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Supercharged: 1963 Studebaker GT Hawk R2

This is a “Jet Thrust” Gran Turismo with a supercharged R2 289 hp engine and a 4 speed transmission. Studebaker took its V-8 and added big-chamber low-compression truck cylinder heads and a Paxton SN-60 centrifugal supercharger giving the engine at up to 6 psi boost. The R2 Hawks also had several suspension and brake upgrades including front disc brakes, anti-roll bars and heavy-duty springs . This Hawk has been sitting since 1989 after the hood blew open while driving. It was originally silver, so perhaps that’s a little original paint showing through in places where it’s not rusty. This Hawk is listed on craigslist in College Station, Texas for $7,500. The engine turns, but does not run.

This blurry picture of the interior is all the seller has provided but it looks promising from what we can see.

There are less than 1,000 Hawks of all model left today and the R2 Superhawks are much more rare. For Studebaker fans this hard to find Stude is promising. There are no pictures of the engine, but it turns and hopefully it is the original engine. If there are no serious issues with the car, this could be a great find but even minimal restoration might well run beyond beyond its value. Unlike the Big 3, there are very few of these that are available for sale so this might be a treasure to a Studebaker devotee.

Comments

  1. Avatar Gunner

    Gone, gone, gone!

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  2. Avatar Ben T. Spanner

    I went with my father to the Pittsburgh auto show in late 1961. I could not understand why he would not consider a maroon over tan Studebaker GT. Instead, he ordered a 1962 Dodge 880 Convertible. Luckily the order was screwed up and he ended up with a Pontiac Catalina convertible.

    I did ride 120 miles in one of these at high speed. Still would like one.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Ed P

    The Hawks are one of my favorite cars. If this car had been a GM product, it would have sold like hot cakes.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Frank Opalka

    have one, love it

    Like 0
  5. Avatar lawrence

    Saw this weeks ago….damn if my lotto ticket was a dud….hell it’s right down the street !

    Like 0
  6. Avatar tugdoc

    Do the earlier low profile hoods fit these later cars?
    Back in the day I had a 58 Rebel wagon with a 327 (Rambler) and had a great time racing a R2 Lark on 82 ave in Portland. One light to the next, it was about 50/50. What a great time street racing. Lucky that young man and myself didn’t become cell mates!

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  7. Avatar Nova Scotian

    This would look killer in pitch black!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Jeff DeWitt

    Love the Hawks, my first car was a 60 Hawk.

    There is a bit more to an R2 engine than a truck head and a blower. They also have a different carb (sealed), cam and timing gear, plus of course like every Studebaker V8 ever built it has a forged crank, connecting rods, and solid lifters.

    In answer to Tugdoc’s question yes you can make the earlier hood work but you really wouldn’t want to, it would look really weird with the square GT roof.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    As to the hood problem – this happens way too much. I’ve had a couple of GT Hawks, and I always threaded a leather belt around the grill openings, bumper and then back underneath, and several times I discovered the hood latch had failed. One of the Studebaker parts suppliers has crafted a pair of strengthening plates to weld onto the inside of the hood between the hood edge and the hood hinge.

    This car sold very fast, especially at that price. Had I known about the car, I may very well have bought it myself. I’ve had a total of 6 Hawks from 1956 to 1964, including a 63 GT R-2 with 4-speed. I miss not having a Hawk in the garage. Back in the early 70s I used to run the 1/4 mile* with the stock R-2 Hawk, against stock Camaros, Mustangs, Rebels, and some foreign cars, and I almost always stayed in the lead. Paid $600 for the GT Hawk in near perfect, low mileage condition in 1972. Back then no one wanted a Studebaker unless it was an Avanti.

    *Ran the 1/4 mile out on public streets, way out in the country, late at night [gasp!]

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Skip

    Nice old Hawk! Until a few days ago I hadn’t seen one of these in many years. But I was driving down 42nd St. in Odessa Saturday and spotted one sitting in a drive. But it was a real basket case. Anyone in West Texas wanting to see it; it’s on 42nd St. just east of Dixie on the south side of the street.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Matt

    It is extraordinarily unlikely that there are fewer than a thousand Hawks of all models left today. Hawks began with the ’56 line of Hawks (Golden Hawk etc), just became regular Hawks in ’60, and continued through ’64. The Studebaker Hawk Registry, which apparently no longer exists, claimed knowledge of about 900 surviving Gran Turismo (GT) Hawks, and that may have been what you were thinking of– but those are only the ones they knew about.

    Like 0

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