Next to the Gran Turismo, the Golden Hawk may be the most desirable of the Hawk series of automobiles because it was a pillarless hardtop and could be had with a supercharged V8. It was produced for three model years, 1956-58, and saw only 9,305 copies made in total (plus 588 of the Packard Hawk, which was rebadged with a famous “fishmouth” grille). This 1956 Golden Hawk is a running, driving project that has some rust and is said to be complete. Located in Los Gatos, California, the rare car is available here on eBay. The bids have reached $3,575 while the reserve has not.

All the Hawk automobiles can trace their roots back to 1953 and the Champion/Commander/ Starliner. A plethora of them would be built at one time or another: the Hawk, Silver Hawk, Flight Hawk, Power Hawk, Sky Hawk, Golden Hawk, and the Gran Turismo Hawk. The Golden Hawk was an extension of the Studebaker Speedster that had a one-year run in 1955. The car had an almost vertical egg-crate grille and raised hood line in place of the earlier car’s swooping, pointed nose. Outback, a raised, squared-off trunk lid replaced an earlier sloped lid, and vertical fiberglass tailfins were added to the rear quarters.

A 275 hp 352 cubic-inch Packard V8 was used in 1956 only. Studebaker-Packard sold off the plant these engines were built it, so the Golden Hawk switched to a Studebaker 289 V8 with a supercharger for 1957-58. The ’56 had a great power-to weight-ratio for the era and the Golden Hawk was second only to Chrysler’s 300B by that measurement. Both these autos served as role models for the muscle cars that would come out of Detroit beginning in the 1960s. 1956 was the second largest of the three years of Golden Hawk production at 4,071 cars, like the seller’s.

Two sets of photos of the seller’s car are provided. Currently, it wears primer grey over most of its body, but before that, it was silver over burgundy which looked sharp when new. The primer may have just been applied as a rust inhibitor as a fair amount of it is brewing along the rocker panels and inside the trunk. The floorboards look to have plenty of surface rust and where that is holes are sure to follow. We’re told there is no Bondo or filler in the Studebaker.

The Packard-supplied V8 runs and the car moves with a 3-speed manual overdrive transmission. But we don’t know how well it does that, so maybe you should stick to the neighborhood at first. The odometer reading is 41,000 miles, but that could very well have turned over after 65 years. The upholstery looks good, but the door panels and carpeting are MIA. Hagerty estimates that a topflight example of one of these cars could be worth $60,000, while Fair condition should peak at $16,000. If the seller’s reserve isn’t crazy, it may leave a decent amount of room the fund the restoration.