Power
The raised hood and grille were added to allow space for a larger engine, Packard's big 352 in³ (5.8 L) V8, which delivered 275 bhp (205 kW). This big, powerful engine in such a light car gave the Golden Hawk a phenomenal power-to-weight ratio (and thus performance) for the time; of 1956 American production cars, the Golden Hawk was second only to Chrysler's 300 B by that measure — and the expensive Chrysler was a road-legal NASCAR racing car. The Golden Hawk can be considered, like the Chryslers, a precursor to the muscle cars of the 1960s.
The heavy engine gave the car an unfounded reputation for being nose-heavy and poor handling (the supercharged Studebaker engine that replaced the Packard mill for '57 was actually heavier). Road tests of the time, many of which were conducted by racing drivers, seldom mentioned any handling issues. Speed Age magazine of July 1956 tested the Golden Hawk against the Chrysler 300 B, Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Corvette, finding that the Golden Hawk could out-perform the others comfortably in both 0-60 mph acceleration and quarter mile times. The fastest 0-60 reported in magazine testing was 7.8 seconds, while top speeds were quoted as 125 mph (201 km/h) plus. Film buffs will remember these performance statistics demonstrably cited as Charlie and Raymond Babbitt (Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman) spot a Golden Hawk in 1988's Rainman.
A wide variety of colors (including two-tone, befitting the times) were available. Two-tone schemes initially involved the front upper body, the roof and a panel on the tail being painted the contrast color, with the rest of the body the base color. Later 1956 production had the upper body above the belt line, including the trunk, as the contrast color with the tail panel, roof and the body below the belt line trim being the base color. The interior included an engine turned dash.
An increased options list and reduced standard equipment were used to keep prices down compared to the previous year's Studebaker President Speedster, which the Golden Hawk replaced. Even turn signals were technically an option.
The Golden Hawk was matched with three other Hawk models for 1956, and was the only Hawk not technically considered a sub-model within one of Studebaker's regular passenger car lines; the Flight Hawk coupe was a Champion, the Power Hawk coupe was a Commander and the Sky Hawk hardtop was a President.
Read more about this topic: Studebaker Golden Hawk
Famous quotes containing the word power:
“If your friend has displeased you, you shall not sit down to consider it, for he has already lost all memory of the passage, and has doubled his power to serve you, and, ere you can rise up again, will burden you with blessings.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There are times when they seem so small! And then again, although they never seem large, there is a vastness behind them, a past of indefinite complexity and marvel, an amazing power of absorbing and assimilating, which forces one to suspect some power in the race so different from our own that one cannot understand that power. And ... whatever doubts or vexations one has in Japan, it is only necessary to ask oneself: “Well, who are the best people to live with?””
—Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904)
“The personal touch between the people and the man to whom they temporarily delegated power of course conduces to a better understanding between them. Moreover, I ought not to omit to mention as a useful result of my journeying that I am to visit a great many expositions and fairs, and that the curiosity to see the President will certainly increase the box receipts and tend to rescue many commendable enterprises from financial disaster.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)