Junkyard Gem: 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk

German immigrant Peter Studebaker offered his first American-made automobile in 1740, and his descendants assembled a wagon-building empire that put horse-powered Studebakers on each highway within the nation. Studebaker entered the automobile enterprise in 1902, with the South Bend-built Studebaker Electrical, prospered by way of World Warfare II and shortly thereafter, then bumped into bother when the Detroit Massive Three squeezed smaller producers more durable with every passing 12 months. By 1956, Studebaker was in disaster, its cash issues not solved by a merger with Packard… and that is the mannequin 12 months through which the brand new Hawk line was launched. At the moment’s Junkyard Discover is an instance of the first-year Silver Hawk, present in a Denver self-service yard a few months again.

For 1956, Studebaker provided the mighty Packard-engined Golden Hawk and three lesser birds: the Sky Hawk, Energy Hawk and Flight Hawk. The next 12 months, the Golden Hawk— now with a supercharged Studebaker V8— remained and the opposite three had been changed by a brand new Silver Hawk two-door.

Tail fins have been large in 1957 America, and the Silver Hawk bought severe ones. Certain, this physique wasn’t practically as slippery on the Salt Flats as its predecessor, however most automobile customers weren’t on the lookout for real-world high pace. The 1957 Silver Hawk was accessible as a pillared coupe or a real hardtop; this one is the previous kind.

The most affordable Silver Hawk could possibly be had with a 185-cubic-inch (3.0-liter) straight-six, however most had V8 energy. Two displacements of Studebaker V8 have been accessible in 1957: a 259 (4.2-liter) and 289 (4.7-liter), with the 289 inflicting confusion with parts-counter staff from the second the primary Ford 289s appeared in 1963. All of the construct tags have been faraway from this automobile, and I did not be aware any block casting numbers, so it could possibly be both displacement (or an earlier 224 or 233 that bought swapped in).

These engines had small valves and it was robust to get actual energy out of them with out compelled induction. In 1957, the Silver Hawk’s 259 made 180 horsepower whereas the 289 had 225 horses.

The record value on the ’57 Silver Hawk pillared coupe with 289 V8 engine was $2,263, or round $24,290 in 2022 {dollars}. You could possibly get a brand new Mercury Monterey two-door sedan with V8 engine for $2,576 that 12 months, although maybe a $2,695 MGA coupe might need tempted a Silver Hawk shopper.

How did such a uncommon and exquisite machine find yourself in a spot like this? Properly, good Silver Hawks are value respectable however not loopy cash today, and this one is far from good.

It sat open air for many years, and the weather weren’t type to the inside and physique.

How lengthy? The yellowed newspapers within the trunk date again to the autumn of 1986, when five-year-old Audi 5000s offered for 5 grand.

The youngsters have been going to hell in 1986, fashion-wise, in line with the Denver Put up.

Housing was low-cost, although! A few of these ritzy-in-2022 neighborhoods have been fairly tough again then, nonetheless.

You possibly can simply make out the nuclear-attack-warning CONELRAD indicators on the manufacturing facility AM radio.

Studebaker managed to hold on till 1966, when the ultimate Canadian-built automobiles rolled off the road in Hamilton, Ontario. The final US-built Studebakers have been 1964 fashions, although varied entrepreneurs constructed Avantis since that point.

It seems that somebody with a number of moldering Studebakers lastly cleared out the sector or driveway, and the much-faded automobiles ended up right here as elements donors. The Silver Hawk was probably the most full, so that is the one I documented. We noticed that 1955 Mercury Monterey on the far left, again in July.

Craftsmanship makes the distinction within the low-priced area!