1958 Packard Hawk: All in All, Not a Bad Way to Go
Packard was such a great luxury car. And I’ve always loved Studebakers too, from the Art Deco-style cars of 1932-33 to the bullet nose ’50-’51s and the Gran Turismo Hawks of 1962 to 1964. But long story short, the merger of the two was not good for Packard. However, it did produce some interesting variations. Perhaps the most interesting offshoot of those times—or most odd, if you prefer—is the one-year-only Packard Hawk.
The Hawk was an extension of the all-new 1953 Studebakers, the sleek Commander two-door hardtop in particular. In 1956, a new, taller hood and trapezoid central grille were added among other new trim details, and they became the Hawk series, with the Golden Hawk the top of the line, complete with a Packard V-8 under the hood.
But starting in 1957, Studebaker’s own 289-CID V-8 was found under the hood of new Golden Hawks, and was supercharged to boot. New and oh-so-trendy fins were added as well. With its power and style, it was one of the more compelling—and fast—choices in new cars that year.
Unfortunately, Studebaker-Packard Corporation was in poor health financially during this time. “True” Packards ended in 1956. 1957 Packard Clippers were essentially super-deluxe Studebakers, though they did receive 1955-56 Packard styling cues, including the instrument panel. But beneath the skin, it was mostly the top Studebaker sedan, the President Classic. A nice car in its own right, but not really a Packard.
Originally, this was to be a stop-gap solution, with all new and truly large Packards to appear a year or two after, partially designed by Richard Teague. But the money never came in, and there never was another all-new Packard, strictly speaking.
That said, there were the 1957 Packard Clippers, available only as a four-door sedan and a four door wagon, dubbed “Country Sedan.” And 1958 brought, surprisingly, additional Packard models.
It was the final year for the company, yet the Packard series, comprised of the Packard 4-door Sedan, Packard Hardtop, and Packard Station Wagon (all without model names) got a heavy, and rather wild, facelift with quad headlamps and unusual double fins on the rear.
Then there was the Hawk. The Packard Hawk was essentially a Studebaker Golden Hawk with a long, low “catfish” style grille, gold Mylar inserts in the fins, leather interior, and a simulated spare tire sunk into the trunk lid, among other minor details.
As an ad declared, “It is designed with that imaginative flair you only expect to find in Europe’s most fashionable automobiles…a regal air that immediately distinguishes its owner as a man of position. Put yourself in that position…behind the wheel of a Packard Hawk, soon.”
While I’m sure few people were fooled, it was all in all a nice car. It still had the swoopy lines of the Golden Hawk, an even more sumptuous interior (borrowed from the extra glitzy and rarely seen Golden Hawk ‘400’), full instrumentation in a handsome engine turned dash, and—best of all—the supercharged 289-CID V-8, with a 3.56-inch x 3.63-inch bore and stroke, and good for 275 horsepower!
The 1958 Packard Hawk had a $3,995 MSRP, weighed in at 3,470 pounds, and only 588 were built. For comparison’s sake, a ’58 Golden Hawk based at $3,282 and sales were slightly better, but still really low, to the tune of 878 units. But then, 1958 was a recession year, and even fat, healthy car companies like GM were losing thousands of sales.
Not too many folks were optimistic about Studebaker-Packard. And indeed, it was last call. Come 1959, Packard was no more, though the corporation continued to be called Studebaker-Packard for several years after the cars’ demise.
And those final cars were not really the majestic luxury cars folks of a certain age at the time had remembered. But the last new car from Packard, this Hawk, was still a pretty cool conveyance. Leather, supercharged V-8, sleek lines, what’s not to like? And a rare birdie, too!
Our featured car was spotted by your author at an SDC Club meet in Iowa City, Iowa, back on August 11, 2018. I was lucky in that I had no idea this show was going on, but my uncle, David Klockau, texted me about it, so I hopped in the Town Car and made the hour jaunt down Interstate 80. I was not disappointed!
In addition to this fine ’58, there was an aquamarine ’58 Golden Hawk, a Wagonaire, a really nice mint green ’53 sedan, and many others. I’d actually been meaning to write this car up for years, but kept forgetting about it. There’s always more shows to attend and cars to gawk at! I’m happy to finally give this final-year Packard model its due.
But wait, there’s even more! While I was working on this column, I ran across pictures of another ’58 Hawk I saw when I visited the Studebaker National Museum (if you find yourself in South Bend, I highly recommend it) back in 2015 with my friend Jim Cavanaugh, an Indianapolis resident and fellow Studebaker nut.
It was fetching in its gunmetal gray paint with saddle tan leather, and I recall gawking at it for some time. At least until I caught the last Studebaker built, a turquoise metallic ’66 Cruiser, out of the corner of my eye, and went scampering away to it! So expect more Studebakers sometime soon.
One final note. In preparing this column, I used some brochures I received from Suzanne Reid. Her dad was another Studebaker fan and owned several. She had a number of booklets and brochures from the ’50s and ’60s and was kind enough to send them to me when they needed a good home.
I was thrilled to receive them and spent quite some time reading through them. They were a great help in pinning down some of the details for this column. I thank you, ma’am!
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Beautiful car except the front end. It is like a different person designed the front end which I imagine is possible. Somebody in my area (DFW) has one of these and I have seen it at one car show a few years ago. I believe it was dark green and nicely restored. A catfish is exactly what the grill reminded me of.
Great article! Fifty years ago or so, after my grandfather’s death, his Packard Hawk was purchased by the founder of the Hemken Museum in Iowa, where it remained unrestored until 2021. Grandfather was a Packard man with his first one being a ’27 Touring model. The black example featured in this article is a twin to his last, down to the hubcaps & the colour of the interior. Unfortunately the anodized side trim was gone before he purchased it in the early sixties after a serious accident totaled his ’54 Patrician. With the closing of the museum it was sold at auction after myself & cousins were given first refusal. Sadly I have lost track of it but reportedly it is in the St. Louis area. Many memories of rolling down the two lane blacktop in Hardin County Iowa in the back seat many years ago!
Where are the images of the engine and engine compartment? Poorly written and presented article.
The black & white Packard Hawk in several shots herein is mine now located in SoCal. It is very original with only 60,000+ miles on it.
Great Studebakers, but not really Packards. Can’t say anything else….
I think the black and white PHawk is ser. no. 58LS 1423 now in SoCal.
An excellent article, extremely witty, and informative commentators on the forum !
I recall an old , old , Readers Digest Article written by a man from Brooklyn NY , about the travail of his father who bought the one of these last Packards .
It only had a cartoon image, and I read this as a classic car , history enthusiast boy in a Doctors office.
Over the years I could never get a good picture of the Packard.
I must say I think it had merit , and done with imagination, and some class , with the resource Studabaker- Packard had at the time.
The interior is elegant, and inviting.
It was designed in a time of some very flamboyant cars , from Chrysler- Imperial in particular.
I would compare it to a Virgil Exner product the most.
The gunmetal grey Packard Golden Hawk in the museum is quit stunning.
Tragic Packard couldn’t hold on , for the future models .
I’m a proud Studebaker owner. I love the true Packards. The Packard when they went to South Bend were ugly. Over dressed Studebaker.
Very cool car. I thought the ’58’s had dual headlights. I’m positive on that from seeing a picture of one. So this one is a ’57.