Studebaker valuation question

C Body Bob

Old Man with a Hat
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In my travels I find a lot of cool stuff. And sometimes I buy things. Well yesterday I was videoing a guys private collection of automobiles & he had this original unrestored 59 Studebaker Silver Hawk. He’s thinning down his collection & wants to sell this one. Now I know I can do endless internet research , Hagerty & others but I want real world experience from guys like you who value & appreciate the collector car market in the real world, not the maddening auction world. So he says it runs & drives but not road worthy. Coolant leak, oil leak(s) terrible amateur repair on both fender dog legs & lower front quarters. Likely from rust. Trunk floor looked good. New sending unit in the back seat. Top of back seat torn badly. Red paint faded with primer showing in spots. Repairable kink in the hood & a dent near that as well. He’s asking 5 thousand or make an offer. I know these old Studes have a love it or hate it styling but just wanting to know your emotional free judgement on its value. I did make a video that I’ll post up to my channel but for now here are a few photographs
 
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So it's been a while since I've really been around the Studebaker world, but $5K sounds like a realistic starting point. As I was looking at the pics, before I saw the price, I was thinking that's a $4-5K car. It really depends on your goal with this car. If you would be buying it to flip, it's most likely not going to worth the time and effort.

Completely restored this car is a $20K car. It will cost more than that for the restoration, not including labor. These Studebakers are much like our big MoPars in parts availability, market value, and the small group of weird and crazy people who like them. Just FYI, Studebaker people are original parts kind of people, and don't accept modifications/swaps very well.

Here's one (restored) that just sold in November 2020 for $23,000
1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk

Side note; Studebaker people are notoriously tight/cheap. They will sit around one-upping each other at meets about how they saved a buck here, and a buck there. Nothing wrong with that, and they have the money to pay for the things they want, but you should expect to fight hard to get that extra dollar bill out of their hand. :lol:
 
So it's been a while since I've really been around the Studebaker world, but $5K sounds like a realistic starting point. As I was looking at the pics, before I saw the price, I was thinking that's a $4-5K car. It really depends on your goal with this car. If you would be buying it to flip, it's most likely not going to worth the time and effort.

Completely restored this car is a $20K car. It will cost more than that for the restoration, not including labor. These Studebakers are much like our big MoPars in parts availability, market value, and the small group of weird and crazy people who like them. Just FYI, Studebaker people are original parts kind of people, and don't accept modifications/swaps very well.

Here's one (restored) that just sold in November 2020 for $23,000
1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk

Side note; Studebaker people are notoriously tight/cheap. They will sit around one-upping each other at meets about how they saved a buck here, and a buck there. Nothing wrong with that, and they have the money to pay for the things they want, but you should expect to fight hard to get that extra dollar bill out of their hand. :lol:
Man that blue car is nice
 
One of the saddest things to happen in my lifetime was Studebaker going out of business. They had some innovations, like the Lark that was the first real American compact car. Not to mention the Avanti which would have been a huge had the production volume been up to the booked sales.
 
Big Blue notes Stude drivers are notoriously cheap; yeah even on the Studebaker Drivers Club forum they call each other CASOs (Cheap *** Studebaker Owers). But from what I've seen haunting that site (I used to own a Lark), $5k seems about right. Parts availability for these I think actually tends to be markedly better than for same vintage Mopars as South Bend had a large cache of NOS parts on hand when the maker met its maker.

Studebaker Vendors Web Site Parts Directory
 
Parts availability for these I think actually tends to be markedly better than for same vintage Mopars as South Bend had a large cache of NOS parts on hand when the maker met its maker.

Yeah, we've dealt with those guys a lot years ago. Parts for post WWII Studes are readily available, with the exception of certain things. I can get more parts, and at a more reasonable price, for a '55 President than I can for my '65 New Yorker.

BTW, what year Lark? Maybe an R2?
 
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I wish an R2! It was a modest little '60 four-door. But it did have a Hawk 289, Hawk seats (yeah, not the most original) and the wonderfully fun 3 speed with overdrive on the tree. Surprisingly fast little number. Not the engineering marvel that Valiant represented but comfortable and rugged.
 
These hawks used the same basic body tub from 1953 through the GT hawks of 1964. Amazing parts interchange. Even the rear quarter panels bolted on and the removable fins will bolt to any 53-64, except the Lark.
The body tub and floors were prone to rust. Even cars with clean looking exterior body panels can be a rust bucket, Check carefully.
 
Also note that the V-8 cars command higher prices than the 6 cyl models, for what ever that is worth. Check the underside carefully as there is probably some hidden rust as noted.

Dave
 
Also note that the V-8 cars command higher prices than the 6 cyl models, for what ever that is worth. Check the underside carefully as there is probably some hidden rust as noted.

Dave
It looks like a pretty complete car. They were all notorious for rust in that fender dog leg. If you were to buy it, joining the Studebaker Drivers club
would help to find parts. I grew up in the South Bend area and the thought was South Bend will dry up and blow away, when they shut down the South
Bend plant in December of 63. Merry Christmas. A V-8 car would be a plus.
 
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