Every cloud has a... Silver Hawk?

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Here in England, snow has fallen in some areas and summer still feels an age away. Weather like this doesn't exactly inspire thoughts of happy motoring, but it does put us an mind of an interesting little photograph we found in our archive.

It's a bleak scene, no doubt about that, with the remains of a snowfall turning into ice and slush, and the background is pretty grim. The picture appears to have been taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s, when poor-quality, high-density housing was spurting up everywhere and scarring Britain's historic towns and countryside. Forty years later, many tower blocks such as these would be neglected and crime-ridden, with a large number condemned to demolition.

Even so, when they were new they had a certain novelty, and the thought of living 20 storeys high seemed like an exciting and futuristic development. Perhaps that's why the young lady in these pictures is so happy. We suspect, though, that the real reason for her broad grin is her natty set of wheels.

In stark contrast to the austere landscape, she's found herself a car which exudes style and glamour. It's a Studebaker Silver Hawk, built between 1957 and 1961, which was an expensive and uncommon car in its native America. In Britain, it would have been unspeakably exotic. Celebrated both for its beautiful, European-influenced styling by Raymond Loewy's design team and its sporty, responsive handling, it was a true 'personal luxury' car for the wealthy and young-at-heart.

Though models were made for export with right-hand drive, they would never have sold in large numbers in Britain, and what the background story to this photograph is remains a mystery to us. Feel free to have a guess, though - we'd be interested to hear your comments and suggestions.

Words: Zack Stiling; picture: Stiling collection
 

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