1956 Studebaker Flight HawkThe Studebaker Flight Hawk was the lowest-priced model in the four-model Hawk family sports car line introduced by Studebaker in 1956.
Styling
The Flight Hawk was based on the Champion two-door coupe which had been introduced for the 1953 model year. Like the other 1956 Hawks, the Flight Hawk received a new hood, grille, decklid and instrument panel. Flight Hawks otherwise had the minimum amount of exterior chrome and received hubcaps unless full wheel covers were otherwise ordered from the factory or optioned through the dealer.
Power
Unlike the other Hawks, however, which were all powered strictly by V-8 engines, the Flight Hawk came with the Champion's 185.6-cubic-inch (3.0-liter) inline six-cylinder engine, rated at 101 horsepower (75 kW). Teamed with this engine could be either a standard three-speed manual transmission, the same with overdrive, or a three-speed automatic transmission (known as Flight-O-Matic).
Available models
The Flight Hawk was a two-door pillared coupe (model 56G-C3), which carried a list price of $1,986. However, for Canada and other foreign markets, Studebaker made a pillarless hardtop (model 56G-K7) available. Nine of the 560 hardtops built were sold in the U.S., although it is not known how much they cost when new.
Production
Coupe, Model 56G-C3, 4,389 total, broken down by manufacturing plant:
2,508 (South Bend plant)
557 (Los Angeles plant)
584 (Hamilton, Ont. plant)
740 (Exported to other countries)
Hardtop, Model 56G-K7, 560 total, broken down by manufacturing plant:
9 (South Bend plant)
52 (Hamilton, Ont. plant)
499 (Exported to other countries
Of the four available Hawks for 1956, the Flight Hawk was the second-most popular. The Power Hawk, with 7,095 produced for all markets, led in sales by a fairly wide margin.
One-year wonder
Studebaker decided to simplify the Hawk line for 1957. This decision spelled the end for the Flight, Power and Sky Hawks, which were combined into the new Silver Hawk series.
