With a pedigree reaching back to 1852 when the Studebaker brothers began making wagons in South Bend, Indiana, and as the self-proclaimed "largest horse-drawn vehicle house in the world" Studebaker was called upon by others to create chassis for "horseless carriages." Not long after, Studebaker entered the automobile market in 1902 with electric runabouts, single cylinder gasoline models in 1904, and 4 cylinder models in 1905.
Over time, Studebaker acquired Pierce Arrow and sold it off after 5 years. After WW II, Studebaker introduced a lineup designed by Raymond Loewy with innovations that eventually became industry standards. Financial troubles led to an ill-fated merger with Packard that eventually gave way to the Studebaker Hawk series. Starting as a 4 model lineup, in 1957 there were just two models; the Silver Hawk and the Golden Hawk. Both were powered by the Studebaker 289 CID engine, but the Paxton-supercharged Golden Hawk delivered 275 bhp and carried the car from 0 - 60 in about 7.5 seconds. The Hawk should have been recognized as the first "Pony Car", a title Ford later received credit for with the Mustang.
The Golden Hawk is still considered by many to be among the most aesthetically pleasing cars ever built in America.