On this page, I've listed each of the options which were shown on 1956 Golden Hawk production orders. The number of cars produced in both South Bend and Los Angeles is shown to the left of each option. Thanks to Dennis Lambert of Newman & Altman for allowing me access to the production orders.

I must also give thanks to Doug Hughes of Westchester, California. Doug is the editor of the Orange Empire Chapter - SDC newsletter, Wheels & Deals. I had read that Doug was compiling a listing of all the AC-NNNN and SP-NNNNN codes assigned by Studebaker-Packard. I could not identify several items on the production orders. Doug was able to supply the description for most of those items.

Only three items on the production orders could not be identified. Two were Los Angeles codes '40' & '82'. As you know, South Bend used the AC-NNNN code while Los Angeles used a two digit system. The other was a South Bend item shown as SP-00056. The 'SP' means the item was used by both Studebaker and Packard.

While researching those production orders, it became increasingly obvious that they do contain many errors. There were also many items listed which raised some questions. Even so, the production orders are the only source that I am aware of for this information.

Several production orders listed Flight-O-Matic transmission. Though the item was crossed out on many of the forms, it was left alone on many others. In this particular instance, I simply lumped all automatic transmissions into one group.

On the other hand, ten cars were listed with the sedan dual rear antenna kit AC-2778. This should, more than likely, be the C-K body kit AC-2775, but I listed this item separately and immediately below the AC-2775 listing.

Eleven cars were shown with the Anti-Creep option, which supposedly was not available on cars with the Ultramatic transmission. I have identified the debatable options by placing their AC-NNNN codes in parentheses and surrounding them with asterisks.

As far as I know, all 1956 Golden Hawks came with the nicely styled white steering wheel. This wheel was optional on the other Hawk models. Still, 42 production orders listed "Deluxe Steering Wheel" among the accessories.

Some of the counts are also distorted because of incomplete listings. No Los Angeles production orders listed the back-up lamp "Switch Kit". These kits were included on cars with automatic transmission, but were added to manual transmission cars with back-up lights.

Also noteworthy is the fact that two of the South Bend production orders were of such poor quality that none of the AC-NNNN numbers could be deciphered. If you've seen a production order, you know that these numbers are listed on the bottom half of the order. I was able to read the top portion which identified the paint, dates, and non 'AC' items such as power steering, transmission and tinted glass, etc.

Although it is not apparent from the following list, some interesting items resulted from this research. One pertains to seat belts. Out of 892 South Bend production orders listing seat belts, 502 (56%) of them were on the first 606 serial numbers. That would mean only 490 of the last 2866 cars produced in South Bend contained seat belts.

For Los Angeles production orders, the percentage was even higher. With 92 showing the seat belt option, 65 (70%) were placed on the first 183 serial numbers. Thus, of the remaining 418 cars produced at Los Angeles, only 27 came with seat belts.

Power steering appeared on 425 (70%) of the 601 cars produced at Los Angeles and 1936 (56%) of the 3472 cars produced in South Bend. On cars equipped with manual transmission, only 192 (24%) of the 786 total, included the power steering option. Of the 3287 cars with automatic transmission, 2169 (66%) included power steering.

Tinted glass appeared on 573 (95%) of 601 Los Angeles production orders and 1590 (46%) of 3472 South Bend production orders.

Despite the inconsistencies mentioned earlier, plus the two incomplete production orders, I think the list will be a useful tool and I hope you find it interesting. This same listing is shown on pages 33-34 of the 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk Authenticity Guide.

It should be remembered that the above list was taken from the original production orders. Although an item was listed on the production order, that doesn't necessarily mean that the car actually was equipped with that item. Conversely, many cars probably had items which never showed up on the production order.

As an example, only 92 production orders listed the various side view mirrors. I'm sure you'll agree that by 1956, side view mirrors were a very popular item. In fact, many owners opted for the mirror on the passenger side also. I started driving in 1956 and I've never owned a car that didn't have at least one side view mirror. I'm sure that dealers installed quite a few mirrors before the customer actually took delivery of the car.

Standard items such as directional signals, cigar lighter, clock, and electric wipers were not always listed. Occasionally, some standard items were specifically deleted.

Still, I think the production orders give a pretty good representation of how each 1956 Golden Hawk was equipped.

So in addition to the standard accessories mentioned above, how did the typical Golden Hawk come equipped in 1956? Automatic transmission, power steering, tinted glass, white wall tires, push button radio with internally controlled antenna, full wheel covers, back-up lamps, and climatizer, were the most often ordered accessories. Windshield washers and power brakes were also high on the list.

This group of accessories, most often, was packaged in a car with either the Ceramic Green/Snowcap White or Sunglow Gold/Snowcap White two tone paint scheme.