The Overlooked Studebaker That Outran Detroit’s Best

In 1957, while Detroit’s Big Three were flexing big V8s and even bigger tailfins, a South Bend underdog quietly built a car that could hang with the best of them. The Studebaker Golden Hawk wasn’t just another full-size coupe, it was a supercharged sleeper that hit 60 mph in about 7 seconds and topped 120 mph.

That put it in the same league as Chevy’s Corvette, but with room for five people. For a company that started out building wagons for the Union Army, it was a remarkable feat of engineering.

The story of the Golden Hawk is also a story of necessity. When Studebaker merged with Packard in 1954, it briefly had access to Packard’s 352-cubic-inch V8. But that engine vanished after 1956, forcing Studebaker to rely on its own 289-cubic-inch V8. That smaller engine wasn’t a problem, though, Studebaker had been building overbuilt V8s since 1951, using heavy-duty internals like 18-bolt cylinder heads, solid lifters, and a gear-driven camshaft.

To make up for the displacement loss, engineers added a McCulloch centrifugal supercharger that pushed 5 psi of boost through a two-barrel carburetor, bringing power back up to 275 horsepower.

The result was a car that drove like a muscle car years before the term existed. Only 4,356 Golden Hawks were built in 1957, and today they’re collector gold. Recent sales range from around $33,000 for a good example to nearly $150,000 for a pristine one. Studebaker closed its doors in 1966, but the Golden Hawk’s legacy lives on.

Its formula, a lightweight body, a supercharged V8, and European-inspired styling, would later inspire Pontiac’s John DeLorean when he created the GTO. For a brand that never got the respect it deserved, the Golden Hawk was proof that Studebaker knew exactly what it was doing.