Fog Lights for '56-'58 Hawks?

[riversidevw]

An eBay listing a few days ago was an attractive pair of restored 12 volt fog lights for "1955-1958 Studebaker". The photos showed relatively small ribbed chrome housings, far less massive than the 6v units seen on Speedsters and other '55's. The auction was nearly over. A quick look at 1956 and 1958 accessory brochures turned up no mention of fog lights. Sorry, I didn't record the eBay listing #.

Were 12v fog lights actually offered for 1956 and later? These on eBay might have been attractive (if not altogether authentic) in place of front bumper guards. (I usually like the front bumper of C/K cars as unadorned as possible, drove a 57HK7 for years with front guards removed).

Gil

[riversidevw]

Just found the eBay listing for these lights, sold for $605!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1955-1958-Studebaker-Hawk-Fog-Lamps_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1419Q7c66Q3a4Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a2Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem170280228995QQitemZ170280228995QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_0

Are these earlier lights or ???

[riversidevw]

Well, I'm wrong (again). My apologies...

After I finally retrieved the original eBay listing I looked much more carefully at the several photos. (Something I obviously should have done before posting here.) The fog lights seem indeed to be proper factory accessories offered for the President models for 1955. It would be unfair to the seller and buyer of this nice pair of lights to suggest otherwise.

I actually have a Speedster, long-time prior owner had removed the fog lights because he "didn't like them". They weren't included among the spares shipped with the car, perhaps an opportunity for profit had also intervened at some point. Curiously, Plate 18-4 of the 1955-1958 chassis catalog show these '55 fog light assemblies placed centrally on the front bumper, replacing the bumper guards. The illustration is probably a lightly retouched version of the one for '53-'54. I think it is relatively clean and uncluttered look. Factory obviously didn't agree in view of the location of the extra holes in the '55 bumper bar and bit awkward placement of the fog lights outboard of the bumper guards.

As far as use on later models, fellow 56J collectors tell me that the '55 President lights have indeed been seen sporadically on Hawks, presumably updated with 12v bulbs. Sounds like the sort of things I sometimes did in the mid-60's with that black '57 GH. I was a student, had never participated in a judged event, sort of added, deleted or "updated" small details pretty much at will. One might argue that the lights were "available" for dealer installation on later cars, this is a gray zone too big for me to deal with.

I've recently returned to the world of Studebakers after 25 year hiatus. There are major gaps in my knowledge of these cars. Just possibly I'm also getting old enough to start forgetting.

[STEWDI]

Maybe this is an indication that foglight bumperettes were made to fit later than 55's : I bought a pair at Lancaster and when I tried to see how they fit on my ''55 Champion, they were just slightly too small (1/4 inch?)!! No, they are not for 55/54 - the bumper contours are very CLOSE to my 55, but not the same!

Were later bumpers slightly smaller than 55's ar some point? This certainly seems to point to a later size of foglight bumperettes and bumpers. Can anyone solve this mystery for us?

Roger "153624" Hill

55 Champion
47 M-5
Izzer Buggy
Junior Wagon

[riversidevw]

Roger, did it make a difference what part of the bumper bar you tried those on? Central portion in area of original bumper guards or the outer part (outboard of the bumper guards in the area where factory installed the Speedster fog lights)?

There seems to be a fair amount of this dilemma going around. As far as I know, '55 bumpers varied from later Hawks mostly in regard to the added bolt holes for the fogs on the '55.

Gil

[STEWDI]

OMG. Don't tell me it's that simple!

I tried mounting them closer to to the middle, about the same spot I had mounted the fog-lite bumperettes successfully on my '54. When I have a second tommorrow, I'll try them more out-board.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Good grief. Just went to the garage and measured. Yup, they should fit, but ONLY in outboard position, only a FOOT from the slightly more in-board position I tried before! The slight taper of the '55 bumper sure dictates where they have to go. Not like on the '54!



Roger "153624" Hill

55 Champion
47 M-5
Izzer Buggy
Junior Wagon