"Speedster" Wheel Cover Cut Off Date

[345 DeSoto]

The VIN on my Sky Hawk ends in 0913. Would the wire wheel covers with it have come from the Factory?...

[6hk71400]

There is an accessory code listed on the production order for the covers that would answer that question. That being said, I do remember a 57 Silver Hawk running around my high school area with Speedster covers on it. As I understand, a dealer could order and place the covers on a car for a customer.

As far as I know, Speedsters were the only car that had the covers standard.

Bob Miles
Tucson AZ
Home of Lazarus

[StudeRich]

Keep in mind Tony, that the Body Number was never or seldom used for any start and stop changes, Studebaker only used Car Serial Numbers and Engine Numbers for running changes on non-Avantis.

I guess that makes sense since the Body Number was not used for any actual Car Line Sequencing.

[studegary]

I believe that you would need the production date to know if the wire covers are correct for your car. The cut-off was date based. I recently posted a link to that information in another thread/topic. Search for it (I am not going to do it). They went from the wire type to the spoke type about mid-model year (1956).

Your production order would state if they came with the car as built (from the factory). They could have been a correct option from the dealer if the car's date is before the cut-off date.

Your piece of a Serial Number ("VIN") gives me no clue. The 1956 Golden Hawks had their own numbering. 1956 Sky Hawks were included with Presidents. I can't even tell which plant, of three, your car was assembled in based on what you provided.

[studegary]

Those wire covers were standard equipment on 1955 Speedsters, but a factory option on most other cars from 1953 through mid-1956 model year.
Some refer to them as Speedster covers because they were standard equipment, as most other options were, on 1955 Speedsters.

[StudeRich]

The Wire Wheel Covers were discontinued in 1956 and were replaced by the AC-2700 Spoke Type Wheel Cover.


FULL COVERAGE - THE WHEELCOVER STORY
By Frank Ambrogio

WIRE WHEEL (AC-2425)
The wire wheel option AC-2425 had been available since 1953 and was standard equipment on the 1955 Speedster. Many people, in fact, refer to it as the "Speedster Wheelcover". Sometime in late 1955 or early 1956, production on this Wheelcover was discontinued and this option ceased to be available.