1958 Studebaker Hawk

1958 was the final year for both the Golden Hawk and the Packard Hawk, which shared the supercharged 289 V8 at 275 hp. The Packard Hawk carried a hood and grille styled after period Italian sports cars and a full leather interior, and it carried the Packard name specifically rather than a Studebaker badge, even though this record includes it for Hawk-family context. The Silver Hawk continued alone as a coupe with either the six or a V8, its V8 hardtop built only for export.¹

Production fell sharply for 1958, per this record's own overview sourcing: the Studebaker National Museum gives 878 Golden Hawks, 588 Packard Hawks, 4,905 V8 Silver Hawks, and 2,442 six-cylinder Silver Hawks; Old Cars Weekly separately confirms the same 878 and 588 figures for the Golden Hawk and Packard Hawk specifically. The Silver Hawk's own total is disputed: the museum's V8 and six-cylinder rows sum to 7,347, while a second source's single combined-model specification line states "Production 7294" instead, a 53-car gap neither source reconciles and no Studebaker production report was found to settle.^1,2,3

The supercharged 289, standard in both the Golden Hawk and Packard Hawk, is rated 275 hp, SAE gross. The Silver Hawk's own optional V8s carried separate ratings: a 289 at 210 hp (plus 15 hp with the optional four-barrel and dual exhaust) and a 259 at 180 hp under the same four-barrel option; the standard 185 six was rated 101 hp. No transmission listing, and no separate torque figure for any of the four engines, was found in an accessible documented source for the year.^1,2

Factory prices ran $3,995 for the Packard Hawk, $3,282 for the Golden Hawk, $2,352 for the Silver Hawk V8, and $2,219 for the Silver Hawk six, the Packard Hawk costing more than $1,600 above the plain Silver Hawk V8 despite sharing the same basic supercharged engine family as the Golden Hawk. Old Cars Weekly reports, in an owner feature that names no underlying factory record, that only five 1958 Golden Hawks were painted Shadowtone Red and Jewel Beige; this record carries that figure as reported rather than independently confirmed.^1,3,2

Canadian and export Silver Hawks with the Commander 259 comprised 367 coupes (model 58B-C3) plus 56 hardtops (58B-K3) built at the Canadian plant specifically; no six-cylinder Silver Hawk hardtops were built at all for the year. Model codes ran 58H-K7 for the Golden Hawk, 58L-K9 for the Packard Hawk, and 58G-C3, 58B-C3/58B-K3, and 58H-C3 for the Silver Hawk's six, Commander-259, and 289 variants respectively; supercharged Golden Hawk engines began at PS-5,501 and Packard Hawk engines at LS-5,201, with 1958 President-series 289s, Silver Hawk included, starting at P-60,701. All 1958 Hawks shared the 120.5-inch wheelbase; reported weights ran 3,470 lb for the Golden Hawk down to 3,210 lb for the Silver Hawk V8 and 2,810 lb for the Silver Hawk six, with no weighing basis stated for any of the three figures. No exterior color chart beyond the single reported Golden Hawk combination, no interior trim listing beyond the Packard Hawk's own leather note, and no options list were found in an accessible documented source for the year.^3,4,5