Packard Hawk

The Packard Hawk was the sportiest of the four Packard-badged Studebakers of 1958, the final year of Packard production. By then the Detroit plant had been leased to Curtiss-Wright, and the Hawk was essentially a Studebaker Golden Hawk 400 with a fiberglass front end, a wide low grille and a modified deck lid carrying a fake spare-tire bulge. A McCulloch supercharger gave its 289 cubic inch Studebaker V8 275 horsepower, and the interior was full leather. It was positioned as an alternative to the Ford Thunderbird and sold for 3,995 dollars, about 700 more than the Studebaker, yet only 588 were sold. Detractors called the styling vacuum-cleaner or catfish-like, though it has since been more appreciated.