Description:

1956 STUDEBAKER GOLDEN HAWK. PROVEN GOODWOOD REVIVAL & MILLE MIGLIA ENTRY

Rarely do cars come up for sale at an accessible purchase level that have an established entry history to two of the world's most prestigious historic events.

This is one of the famed Studebaker Golden Hawks - a model which ran in period in the Mille Miglia and also as a NASCAR.

This car was assembled in the plant of Studebaker in Los Angeles, California in 1955 and was delivered on 20th December of that year. It is an early 1956-model GH series car number 215 of all Golden Hawks 1956 (total 4071) made. The Golden Hawk’s elegant style was penned by the influential industrial designer, Raymond Loewy.

This Golden Hawk remained for 30 years in the possession of its first owner in Ohio, USA until it was bought by Tom Borders, of Dayton, Ohio. Tom Borders, who later on moved to Pineville, West Virginia, executed a frame-off restoration of the car which lasted from 1998 until 2002 and a number of his letters about his restoration are included in the car’s history file. The car was carefully restored in its original two-tone colours of Mocha/Doeskin, one of the most popular and attractive combinations for the Golden Hawks.

Later purchased by Gene’s Classics of NJ, who sold it to Jan Dyck in Holland. Jan Dyck then used the car to successfully enter the Mille Miglia in 2012.

Coming to the U.K in April 2013 with a new owner, an established history racer and also a veteran of several successful Mille Miglia events, this car was prepared for historic race use, with a brief to being exceptionally careful not to alter the car substantially, allowing it to be returned to original specification. The work was carried out by the noted Goodwood race preparation expert, Chris Snowdon, at his CS Racing outfit in Bosham, close to Goodwood itself. The owner then raced the car at the Goodwood Revival 2014 in the prestigious St. Mary’s Trophy alongside F1 and Le Mans legend,  Jochen Mass, who, when asked what he drove at The Revival in 2014 said: “A number of spectacular cars: A Cobra, a Mustang, a 300SL with gull wing doors and a Studebaker Gold Hawk: ‘The Lead Swan’, - just great! (smiles)”.

The 1956 Golden Hawk, fitted with Packard’s powerful big-block 352 cubic inch 275 hp (5.8 litre) V8, was the best all-round, high performance car of 1956. In ‘Speed Age’ magazine’s track test (March 1956), the car was driven on a rain-soaked track by Bill Holland at lap speeds of over 120mph, proving the prowess of this sure-footed Studebaker coupe. Some feel that by installing the largest V8 in the smallest and lightest body, Studebaker created the first muscle car, some 8 years before the GTO! It had the 2nd highest power-to-weight ratio of any American production car. Contemporary road tests verified the Golden Hawk was faster and quicker over the ¼ mile than the Corvette, Thunderbird and Chrysler 300B. In top speed, only the mighty Chrysler 300B could equal it.

Here we have probably the most versatile historic competition car that can be bought at any price. With its eligibility extending also to the fabled Carrera Panameriana as well as the prestigious HRDC 'Jack Sears Trophy' and HRDC 'Dunlop Allstars' historic race series, this is truly a tool for almost every historic competition application.

This Studebaker has been under a full preparation programme for the 2023 season by the highly respected Westbourne Motorsport outfit, based at Hickstead in Sussex. It has already been run at the HRDC Track Day at Goodwood on 27th March and is now ready for as much competition as the new owner can care to enter!

But the main point to note is that historic cars that have proven provenance to qualify for events such as the Mille Miglia and Goodwood Revival usually run into the £Million+ price bracket and often far beyond. This remarkable car is offered at a fraction of such prices, which must make it the bargain purchase of the current market.

How long will such cars remain so? Best to grab this one before market opinion catches up with it!

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