A Show to Benefit First Responders

The 5th Annual Back the Heroes Rumble Car Show, an event designed to raise money to benefit first responders by purchasing life saving equipment for them, drew well over 100 different vehicles. One particular automobile was a beautiful 1961 Studebaker Hawk. By 1960 the storied Studebaker company was in desperate shape. Sales had been slipping and the cost to develop and manufacture new models was more than they could handle. Add to that a nationwide steel strike that hampered production of all automakers and Studebaker was very close to having to shut its doors. The lone bright spot was their compact Lark which, through the late 1950s, was selling very well. There was talk of stopping production of other models, including the Hawk line which had been around since 1956. As fate would have it, though, the Big Three (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors) all introduced compact cars in 1960 and that deeply cut into Lark sales. The Hawk was saved, at least until Studebaker closed its American plant in 1963. Also at the Back the Heroes Rumble was a 1968 Ford Galaxie, a 1964 Chevy Nova, a first generation Corvette, a first generation Thunderbird, and a 1974 Dodge Challenger.