To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVEEstimate:
$30,000 - $40,000
- The original Packard-powered Hawk, the 'family sports car'
- Beautiful older restoration in elegant colors
- Acquired by Dennis Mitosinka from its owner of 50 years
- Featured in Automobile Quarterly
- An excellent Golden Hawk with wonderful heritage, much-loved by
its owners
Studebaker's 1956 Golden Hawk featured subtle fiberglass tailfins,
grafted to the steel "Loewy coupe" bodywork, and borrowed a
275-horsepower, 352-cubic inch V-8 from Packard, Studebaker's
corporate partner. The Golden Hawk was advertised as a "family
sports car," and that was not far off; with more horsepower per
pound than any other American production automobile, it could
accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in only 8.7 seconds.
The original Packard-powered Golden Hawk proved a "one year
wonder," and only 4,071 were built. Among them was the car offered
here, among the last built in Studebaker's Los Angeles-area factory
before its closure in June 1956. It was sold new by Paul G.
Hoffman's dealership in Figueroa, California, equipped with
Automatic Drive, power steering and brakes, power windows, tinted
glass, Deluxe wheel covers, Stratoline radio, and numerous other
options.
In 1968 it was bought by medical student Gilbert Zimmerman, who had
desired a Sunglow Gold and Snowcap White Golden Hawk since admiring
one during his childhood. This car met his needs, and was
refinished in those original colors that summer; its owner later
installed a new old stock original engine, while the car retains
its period Traction Master bars. Mr. Zimmerman and his beloved
wife, Maria, used the car for regional tours and shows for many
years; badges from the various events still decorate the
engine-turned dashboard today. The Golden Hawk also appeared in
Automobile Quarterly, volume 12, no. 3, illustrating an article on
the Hawk series.
Mr. Mitosinka acquired the car from Mr. Zimmerman in 2018,
concluding fifty years of single long-term ownership. It remains
well-kept and well-presented, with its paint still in excellent
condition, and the interior comfortably worn-in but solid and very
presentable. The overall appearance is of a car that was well-loved
and properly maintained for many years, which, of course, this
Golden Hawk was. It is accompanied by a small file of maintenance
receipts as well as a reproduction window sticker, folio with
brochures and maintenance booklet, and full-size spare and jack,
and recorded 15,189 miles at the time of cataloguing.
This is among the finest automobiles in the Mitosinka stable - and
among the best-known, best-loved of all Golden Hawks.To view this
car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit
the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mt20.