“With new brakes and tires you could drive it away!” says the owner of this super solid looking 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk. This car can be found in International Falls, Minnesota and it’s posted on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive. They’re asking $5,500! For the record, Hagerty is at $12,200 for a #4 fair condition car, this could be a heck of a buy!
The Silver Hawk was made for the 1957, 1958, and 1959 model years and this example looks like quite a find. There aren’t many cars that are 59 years old that still have the original owner. Some surface rust is visible here and there but this car really looks great to me. And what a great looking car it would be with some work!
They say that this “Classic 1959 Silver Hawk Studebaker in good condition. Original owner.” I can’t imagine this happening today, an owner keeping a vehicle for 59 years that they bought new. Have any of you purchased a new vehicle in the last few years that you could imagine keeping this long?
Like the exterior, the interior looks very solid and in looks like it’s in pretty decent condition. The seller says that “Most of the upholstery is in good condition except for the top of the back seat. It has always been stored in a dry garage.”
This engine should be Studebaker’s 259 cubic-inch V8 with between 180 and 195 hp It’s nice to see it with a generator instead of an alternator, but there are those pesky red hoses again. Hey, those are easy enough to change and this engine deserves to be restored back to its original spec glory. In fact this whole car does. We have seen hundreds or even thousands of survivor cars here over the last few years but there’s something special about a one-owner 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk.
These Studbusters with the engine turned insert had the nicest dash of any American car. I have weak spot for Studebakers and like this one. Fortunately just because I like it doesn’t mean I have to have it, thank goodness or I would be smothered in all the Corvairs I have admired. Being a one owner 59 year old car is rare indeed but much easier with something with points and a carburetor. Now days keeping anything that’s loaded with computer crap running for 59 years will be next to impossible.
Beautiful car.
Original owner should have no problem getting a replacement title.
A steal by the looks of it……holding out one one of my cub scout buddies who’s dad bought a 1955 Commander….been in the garage since 1968 when the fan blade nicked his dad’s finger….gonna fix it some day my old buddy says….
The car or the finger?
My 52 Studebaker champion. Got $5,500.00 total into it. Including the cost of the car. That includes all parts for the engine rebuild, sheet metal, misc parts and paint. We call it our poor man’s sports car.😁
It’s a beauty, nice paint scheme. Wanna sell?
You can bet this is not a heater delete
Car in International. Falls
Beware, before you get too excited the map in Craigslist shows this as being east of Fort Francis, Ontario. This car is in Canada not the USA. International Falls would be the closest US city.
The ad says original owner, but doesn’t read like it is. The ad isn’t written in first person, which is what I would use. I think it’s someone reselling the car, but skipped titling it in their name. If it’s in Canada, good luck getting it across the border unless all your ducks are in a row.
Steve R
??? Craigslist map clearly shows the location to be in International Falls, Minnesota — which I don’t believe has ever been a part of Canada.
CL location mapping is only as good as the person entering it. It is not required as far as I can tell. So the seller may have simply put the nearest MAJOR city. Just happens to be in the continental US. The car could be in Canada, yes.
I’m not sure about that, Redwagon. As DB said, the CL map gives the address as being in International Falls, Minnesota south of the Canadian border.
It’s in the US according to the map
V8 (I see it’s a 2 Bbl), 3-speed would make this car a fun project.
Looks like a 3 speed to me. I see a rod holding the clutch pedal down to keep the clutch plate from sticking, a good move.
@Joe Howell. I had a 1958 Silver Hawk but I am reasonably sure that it had 3 on the floor but I could be wrong as it was 58 years ago.
Yes, super idea; friend of mine had an Avanti stored. When started, no way to put it in whatever.
So he put it in reverse – to backup out of the garage – forgetting to close his door.
The car fired up (no problem there) and with a stuck clutch backed up immediately, ruining the door being kept inside the garage. We resolved the clutch problem.
The door was another issue.
Only when OD – overdrive, Was my first Stud in Netherlands; built in Belgium with L6, overdrive, black with red naugahide retracting seats.
Nice for naughty work. This car served me well. Later on I acquired some 12 more for sale or parts. Last owned was 1957 Golden Hawk with white leather and original sunroof and love of my life – 1960 Lark Six Hardtop Automatic. Here with non correct 1964 wheelcovers, but with the original hubcaps in trunk.
Only thing left due to embezzlement is the dashboard.
sorry;
pictures did not attach; trying again……..
That title status: missing has me concerned. If it’s the original owner all they need to do is go down the DMV and request a replacement, that’s something I’ve done before on a misplaced title. Hard to read but I think that 3d picture of the front end has a Minnesota plate on it so that’s better if correct.
I like the car, definitely will take some work but if the engine and transmission work, that’s a start
I drove a 1940 Buick Coupe which had lived inside under a pile of lumber. It also had an engine turned dash. For an old Studebaker this one looks very solid.
Those look like American beer cases in the background.
Couple things…I love seeing a WIX filter on the engine. Aaand, that torn up back seat screams mouse house to me
Looks like a good candidate for restoration but it’s going to be a long term job and the audience for getting your money back on one of these is a lot smaller than a big 3 car
Your noting of potential “getting money back” issues is true even though many restore an all time favorite because they simply love it with no concern with return on investment.
Here’s what makes sense to me. The pin on the map shows it on the Canadian side of the border but if you look at the pictures of the front end you can see the top of a mangled license plate. My guess is it says Minnesota and not Ontario. As to the no title issue, this could have been grandpa’s pride and joy and unfortunately Grandpa passed, the old place needs to be cleared out and sold so they can move Grandma somewhere she can be taken care of.
LAB3, are we looking at the same map and the same pin? The pin in the Craigslist ad clearly shows it on the Minnesota side and it even gives an International Falls, MN address. Ok, now I see the problem! If you click on “google map” below the map it takes you to the actual location in Minnesota. I see now how folks were being misled because if you scroll around on the little map it clearly shows it as being in Canada. That is weird! Sorry for jumping to conclusions there, you and Redwagon were right given the location of the little map.
I’ve often seen differences like that pop up depending on whether I’m using my phone or laptop to view a page. One particular message board is a completely different animal depending on how I access it.
The no title issue could be a non-issue if your state didn’t require a title that year, like say…NY. All you’d need is a notarized affadavit of sale. Been there.
I imagine that it would need a battery also if you were gong to drive it away (along with tires and brakes as noted in the Craigslist ad)
Is that an overdrive engagement pull handle on left unde dash?
Possibly, Yes. Hood release when optional were red.
@Glen. From what I can remember from way back it’s either the overdrive or maybe the hill holder.
Remember that the parking brake came with a t bar handle like that for years on some vehicles. It looks a lot like a hood release does on the later Studebaker larks.
Hill holders were incorporated in brake system. Released automaticcally when throttle was depressed. No override handles there.
Minnesota license plate, and the oil reminder on the dash shows Grays Standard, International Falls.
Lot of oil on that air cleaner. Doesn’t look like an oil-bath style to me…
Nice car, at 5,500, shouldn’t take too much to get it in the road, fun project. The cat paw prints on the windshield, indicates it might come with a cat….
As I remember it, there were 4 Hawks, Sky, ?, Silver, and Gold or Golden. Two had a B pillar and 2 were “hardtops”, the top level Gold or Golden, being one of them, Silver and the least expensive with B pillars. Now, and back then, I viewed the ones without the B pillar as the most attractive, the B pillared next, and the 4 door sedan as ungainly. As I remember it in ’55 and ’56 you could get the President 2 door with the B pillar, or, a Speedster, without. Same body all along. Correct me if I am wrong, but I bet the lesser Hawk without the B pillar, other things being equal, is worth more than the Silver.
I used to have thing for hardtops too and viewed sedans with disdain. The older I have gotten I realize that B pillar meant less squeaks, rattles and water leaks.
Power Hawk is the fourth one.
The stick on the floor does appear to be holding the clutch pedal down. And there are two T handles under the dash, a small chrome one at the very left, and a larger black one just to the right of the steering column. Three-speed with overdrive?
the black one is for heater valve
The canoe and snowmobile had me thinking it’s in Canada, but no signs of anything from Tim Hortons, so it can’t be in Canada.
Looks like a costly project to me; notice interior seats / carpets / door seals /dashboard upholstery / no radio / no clock / rust on rear bumper and other chrome items to be redone. front fenders. rear fenders where fins are attached outside + inside on top. And worst of all trunk lid !!!! Have you gone mad with these prices in USA???
Has anybody else had problems with the hood catch? I was driving my ’58 Silver Hawk on a bad gravel road and the hood flew up, bending it over the roof. The second time I was driving on a highway in S. Rhodesia at 90 mph when it flew up again, this time it cracked the windscreen and ripped itself off the hinges and disappeared into the bush, never to be seen again. I didn’t even slow down as I knew it would be history. Many years later, +- 2012, my friend spent many thousands having his ’61 Hawk restored but within a year or so it did the same thing but as he wasn’t driving too fast he at least managed to save the hood and have it repaired.
The Hawk hood latch was always a problem. I drove Hawks when they were simply $100 used cars, and many had the tell-tale signs of “unintended hood flight” [bent rear corners]. The problem relates to the ability of the hood to align itself when closed, and that means it has the flexibility to move in all 4 directions [side to side and front to back]. Moving too far to the rear means the latch can fail to hold, and often the secondary latch is not quick enough to hold it down, due to either a lack of lube where it pivots, or the little coil spring that keeps it pressed against the latch has lost it’s temper.
My quick solution back then was to wrap a narrow black leather men’s belt around the body panel under the hood latch, and thru one of the grill opening slots near the bottom.
One of the SDC Club members makes a pair of strengthening plates to weld onto the hood sides where the hinges bolt to the hood, because once the hood has been bent, it wants to keep bending with each opening & closing action. New Old Stock hoods have been made from unobtanium for decade now.
Always pull FORWARD, and upward, when opening a Hawk hood. This lessens the strain on the hinges and attaching points where the hood bends.
And a related hood problem: The Hawks take a size 27 battery. The modern size 27 batteries are slightly taller than the original, and come within about a 1/4 inch of touching the inside of the hood. Always put an insulating cover on the positive terminal on the battery. If the hood does shift position over a rough road, it won’t cause a direct short.
I do agree; Always pull FORWARD, and upward….. but I remember an article from more than 40 years ago, that the cause of bent hood corners was mostly due to lack of hinge grease.
My father’s 1950 Champion Regal Deluxe, in Midnight Blue, that unless polished frequently was subject to iridescence (rainbow colors when looked at in the wrong light), had a hill holder, so, as my mother observed, the car in front of you would slip back and hit you, and there was nothing you could do about it, since you were held in place on the hill. Now that over 90% of the vehicles are automatic transmissions, it is not an issue, but my 2014 Audi, automatic, has a hill holder anyway,
All one has to do to release the hill holder is to let the clutch out just a little until the car begins to move forward, then push the clutch in again, and you will roll backwards. Takes only a second or 2.
If you look carefully at the pic showing the front plate you can just make out Minnesota written across the top. Not Ontario.
Hoods flying up when driving might be due to a spring in the lock (catch) having let go due to rust or breakage. Another cause might be misallignmen of parts.
Personnally never had this problem.
Not with automatic drive !