You know the saying about how a wounded animal is still dangerous? I’m sure you do, especially those of you with wounded hyenas in your kitchens that you’ve been avoiding for days. I was thinking about this in the context of dying carmakers, specifically Packard. In its death throes, during its final year of existence, Packard’s last punch thrown was kind of a fascinating car, and the fastest Packard ever built.
Of course, it was also a badge-engineered Studebaker, but you can’t really blame Packard for that. They were dying!
The car is the Packard Hawk, and it’s not a car I’ve thought about very often. Only 588 of these were made, so it’s unlikely to be something you’d encounter by chance, which is a shame, because these are really striking machines with so much presence and gravity they feel like a neutron star, just with more chrome.
“The Most Original Car On The American Road” is a little ironic considering this was a badge-engineered car, and, inherently not-so-original.
Let’s just take a moment to recap Packard’s situation as of 1958. Boned, I think was what the Pope (at that time, Pope John XXIII) had to say about it. The once-great company (remember, Packard was the top-selling luxury carmaker between 1924 and 1930) bought out Studebaker in 1954, creating the Studebaker-Packard Corporation, which proved to be something of a disaster, because Studebaker was in about as good financial shape as a chronic gambler with two suspended credit cards, and had massive overhead and needed to sell an absurd number of cars – often said to be 250,000 – just to break even.
That said, Studebaker did have some interesting and reasonably up-to-date platforms to work with, including their sporty car – maybe “personal luxury car” – the Hawk.
The Hawk evolved from the Raymond Lowey Studios-designed Starliner/Starlight coupés and hardtop coupés, a design led by Bob Bourke. These were some of the sleekest, most elegant cars of the 1950s, at least according to sources like, um, myself. As the 50s went on, the prevailing jet-age-baroque styling of the era soon dripped onto these cars, and they sprouted upright grilles and tailfins and became the Studebaker Hawk, which led to Silver Hawks and Golden Hawks, fancier, more ongepotchket versions.
Okay, but let’s get back to Packard. In 1958, they really didn’t have any platforms of their own anymore, and everything they made was an up-market, re-badged Studebaker. They decided they wanted something sporty to compete with the Ford Thunderbird, and they had that, in the form of the Studebaker Hawk.
They took the Golden Hawk and added all of the luxury stuff that had been previously dropped, including lots and lots of leather, including special leather-upholstered armrests on the outside of the windows, making a comfortable place to rest your arm on the upper part of the door.
I mean, if you have to get a trucker’s tan, that’s the way to do it.
The bigger news was under the hood, as the Packard Hawk had Sudebaker’s 289 cubic-inch V8 with a McCulluch (later Paxton) supercharger, making a very impressive 275 horsepower. This made the Packard Hawk the fastest four-seat car you could buy in America at that time, keeping up with Thunderbirds and even Corvettes of the era.
Speaking of Corvettes, the Packard Hawk also featured some fiberglass bodywork like the ‘Vette, specifically the low, tapered nose with its wide, full-width grille:
This was the focus of a lot of derision back in the day, with people comparing it, unfavorably, to a fish. I actually think its fishmouth feels like Ferraris and other Italian sports cars of the era. I like it.
Overall, the look of the Packard Hawk is all late-’50s excess, but in a way that I actually like. The textured gold inlay panel on the rear fin, the hood scoop, the front indicators in their own silly little pods, the pointed chrome warhead/Dagmar bumper guards, the exterior upholstery, it’s all so good. Plus, it has what looks like crotch-cooler vents on the front quarter panel there.
There are a lot worse ways Packard could have gone out, and, sure, this one is definitely a product of badge engineering, but when it comes to reworking another car, you can’t get much better than this.
Top graphic image: Studebaker-Packard
I’ve always seen this car as the peak of its platform. The original Raymond Loewy styling was the best by far, there’s no topping that car’s gorgeous looks, but the car itself had all the rigidity of a wet noodle and the horsepower left something to be desired as well.
Studebaker improved the engines and chassis of this platform significantly as time went on, but made the car increasingly ugly to compensate for the improved driving experience. Maybe this is just my opinion, but the upright grille looks awful on these cars, it doesn’t suit the otherwise sleek and sporty styling at all, like tacking a pig nose onto a greyhound.
But then… with Packard’s last dying breath, they ripped the pig nose off the Hawk and replaced it with something more analagous to the original car’s sleek, low grille. I’m not a fan of the fake spare tire hump they added to the trunk, but otherwise the styling of the Packard Hawk is a massive improvement over the Studebaker of the same year.
So, I think this is the best-looking version of the best-driving generation of this vehicle, even if it’s the least “Packard” of all Packards.
That was a great article, I knew about the Starliner and various Hawks, vaguely knew about the Packard, never in so much detail. I can understand why diehard Packard fans (most of whom are probably actually dead by now, sorry, couldn’t resist) didn’t like it, but the sheer audacity and effort on a limited budget is impressive.
The fiberglass hood and bits were state of the art at the time. Still, a weird looking car. Especially for a Packard as it did away with the traditional Packard grill shape. Way ahead of its time as fish mouthed cars are the norm now adays. The padded armrests on the outside of the window sill was an odd touch. Kind of reminds me of a 1978 Chrysler LeBaron sedan with their weird vinyl under the window sills.
I’m captivated by this line in the brochure: “13 solid colors; 32 two-tones optional”
Hey, remember when cars came in colors?
The words “mutant catfish” have been used to describe these. They had a lot of body flex too. But they did look different!
There’s a guy down the road from me that has one of these. Has dad bought it new and he drives it all summer around here. These things look way better in real life than in pictures.
That thing is hideous. Sad to see how the lovely Starliner devolved. Raymond Lowey was a true master of design.
I was able to see one of these in the flesh at a car show in Wichita almost a decade ago. It was a fascinating car, but not one I would call attractive. It had far too many 50s stylistic features fighting for dominance for the design to be cohesive, but I will say that the tail lights were freaking cool and the front end looks better in person (at least on the red car I saw) than it looks in the photos above.
Red evokes the era’s Italian cars that wear it so well – I’d love to see the Packard in that color!
This makes me wonder which car currently on the market Jaguar could use as the starting point for their swansong?
Call me a pessimist but I don’t see the Type 00 saving the brand or the business, but maybe if they could get their hands on a Lexus hybrid and do a tasteful redesign they might actually shift a couple more cars before the inevitable death rattle.
Well, Packard became a badge-engineered derivative of their mass-market sister brand, so, I guess, Jaguar can turn to the Tata Tiago?
It’s like the uglier big brother of a Daimler SP250 Dart. It’s not just the grouper mouth, there’s so much crap tacked onto it that it breaks up and distracts from the rest of it that’s not bad. The postwar mismanagement of Packard is such a sad story. To add to the insult, the Bill Frick aftermarket installation of a Cadillac V8 into Starliners resulted in a cooler car than the OEM Packardbakers.
Didn’t Jason himself once motor about in a Daimler SP250?
Grouper nosed
The Studie version is a lot better, but that’s also a pretty high bar. Some of my favorite cars of the era.
If Packard could have dropped that super-charged drivetrain into their 1956 Caribbean, it would’ve been a sweet swan-song. This whiskerless river scavenger on the other hand is one of the few 50’s cars I’ve never liked.
Points for that leather armrest on the outside of the windows though. It looks pretty cool, but just imagine the big ‘ol whiff of arm sweat one would inhale up close to that thing after a summer or two of cruising.
When I was a kid there was a local guy who’d bring a Caribbean to local shows and cruise nights, at the time all the old guys were into tri-fives, that Packard was so unique looking in comparison. It was tri-tone; white, pink, and black IIRC. Such a gorgeous car.
This car makes me sad. It really ruins the core good design. Even the 60s Brooks Stevens design is better than this hot mess.
I always found it remarkable what he was able to do with a nearly decade-old body and minimal budget, the Gran Turismo Hawk honestly ended up looking pretty contemporary against its early ’60s rivals, really hid its age quite well and was still a very attractive car
The only issue is the width vs. the length. It shouldn’t be Ford Starliner width, but it’s really noticeable if you sit in one.
I guess that’s why they resorted to those hog troughs on the Avanti
The advertising illustrations make the car look wide enough to seat four across. The driver and passenger are very far apart. In reality, they would be much closer together.
It helped that the Starliner coupe was about ten years ahead of its time
They were perfectly timed to coincide with the personal luxury vibe of the Pontiac Grand Prix, among others.
Great column Torch and it gives me an idea.
Granted it came as I was pouring my 3rd Vodka and Cranberry but WTH.
THE big problem is the younger crowd isn’t driving or buying cars.
What they are doing is dressing up in comic characters or superheroes outfits.
I saw that Studebaker Hawk front end and I got hello kitty vibes.
So build a frame with attachments for similar sized but different bodies.
And have one car with different bodies that recreate different characters from movies. You know colors eyes etc. These people spend thousands going to comicons imagine what they would spend to have a vehicle that corresponds to their vision? It would be a unique margue but with a good designer and a honking big 3d printer and pay Stan Lee a couple hundred thousand dollars and you are in the car making business baby
They should have called it the Osprey because it certainly is a Fish Hawk. I like it.
Damn, what a crazy catfish ugly beautiful machine! My opinion is that, yeah, the front looks like a catfish when viewed by itself, but when you pull back and look at the full package it just fits. It looks fast and youthful. Now I want one, but I’m sure I couldn’t afford it.
I have a crazy soft spot for Ugly duckling cars. The Packard Hawk is one of my absolute faves!
The Packard guys at car gatherings really don’t like to admit this is a Packard. And the Studebaker guys don’t want to admit they managed to make that beautiful Hawk ugly.
Thanks for this article! Even learned something new, didn’t realize how fast these actually were!
This appears to have been designed by three people who never met and communicated exclusively by mail.
…in a language that none of them was fluent in.
…using typewriters with the type bars, but not the keyboard, replaced with a Dvorak set.
In response to the earlier post, named after a bird, looks like a catfish.
Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. “Ongepotchket” is just the word I was searching for to describe the White House remodel. Or maybe in that case it’s “orangepotchket”
Sorry, that wasn’t Kosher, this piggy can show themselves out….
No other car of such fundamentally magnificent design has had to endure as many different “improvements” as the Studebaker Starliner.
Sure, nothing says “original” like “we slapped our name on an existing car.”
Also what the hell is this supposed to mean (in the green brochure page):
“From the Home of the Golden Hawks…Studebaker Golden Hawk”
Like…duh?
Sterling Cooper wasn’t their marketing firm of choice.
It’s like Lady Felicia’s writing on Father Brown. “The sea was blue, like the blue of the sky.”
Nothing could ever make me dislike a Studebaker Hawk, but this waa a pretty sad end for the Packard name. Sure, they were doing their best with what they had, but it would be like BMW announcing tomorrow that all future Rolls-Royces would be MINI Countrymen with big grilles and hood ornaments
It’s been done:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/410023420120695/posts/1350613249395036/
https://mikeshouts.com/one-of-a-kind-mini-rolls-royce-in-hong-kong/#google_vignette
Like all of the 2-series BMWs aside from the coupe.
When I was a kid in the late 70’s there was an exhibit of vintage Studebaker Hawks of all variants at our local mall – including the Packardbakers.
Being that my Mom’s first job was as in the Studebaker secretarial pool in South Bend , we attended.
Oh my the glitz and ersatz glamour – all tacked on with evident glee and a complete lack of restraint or taste – and still showing the add-on extension panel lines.
And yeah – it looks like a fish.
The Dagmar bumper extensions were stylish, but probably skewered a pedestrian or two along the way. Who ever thought that would be a good idea??!!