Studebaker Flight Hawk

Studebaker Flight Hawk front

Studebaker Flight Hawk rear

The Studebaker Flight Hawk introduced by Studebaker in 1956 was the lowest-priced model in the four-model Hawk family sports car line that included the Golden Hawk, Sky Hawk, Power Hawk, and Flight Hawk.

Styling

The Flight Hawk was a product of a Raymond Loewy design. Loewy is frequently credited as the "Father of Industrial Design." Based on the Champion two-door coupe which had been introduced for the 1953 model year. Like the other 1956 Hawks, the Flight Hawk received a new hood, grille, deck lid and instrument panel. Flight Hawks otherwise had the minimum amount of exterior chrome. Things like oil filter, backup lamps, radio, clock, windshield washers, outside mirrors, heater and full hubcaps were all ordered from the factory or optioned through the dealer.

Power

Unlike the other Hawks, however, which were all powered strictly by V-8 engines, the Flight Hawk came with the Champion's 185.6-cubic-inch (3.0-liter) inline six-cylinder engine, rated at 101 horsepower (75 kW). Teamed with this engine could be either a standard three-speed manual transmission, the same with overdrive, or a three-speed automatic transmission (known as Flight-O-Matic).

Available models

The Flight Hawk was a two-door pillared coupe (model 56G-C3), which carried a list price of $1,986. However, there were also 560 Flight Hawk Hardtops, model 56G-K7, built for export (499 sold), Canadian use (52 sold), and special order (9 sold in the USA). This brought the total 1956 Flight Hawk production to 4,949.

Production

• Coupe, Model 56G-C3, 4,389 total, broken down by manufacturing plant:
  • 2,508 (South Bend plant)
  • 557 (Los Angeles plant)
  • 584 (Hamilton, Ont. plant)
  • 740 (Exported to other countries)

• Hardtop, Model 56G-K7, 560 total, broken down by manufacturing plant:
  • 9 (South Bend plant)
  • 52 (Hamilton, Ont. plant)
  • 499 (Exported to other countries)

Of the four available Hawks for 1956, the Golden Hawk, Sky Hawk, Power Hawk and Flight Hawk,the Flight Hawk was the second-most popular. The Power Hawk, with 7,095 produced for all markets, led in sales by a fairly wide margin.

One-year wonder

Studebaker decided to simplify the Hawk line for 1957. This decision spelled the end for the Flight, Power and Sky Hawks, which were combined into the new Silver Hawk series. As of the end of 2012 the best count as to the remaining 56G-C3 and 56G-K7 Flight Hawks is approximately 60 but only 38 restored in original condition and running.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Studebaker Flight Hawk.

External links

• Goldenhawk website with Flight Hawk stats
• 1956 Studebaker Flight Hawk Owners Register
• Studebaker Hawk Page