Supercharged 289 V8: 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk
The mid-’50s were a tumultuous time for Studebaker. It had employed deceptive terms to merge with Packard in 1954, an endeavor that shortly led to Packard’s complete demise without aiding Studebaker at all. While bad behavior from the C-suite threatened to sink the company completely, Studebaker’s design department attempted a come-back with the Hawk series – a follow-on to the relatively successful President. The flock of Hawks was launched in 1956 with four models, but by 1957, the herd had thinned to just two – the Silver Hawk and the Golden Hawk. Here on craigslist is a 1957 Golden Hawk located in Paso Robles, California with an asking price of $69,500. Barn Finder Tony Primo found this bird for us – thanks!
Studebaker’s V8 engine development was at least partially responsible for its tattered finances. Its 232.6 cu. in. V8 arrived in 1951, and it shared basic architecture with Cadillac’s V8, launched in 1949. Differences turned out to be critical, however, and they explain the motor that resides in this Golden Hawk. First off, Studebaker kept its heads conservatively ported for economy, rather than performance. The lifters were solid, rather than hydraulic; and its oil filter provided bypass service, rather than full-flow. Its pistons were conventional rather than slippered. The result was a V8 all right, but with a limited performance range. Oiling and other issues created liability headaches at the outset, costing Studebaker a fortune in customer reparations. While these issues were fixed, the focus remained on economy, effectively alienating customers – particularly since the Hawk series was sold as a luxe, Euro-styled car. By the time the Golden Hawk rolled around for ’56, Studebaker’s first move was to simply install a Packard engine. When that became untenable, it increased the displacement of its V8 to 289 cu. in., and used a McCullock/Paxton supercharger to overcome the restrictive cylinder heads. Performance roughly matched the Packard engine’s output. This car has had its engine and supercharger rebuilt, and the odo reads only 86,000 miles – said to be original. It is equipped with a Borg-Warner automatic, sold by Studebaker as the Flight-O-Matic.
The interior is in wonderful nick and is represented as original. That’s pleated gold leather upholstery – swanky – and the seat belts are original to the car. The trunk is immaculate. Who doesn’t love a turned dash? I tend to fall in love with these, whether they reside in the TransAm or the Cosworth Vega. Studebaker’s design department felt the turned dash and big, round gauges communicated the sporty luxury style it wanted to sell.
This car has been repainted and the chrome plating was renewed within the last two years. It’s nice, and it’s priced commensurately, right at the top of Hagerty’s “concours” valuation. On the other hand, here’s one that sold at Bonham’s for far more, while this one is nice, and quite a bit cheaper. I’d probably try for a discount here; what do you think?
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now11 hours$15,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
“Yes, sweetie, I know no one’s checked it out yet, but look at the money they got for the one Bonhams sold-ours is better than that!” (“Hope she buys into that” I think to my self.)
Clean and well taken care of but you nailed it Michelle-seen as nice for less.
A Fabulous Find !! This ’57 Golden hawk is a well cared for car that should be at the next Studebaker Meet . The interior alone is immaculate , which is a big plus when considering the purchase of a vintage car ! I’ve seen some rusted out wrecks that aren’t worth restoring , but this one is in turn key condition and some lucky bidder will drive it home and to the next auto shows to be ” admired ” by many ! Happy Motoring
“…a follow-on to the relatively successful President.”
’55 President Speedster, actually. The Speedster was pricey and not a big seller — only 2,215 found buyers — but paved the way for the Hawk line of coupes based, like the Speedster, on the ’53 “Loewy coupes.”
Movie critic Roger Ebert was a fan and owned a ’57 Golden Hawk for many years before selling it to a colleague at the Chicago Sun-Times. No doubt he’d rate the car a well-deserved “Thumbs up.”
The ’55 Speedster could be had in tri-tone and had one of the best looking dashes in the car world, turned metal surrounding a full compliment of real gauges.
“only 2,215 found buyers” …..and how many did they produce ?
They only started Speedster’s regular production mid year, so that was why fewer were sold. Also because of the added options the price was a bit more.
Who’d a thought that much for a Studebaker??? A working mans car .. Definitely left South Bend only to never find rust..
The interior on these were not leather. Only the Golden Hawk 400 and the Packard Hawk had leather.
I wondered. The seller says it is.
Except for the ’63 Avanti, this might be the last great Stude. Wish I would’ve been in the market for one of these back in 2009, when there was a recession and these were cheaper; too bad I still had family obligations then.
I like Studebakers as my dad bought a pink and black ‘55 President sedan new. It was the car I rode home in after I was born (likely carried on my mother’s lap without seatbelts!). However I’ve never bought one as I’m not sure I could find someone to fix it when it breaks, as it will from time to time. Also parts. I suppose there is good club support?
yes…lot of parts around due to alot of people saved them….like Edsels…..
I had a ’57 G Hawk in high school. Traded a ’52 Chevy pck up I bought in 1972 for $50. Didn’t have an engine or supercharger but it was a eastern Montana rust free. Got married at 19 and ended up selling it.
Now I have a ’55 Speedster that needs total restoration, but now that I’ve been retired from the auto body tradefor a while, I’m hopeing to see it back on the road.
By the way the Speedsters came with diamond tuck leather interior.
Very nice! I have the inverted color version.
Oh cool! Do you have a photo? We’d love to see it.
Love the 1955 Speedster and President. The 1956 Golden Hawk was (IMHO) the best looking Hawk until the 1962 Hawk GT. Never cared for the curly fins.
I had a ’57 G Hawk in high school. Traded a ’52 chevy Pkup that I paid $50 for back in 1972. Didn’t have an engine or supercharger but was a rust free eastern Montana car, but got married at 19 and sold it for $700.
Now I have a 55 Speedster. Now that I’ve been retired for a while I hope to get it on the road again. They had a lot of firsts, like diamond pleated leather seats, the stainless rear roof band, machine
turned dash, wire wheel hub caps and a lot more. If they had started production earlier in the year they may have sold a lot more, but they already had plans in motion for the’56 Hawk.
“deceptive terms” first time I’ve heard that one………
I had a ’57 G Hawk in high school. Traded a ’52 Chevy pck up I bought in 1972 for $50. Didn’t have an engine or supercharger but it was a eastern Montana rust free. Got married at 19 and ended up selling it.
Now I have a ’55 Speedster that needs total restoration, but now that I’ve been retired from the auto body tradefor a while, I’m hopeing to see it back on the road.
By the way the Speedsters came with diamond tuck leather interior.