Ryan submitted a new blog post: Don Pruett's 1956 Studebaker Hawk Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Really neat for Don to share those with you and us. Please tell him thank you! I wonder if he regrets not running at the Winter Nationals? I know I've chosen not to do something based on what seemed like the smart/sensible thing to do at the time. It's those decisions that always haunt you with, what if?
Great Story, he got far closer to the Winter Nationals than most of us It appeared to be a Power Hawk and I have Power Hawk quarters on my 53 coupe (they came with the car to replace the rotted ones). From my perspective it was nice to see a Studebaker any time (even though I didn't have much interest in the brand until I bought mine three years ago
Gotta love those stories. I had a couple of Studebakers along the way (including one with that great little 259 motor) & I still have a fondness for them. I recently sold a 160 mph (Stewart-Warner) speedo to another HAMBer, which was from a largely unknown 1955 Studebaker Speedster. They only made 2,215 of them in 1955, for a hefty $3,400 price tag. I did a little research on them & here are a few pics. I saw one at a local show a few years ago & it was spectacular, with the tu-tone green & yellow paint scheme. Check out the diamond tufted interior (leather, methinks) & engine turned dash, with the 160 mph speedo an 8K (electric) tach.
Great that you reached out to you, and that you made it available to us - Studebakers have a special place in racing history - especially at Bonneville
Great story and a nifty car. My education for the day is seeing that that model of 56 came without the tail fins that the Golden Hawk and later coupes had. I sold a later model coupe body to a Fellow Hamber for a friend of mine a few months ago.
Great to read stories about how you could grab a car off the Back lot and take it racing. Add in some time and have some fun. Working on a 54 Commander now. I could see how these could be a great stripped down race car.
In ‘56 only the Golden Hawks had any sort of fin. And that was a short height vertical fin that bolted on. The Sky Hawk, which I have, and the Power and Flight Hawks had no fins. The Golden and Sky Hawks were pillarless hardtop, the Power and Flight Hawks were post coupes. For ‘57 the Sky Hawk name was dropped and the Golden Hawk and Silver Hawks (which, again, were pillarless hardtops) and the lower line post coupes all got the better known flared/canted fins, also bolt on. Ray