Curbside Classic: 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk–Twilight Pink

1960 or 2023?

 

You may know by now that I like to take old car photos that look as if they may have been taken say, in the early ’60s when the cars shown were still common.  So this evening as the sun was setting, I saw this 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk, and I had to stop and capture the moment for all time!

 

Oddly, Studebaker calls this mauve color “Mocha”, even though I’ve never seen actual mocha that was purple.  I’ve never seen mauve-ish pink “Doeskin” either.

I don’t know a whole lot about these Hawks, so I’m just going to lay down the pictures and let others fill in any necessary details.

Looks like the trunk is missing its trim.  Those fins would grow really big in 1957!

Interior shot:  lousy picture, but it was the best I could do.

Love these little details.  The chromium bullets house directional signal lights.

The Studebaker name in gold over pink.

This car has enough “authentic patina” to make it a genuine Curbside Classic in the truest sense of the word!

Not a bad looking car!

 

Twilight . . . it was also the twilight of Studebaker as an American car maker.  Sales and profitability go down from here, despite the brief success of the Lark in 1959.  After 1966, the Studebaker car brand was no more.

It always seemed to me that these Hawks should have sold much better.  They occupied a unique niche–a sporty-looking car, but not a two-seater.  Thunderbird and Mustang (and the 1970s-80s personal luxury coupes) had roaring success with this format.  Why not Studebaker?