Grandpas Hawks Stories

[mbstude]

Hey, those are some good storied there! You should send them to Turning Wheels.

They remind me a lot of what my grandad has told me all my life, about him and his '57 Silver Hawk. (289 with OD trans) That is one quick car...

Matthew Burnette
'59 Scotsman
'63 Daytona
Hazlehurst, GA

Cruising the Proving Ground Test Track

[mbstude]

Hey, those are some good storied there! You should send them to Turning Wheels.

They remind me a lot of what my grandad has told me all my life, about him and his '57 Silver Hawk. (289 with OD trans) That is one quick car...

Matthew Burnette
'59 Scotsman
'63 Daytona
Hazlehurst, GA

Cruising the Proving Ground Test Track

[Guest]

Grandpas Hawks Stories

I am posting this story from another topic and i think i will add others 1 by 1.
erin

here is how 1 story goes.MY GRANDPA HAD A 1960 LARK 2 DOOR Hardtop 259 3 spd. He also owned a bar close to mark center Ohio. 1 night in november 1960 they we robbed at gun point. After the robber left Granpa went it to pursit in the lark, but never caught them. all they knew was it was a blackk 55 chevy. the next monday grandpa went back to the studebaker dealer and ordered my 1961 Hawk for the sole purpose of catching anyone else that robbed him. When all the order paper work was done there was a fee for shipping the car. Grandpa asked about that and they told him it would be loaded on a hauler and go to michigan the to Ohio. He threw a fit. From past experiance he didnt want it loaded on a hauler in fact he didnt want anyone at the factory driving it. He threw such a fit the dealer agreed to go to the factory and pick it up and drive it to ohio. That suited him so that is what they did. He got the car in January of 61. In june of 1961 they were robbed again this time not successfully. Grandpa to a knife to the stomach. 1 of the robbers got shot by grandpa the other two fled. Grandma trying to grandpa to go to the hospital was surprised to find him getting in the hawk and backing out of the drive she ran and got in but to her surprise he wasnt going to the hospital he was going to catch the other two guys. She said she had never been so fast inher life and dont know how he kept the hawk on the old roads. they were gaining hard on the robbers and he told her to get the plate number when they went by. they went by so fast she only got 2 numbers. so he slowed down and they passed him then the got the number and went to the police station and gave them the number from the plate of a Black 55 chevy. the men were arrested the next day. the 1 was picked up at the bar, alive. 1 of the officers ask grandpa how fast he was going that the driver of the 55 chevy said he was couldnt believe how fast that hawk was. grandpa response was i m not sure when the speedo got past straight down i quit paying attention.
i have more to come

Erin Hays
1961 Hawk
1962 Lark
1963 Wagonaire

[Guest]

here is story two.

My uncle was 17 years old and had dads car, my 1961 Hawk. He was running around town and started heading home. he was running a striaght streach of road when he noticed a car coming up behind him. the car quickly over cam him and passed him. it was a 60 corvette. well bobby being the person he was didnt care for that. so he dropped to second gear and let the hawk unwind. before he was out of second he had matched the speed of the vette. he let the car go into overdrive and second continued to climb. he pulled out and passed the vette just as he was getting by the vette he reached up and put the hawk in 3rd and massed the gas to get it out of overdrive. i guess this looked real impressive to corvette drive who was amazed and didnt have anything left. bobby finished him off and headed for home. the next day bobby was cleaning up at grandpas bar. grandpa was tending the bar. when a guy came in and ask who owned the green studebaker hawk out side. grandpa said that would be me. he then asked what he wanted for it. he was going to by it. grandpa said it wasnt for sell then inquired, " Mister i just saw you pull up in a corvette what do you want with my old studebaker?" the guy responded ,"last night that Studebaker out ran me so bad i thought i was in a rambler!" grandpa said really well just how bad did it out run you. he said at about 110 he seen the drive shift into 3rd gear and the car just pulled away. Grandpa then pulled Bobby over who had heard the entire conversation. And said, " Mister you dont have to worry about this boy out running your corvette ever again because i dont think he can move near that fast on foot." For along time when bobby wanted to use the hawk he got the lark.

Erin Hays
1961 Hawk
1962 Lark
1963 Wagonaire

[Guest]

here is story two.

My uncle was 17 years old and had dads car, my 1961 Hawk. He was running around town and started heading home. he was running a striaght streach of road when he noticed a car coming up behind him. the car quickly over cam him and passed him. it was a 60 corvette. well bobby being the person he was didnt care for that. so he dropped to second gear and let the hawk unwind. before he was out of second he had matched the speed of the vette. he let the car go into overdrive and second continued to climb. he pulled out and passed the vette just as he was getting by the vette he reached up and put the hawk in 3rd and massed the gas to get it out of overdrive. i guess this looked real impressive to corvette drive who was amazed and didnt have anything left. bobby finished him off and headed for home. the next day bobby was cleaning up at grandpas bar. grandpa was tending the bar. when a guy came in and ask who owned the green studebaker hawk out side. grandpa said that would be me. he then asked what he wanted for it. he was going to by it. grandpa said it wasnt for sell then inquired, " Mister i just saw you pull up in a corvette what do you want with my old studebaker?" the guy responded ,"last night that Studebaker out ran me so bad i thought i was in a rambler!" grandpa said really well just how bad did it out run you. he said at about 110 he seen the drive shift into 3rd gear and the car just pulled away. Grandpa then pulled Bobby over who had heard the entire conversation. And said, " Mister you dont have to worry about this boy out running your corvette ever again because i dont think he can move near that fast on foot." For along time when bobby wanted to use the hawk he got the lark.

Erin Hays
1961 Hawk
1962 Lark
1963 Wagonaire

[Karl]

Thems a pair of real good stories. But having driven the Twin in my youth. I tend to lean towards the second one.

63 Twin Supercharged Avanti
64 Avanti R3w/NOS
88LSC Avanti 350 Supercharged w/NOS

[Karl]

Thems a pair of real good stories. But having driven the Twin in my youth. I tend to lean towards the second one.

63 Twin Supercharged Avanti
64 Avanti R3w/NOS
88LSC Avanti 350 Supercharged w/NOS

[Guest]

Story number 3.
1 night at Grandpas bar to guys were argueing about whos car was faster. 1 had a 1957 ford thunderbird the other had a 58 corvette. Well grandpa being a good bar keep. listen to the arguement until the men decide to race. They decided grandpa would be a good judge so they head out to the flat ground the Corvette the thunderbird and grandpa in the Hawk. when they arrvied at where they were going to race the each got out and removed air cleaners and made thier adjustments to race. They told grandpa to go down the road a piece and wait but he suggested he would be behind them and when his headlights came on they were to race and he assued them that by the end of the race he would be close enough to tell who won. So that is what they did. Grandpa turned on his lights and they were off grandpa right behind them. he said around 70 the corvette was pulling ahead and around 90 it had enough room to get in front of the thunderbird, so when it pulled in he just he continued on right past the thunderbird then the vette and back home to the bar. When he got back to the bar the other patrons asked who won he said the Corvette. The corvette guy didnt come back to the bar, but the thuinderbird guy did to make sure eveyone knew exactly what happened to that corvette.

Erin Hays
1961 Hawk
1962 Lark
1963 Wagonaire

[Guest]

Story number 3.
1 night at Grandpas bar to guys were argueing about whos car was faster. 1 had a 1957 ford thunderbird the other had a 58 corvette. Well grandpa being a good bar keep. listen to the arguement until the men decide to race. They decided grandpa would be a good judge so they head out to the flat ground the Corvette the thunderbird and grandpa in the Hawk. when they arrvied at where they were going to race the each got out and removed air cleaners and made thier adjustments to race. They told grandpa to go down the road a piece and wait but he suggested he would be behind them and when his headlights came on they were to race and he assued them that by the end of the race he would be close enough to tell who won. So that is what they did. Grandpa turned on his lights and they were off grandpa right behind them. he said around 70 the corvette was pulling ahead and around 90 it had enough room to get in front of the thunderbird, so when it pulled in he just he continued on right past the thunderbird then the vette and back home to the bar. When he got back to the bar the other patrons asked who won he said the Corvette. The corvette guy didnt come back to the bar, but the thuinderbird guy did to make sure eveyone knew exactly what happened to that corvette.

Erin Hays
1961 Hawk
1962 Lark
1963 Wagonaire

[StudeRich]

Erin; these are the BEST hot rodder/racer stories I have ever seen![^]
Simply GREAT! [^]

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[StudeRich]

Erin; these are the BEST hot rodder/racer stories I have ever seen![^]
Simply GREAT! [^]

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[JRoberts]

Great stories!
I'm surprised the Lark wasn't fast enought however. I remember reading a story after I got my first Studebaker, a '59 Lark hardtop. The story was about a police department somewhere that had just added a new '59 or '60 Lark to its fleet of patrol cars. There was one car in town that the department was never able to catch. It was an Oldsmobile Rocket 88 or 98 (I don't remember which). Well, it seemed that nobody on the force wanted to be assigned to the Lark. It was too small and obviously to slow. One evening a young officer who had the bad luck to draw the Studebaker for his ride that night came across the Oldsmobile that the force had been uunable to apprehend. Begrudgingly the officer gave chase and much to his surprise, he kept up with the Olds. Finally the driver of the Olds simply pulled over. He later confessed that he could not out run the Studebaker patrol car and was nervous when the officer kept ramming him to nudge him into submission!

I wish I could remember where I read that article, but as a Lark owner I was impressed. As a Lark driver I could see it happening.
Joe Roberts

[JRoberts]

Great stories!
I'm surprised the Lark wasn't fast enought however. I remember reading a story after I got my first Studebaker, a '59 Lark hardtop. The story was about a police department somewhere that had just added a new '59 or '60 Lark to its fleet of patrol cars. There was one car in town that the department was never able to catch. It was an Oldsmobile Rocket 88 or 98 (I don't remember which). Well, it seemed that nobody on the force wanted to be assigned to the Lark. It was too small and obviously to slow. One evening a young officer who had the bad luck to draw the Studebaker for his ride that night came across the Oldsmobile that the force had been uunable to apprehend. Begrudgingly the officer gave chase and much to his surprise, he kept up with the Olds. Finally the driver of the Olds simply pulled over. He later confessed that he could not out run the Studebaker patrol car and was nervous when the officer kept ramming him to nudge him into submission!

I wish I could remember where I read that article, but as a Lark owner I was impressed. As a Lark driver I could see it happening.
Joe Roberts

[63larkr1]

I think that was in TW.
Richard

[63larkr1]

I think that was in TW.
Richard