A guy I went to high school with and after worked with at a Montgomery Wards aunt shop had a '60 Hawk 289, 4 bbl, 4 sped BW T10, Dana 44 posi 370 ears. I teased him about his Strugglebuggy until we double dated in it. Nary a sb Chevy or Ford touched it in several illegal 1/4 mile runs on Newel Ave in Walnut Creek CA that night with either of us driving. It was a beautiful well detailed car bone stock! Many years later my son & I put a supercharged 289 in his '54 Stude wagon. No need to swap other brand engines into a Stude.
Hello, Ever since I read the complete article in Hot Rod Magazine in March of 1957, something struck a nerve. It took me several sittings as long tech articles and I do not get along. The level of tech was new for me, back then, and the interest just was not there for the usual multiple page babble that went on for pages. But, something in this photo article did a number and yes, I sat for several days of free time to finish the article. Perhaps, it was the time period of searching for the first hot rod performance car that might make a good impression for me. A funny name, “Jet stream” supercharger in a stock factory car seemed like it had everything for all sorts of racing and cruising. So, the option of a new Studebaker Hawk was not happening. Even if individuality of being a teenager with the only Studebaker on the streets was the option. It just did not work for the hot rod scene. Even with the centrifugal supercharged motor, it did not have the draw. Over the next several years of cruising in our cars, we did not see a single Studebaker Hawk cruising around any of the teenage drive-in scenarios or down at the beaches. Perhaps, they were not the most popular of any car desired by teenagers. The roots were there, but the styling and name just did not attract buyers like a Ford or Chevy. Jnaki Speaking of a “whitish” color… 1960 Studebaker Hawk... right hand drive My wife and I are mystery fanatics, when it comes to watching a movie or TV streaming series. The USA network shows somehow cater to a different clientele with the dumb laugh track comedies, so the mysteries and law shows give a different take on what is good on TV. With the advent of streaming channels without commercials, these shows are a good stories to watch. They are almost as good as an excellent mystery book. Sometimes, the famous mystery author or two has created an excellent mystery series or movie to watch. The latest movie and series combined we happened to be watching, comes from Australian TV. It is the “Jack Irish Mystery Series.” First, there were three, full length movies to watch before starting the multi-year series. They are commercial free, so it is distinct and gets right to the point, with no time wasted between the action or drama. Jnaki What seems like a misplaced car for the series is a right hand drive 1960 Studebaker Hawk. It is nothing fancy, but because they drive on the right side of the roads, the steering is on the right side. So, it is strange to see the driver get in on the right. There are other cars, but because the star is a simple guy with simple tastes, a cool side job as a woodworker and a sometimes lawyer, the show moves right along. In one episode, one of his good friends owns a car that we drool over, as a previous two El Camino owner couple. (125k and 88k miles on each before they were sold.) The car/truck is/was a 2004 Holden Ute or for us mainlanders, an Australian GM El Camino. Holden has always made its own mark on high performance cars. (2004 Holden El Camino 335 HP V8) But this Ute will never see the USA shores. Besides, the Holden brand was closed several years ago. GM still has a presence, but the cool El Camino/Ute is out of reach. NOTE : I thought the sleek 57 styling of the original Studebaker design would look good with a Nomad style station wagon. But, those fins made it look like a pixie elf. I have also been on an El Camino design terror. Using all sorts of old hot rod designs and making them into a nice open bed car/truck like our old red 1965 El Camino. That red El Camino was our home away from home from the time I first drove it to Northern California to go to college. A Studebaker Golden Hawk…El Camino Over the years up there and then back down in Long Beach, the El Camino had seen plenty of California coastal miles and mountain driving. Since the college in the North was farther away from the ocean, it still had time to drive to the coastline for some college relief. In Long Beach, it was only 3 miles to the ocean and plenty of surf spots before and after classes. Yes! But, in my design phase, the top fits some designs and other times, it does not, so I borrowed the 59 El Camino top design to fill in the stylish look. The design already had a supercharged motor, but, the internals were tweaked so, it was supposedly fast as well as being a custom... Back in May, I did a different “Bullet Nose” version of a Custom Studebaker El Camino. But, if I had the choice, the later 57 Golden Hawk version would have been first choice between the two, "Studes...". This photo is of an original Studebaker Company based in Los Angeles back then. “As a teenager Paul G. Hoffman (1891-1974) lived out every boy’s fantasy by becoming a daredevil racecar driver. The son of an inventor, Hoffman was fascinated by the mechanical and he was so taken by these wonderous machines he decided to make the automobile his life. At 20 he made it official, dropping out of college in his native Illinois and coming west to Los Angeles where he got a job as a grease monkey with the local Studebaker distributor.” “By the time he was 34, Hoffman was no longer draining crankcases – he was president of Paul G. Hoffman, Inc., Los Angeles and Orange County’s official Studebaker distributor and a millionaire at that. He would later rise even higher, becoming CEO and Chairman of Studebaker itself from 1935-1948 and again from 1953-1956.” “But there was no denying he was also a great automobile man and by 1920, he had guided the Los Angeles Studebaker franchise to such a success it was able to move into a magnificent new headquarters on what was then automobile row, Figueroa Street, just south of downtown. The headquarters of Paul G. Hoffman, Inc., located at 1250 South Figueroa Street, opened with gala fanfare in June of 1920 and was a landmark at Pico and Fig for the next thirty years until in 1950 it went the way of the Dodo.” The area is best known today as the L.A. Convention Center which turned into the area for the home of the Lakers Basketball team. For us, it is not the most convenient place to travel. But, for others, it is a part of Los Angeles with a lot of history. It is a nice place to visit, (well, sort of…) but, the old saying… I would not want to live there. In another old photo, next door to the Studebaker Dealer is a detail shop from the 40’s… using Simoniz !
Hey @J.Ukrop . This is a Studebaker "Speedster", that belongs to a good friend of mine. Its flawless, and its a great machine. Raymond Lowey, was really ahead of his time when it came to amazing, interesting attention to detail. My friend kept the green and yellow one, and sold the pink and gray one. Thanks from Dennis for posting the shots of the mystery San Francisco Hawk.
The dash in those is awesome! Got one for my roadster. Hope I can make it fit. Need a cigarette lighter.
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