Packard Hawk buyer's guide

Overview

The Packard Hawk (1958) was a Studebaker-built car wearing the Packard name in the marque's last year: a Golden Hawk derivative from South Bend with a unique fibreglass front clip (the wide grille and a hood with a false scoop), leather interior and the supercharged Studebaker 289 under the bonnet. It was the fastest Packard of its final era and is today one of the rarest: 588 built, every one a documented individual within the Studebaker-Packard hobby's records. The Hawk is bought as design audacity and end-of-the-line history; its mechanics are Studebaker's (supported), its identity is Packard's (registry-verified).

Generations and year breaks

1958 — the only year

• One model, one engine: the four-seat hardtop coupe with the supercharged 289, Flight-O-Matic or (rarely) the manual gearbox.
• The specification was fixed at flagship level: padded dash, full instruments, leather — the Hawk was Packard's personal sports car in its final catalogue.

Engines and options that matter

• Supercharged 289 (Studebaker) — the McCulloch/Paxton-blown engine shared with the Golden Hawk: verify the blower, its drive and the engine number's sequence.
• Options were trim-deep (power windows, the usual 1958 accessories); the car's identity is its standard specification — deviations are the questions.

What to check before buying

• The fibreglass nose: the Hawk's unique front clip (fibreglass bonnet and valance panels around steel wings) cracks and is repaired in kind; originality of the clip is a core value item.
• Supercharger health: as with the Golden Hawk — boost delivery, bearing noise, the drive belts and pulleys assessed by a specialist.
• Rust: the Studebaker Hawk pattern (front wings' rear seams, sills, floors, boot) applies in full.
• Identity: the serial plate and the Studebaker-built Packard records (the hobby's registers hold the Hawk's production list) — a "Packard Hawk" built from a Golden Hawk is detectable via the serial sequence and the body tag.
• Numbers: the engine number sits on the block's front-left pad (the Studebaker practice); the body tag lists the Packard trim codes.
• Parts: Studebaker mechanicals are supported; Hawk-specific fibreglass and Packard trim are the finite resources, traded within the club world.