1960 Studebaker Hawk

Steel shortages delayed the 1960 Hawk's introduction until February 1960, five months into the model year, and the car was renamed simply "Hawk" rather than carrying a further model qualifier. Studebaker's own 289 V8 returned as the standard US engine, rated 210 hp (225 hp with the optional four-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust); the 259 V8 and 170 six were offered only in export markets. Production totaled 4,507 at a base price of $2,650, both figures drawn from a single museum row for the year.¹

The museum's 4,507 figure sits specifically in its 289 V8 row, and its own footnote states the 259 V8 and 170 six were export-only, without saying whether export cars are folded into that 4,507 total or counted separately. A second source gives 227 export six-cylinder Hawks (model 60S-C6) built, but does not state whether that figure sits inside or outside the 4,507; this record does not derive a separate domestic total from the two figures as a result, and no third source was found to settle the question either. That same source's own model headings swap the S and V codes elsewhere on the page, though its footnote's 60S-C6 label matches the six-cylinder code used in other identification tables, so this record treats 60S-C6 as the six-cylinder designation despite the page's own internal inconsistency.²

The 289 two-barrel is rated 210 hp, rising to 225 hp with the four-barrel and dual exhaust, SAE gross, and stood as the sole standard US engine for the year. The export-only 259 V8 and 170 six carry no horsepower or torque ratings in the sources available, only their availability as export engines, and no transmission listing was found for any of the three engines either, whether manual or automatic.^1,2

Eight standard exterior colors were charted line-wide across the 1960 Studebaker range, from Black Velvet and White Sand through Gulfstream Blue, Oasis Green, Williamsburg Green, Sandalwood Beige, Colonial Red, and Jonquil Yellow, plus two further spring-only colors, Pacific Blue and Sudan Beige; the source does not state which of these the Hawk specifically offered, so this record carries the full line-wide palette rather than a confirmed Hawk-only subset. Ten Hawk-specific interior trim codes are documented, however, in a Hawk-only column of the same body-plate reference: blue (code 623), green (633), brown (643), and red-and-black (673) cloth, and black (713), blue (723), green (733), brown (743), red (753), and tan (763) vinyl, four cloth choices against six vinyl.³

Engine numbers for 1960 Hawk 289s in the US started at P-70,501 (60V series), with Canadian-built 1960 Hawk 289s starting at PC-2,201 instead. Body codes ran 60S-C6 for the Hawk six coupe and 60-V-C6 for the Hawk V8 coupe, stamped on a body plate riveted to the cowl under the hood alongside a separate trim code. The Hawk held its 120.5-inch wheelbase; reported weights ran 2,770 lb for the export six and 3,207 lb for the V8, a 437-lb gap, with neither weighing basis stated. No options list and no performance-test data were found in an accessible documented source for the year, so those sections carry nothing further in this record.^4,5,2