Born: 1956 Died: 1961
The Studebaker-Packard company was struggling, but in the mid-1950s was producing some of the most distinctive cars in America, thanks to the influence of designer Raymond Leowy. The Hawk line was to be Studebaker's flagship model, its body and driveline based on the existing Champion and Commander hardtop coupés. Because the top end model, the Golden Hawk, was to get a big 5.8-litre V8 from sister brand Packard, the bonnet line had to be raised, and thus the grille got its deep and imposing shape.
There were initially four variants -- the Flight Hawk was the basic car, then the Power Hawk, Sky Hawk, and the Golden Hawk. Power was provided respectively by a 3.0-litre inline six with 101hp, a 4.2-litre V8 with 170hp or 185hp, a 4.7-litre V8 with 210hp and 225hp option, and the previously-mentioned 5.8-litre V8 with 275hp which had been introduced by Packard just the previous year. There were various detail differences, the Flight Hawk being fairly basically trimmed with a minimum of chrome and simple hubcaps. The Sky Hawk featured pillarless side windows, while the Golden Hawk had tail fins and a lot of chrome.
The Chrysler 300 B was the benchmark for sheer power to weight among American cars but was very expensive and had been developed as a full-fledged NASCAR racing car. The Golden Hawk, with a 7.8-second 0-60mph, actually outperformed it in comparative tests, was much less expensive, and arguably better looking.
When the first year sales were analysed, the significant margin by which the top of the line Golden Hawk model outsold the others -- the entry level Flight Hawk was second on the scale -- Studebaker cut the bottom three variants, replacing the Flight and the Power ones with a single car, the Silver Hawk, while subsuming the Sky Hawk into the top model.
Because Studebaker had sold its Packard facilities during 1956, the Packard engine which gave the Golden Hawk its edge over the competition was discontinued. To make up the loss, the car got the smaller and lighter 4.7-litre V8 from the Sky Hawk, but with a supercharger added. Adding the supercharger meant changes had to be made to the bonnet to accommodate it. The tail fins were made bigger and more distinctive with double concave shapes.
The Silver Hawk also got the tail fin treatment which the two cars it replaced hadn't had. A less distinctive two-tone paint job than the Golden Hawk was essentially the only other change. The car had two power units, the six and the V8 from the previous two cars. The two-variant line continued to sell through 1957-58, but that latter year was something of a disaster generally for the car industry in the US, and particularly for the very small Studebaker corporation. For 1959 the Golden Hawk was dropped. Alongside it, the other model was the new compact Lark, which was to actually bring the company into profit that year, the first time for many years.
For 1960 the car was simply sold as the Hawk, now with the former 4.7-litre V8 from the Golden Hawk as the only engine for domestic use, without the supercharger which had made it a machine to be reckoned with. But it was more fuel-efficient, and with 23mpg (American) achieved in the Mobil Economy Run of that year, it was the best of its peers in this regard.
In 1962, a new Grand Turismo Hawk was produced, and in supercharged form became the Avanti GT Hawk of 1963, fresh from the design pen of Raymond Leowy. But this was a completely different car from the nameplate that is generally recognised, along with the Chrysler 300 B, as the precursors of the "muscle" cars in the US through the 1960s.