we get to the details. It was purchased new by Ms Nally in Youngstown Ohio in June of 1956 for the purchase price totaling $4,163. The car was In her name untill her death  in 1966. It was then transfered to her nephew Mr Lerner. During this time the car set outside and not driven very much at all. Mr Lerner sold the car to Mr Borger in 1984 and the car moved to New Castle Pa. At this time Mr Don Borger restored the Studebaker back to it current and original condition.  From that point up untill 2012 it spent its day and nights being shown in Museams and a few car shows, wher it won multiple trophies.

The Studebaker Golden Hawk is a two door pillarles hardtop coupe type car produced by Studebaker Corporation of South Bend Indiana between 1956 and 1958. These were the last Studebakers untill the Avanti to have the styling influenced by industrial designer Raymond Loewy’s Studeo. The Golden Hawk took the basic shape of the 1953-55 Champion/Commander Starliner hardtop coupe, but added a large , almost vertical eggcrate grill and raised hood line in place of the earlier swooping pointed nose. At the rear, a raised and squared off trunklid replaced the earlier sloped lid, and vertical fiberglass tailfins were added to the rear quarters. The Golden Hawk was two inches shorter than the standard Hawk at 53.6 inches.

The raisde hood and grill were added to allow space for a larger engine, Packards big 352in V8, which delivered 275 hp. This big powerful engine in such a light car gave the Golden Hawk a phenomenal power-to-weight ratio and performance at the time of production. Of the 1956 American production cars the Golden Hawk was was second to only to Chrysler’s 300 B by that measure and the expensive Chrysler was a road legal Nascar race car. The Golden Hawk can be considered a precursor to the muscle cars of the 1960s The big engine gave the car an unfounded reputation for being nose heavy and poor handling, although the road test at the time , many of which were conducted by race ing drivers, seldom ever mentioned any handling issues. Speed Age Magizine July 1956 tested the Golden Hawk against the Chrysler 300B, Ford Thunderbird, and Chevrolet Covette finding that the Golden Hawk could out-preform the others comfortably in both 0-60 and the quarter mile times. The fastest 0-60 reported in magazine testing was 7.8 seconds, while top speeds were quoted at 125 mph plus. A wide variety of colors, includeing two tones, were available. Two tone schemes initially involved the front upper body, the roof and a panel on the tail being painted the contrastcolor, with the rest of the body as the base color. Later 1956 production had the upper body above the belt line, including the trunk, as the contrest color with the tail panel, roof and the body below the belt line trim being the base color. The interior included an engine turned dash. An increased options lists and reduced standard equipment were used to keep prices down compared to previous years Studebaker President Speedster, which the Golden Hawk replaced. Even turn signals were technically an option. The Golden Hawk was matched with three other Hawk models for 1956, and was the only Hawk not technically considered a sub-model within one of Studebakers regular passenger car lines.

 

This fine example was restored by a noted Studebaker Expert (Don Borger) roughly 25 years ago. It has been show widely and won many Best of Show Awards, and then even lived in museums including the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, befor being purchased and re-commisioned to be enjoyed. The car has only covered about 700 miles since the restoration and has 52,796 original miles on it.  The restoration has held up very well and the  only flaws noted today are a couple very small hairline cracks on the steering wheel and a very minor scratch on the drivers window. The paint looks as if was done last year and the rest of this car is in the same condition.  This car still retains its original leather interior and is in great condition.

This car runs and drives without fault and everything works in this car. Electric power Sterring was added to make it more comfortable driving.

 

This is One of only 286 units produced in this Tangurine color and it is only 1 of 4 known to remain…….

 

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