Do you have a welder? How about a lot of experience in cutting and welding and metalwork, in general? If you do, this 1962 Studebaker Gran Tourismo Hawk could be for you. It’s listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $2,500! And, making that price even more enticing is that it’s an original car with its original V8 and 4-speed manual transmission! Did that get your attention? It’s located in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina.
This is a somewhat polarizing design, perhaps a little ungainly but then again elegant, sleek, and chic at the same time. The unusual, pronounced, somewhat faux radiator treatment was inspired by, and most likely a nod to, Mercedes-Benz cars, which at the time were being distributed by Studebaker in the US. I’m personally more of a Lark or Lark Wagon guy, but I would not mind a big, fancy, GT Hawk! My favorite angle, or design, of this car is the rear deck and related treatment; that’s just cool.
Here’s where most of your cutting and welding skills will be utilized. The entire floor structure will most likely have to be cut out and replaced. This one must have been sitting on the ground or something to be this rusty. Wow, that’s scary rust. But, anything can be repaired and this is a rare car with the factory 4-speed; it’s worth saving. The rocker panels are rusty but maybe it’s not fatal rust like the floors? It’s hard to tell until a person starts poking around in there.
GAAA! Whew, I should have warned you first, sorry about that. That’s one scary-looking floor, or what’s left of the floor. I know that some of you have repaired and restored vehicles in much worse shape than this one so this is obviously fixable. And, for me, it all goes back to that factory 4-speed making it a very desirable and savable car.
In decoding the VIN, it shows that this engine is a 259 cubic-inch V8? From everything that I’ve read about the GT Hawk, the 289 V8 was basically a stroked 259 and was the only engine option in 1962. It had 210 hp or, for $22, a buyer could have added a 4-barrel carburetor giving it 225 hp. Strange. Whatever engine it is, and it definitely doesn’t look like it has a 4-barrel so I’m assuming the 210 hp 289, it’ll need work. The seller is “NOT sure if the car runs or drives! So NO you can NOT drive it home!!!!!!!!” Alrighty then. Look for a total, nut-and-bolt restoration here, making this a very expensive car when you’re done. Hagerty lists a #2 “excellent” car as being valued at $32,200 so maybe there’s room here if the next owner does a lot of the work. Are there any former or current owners of a GT Hawk out there? Is this one a good price?
I have some old street signs that would be perfect patch panels for the floor! Yeah…you’ve all done it. Guilty!!!
My street signs got left behind at the ex wife’s.
Aren’t street signs aluminium?
Think of it as “weight reduction”.
This would be a great source of the parts you’d need to convert your automatic Hawk or Lark. Otherwise, I’m afraid it’s not worth much.
I think I’d have to strip the good parts where it sits and haul them home, if you tried to tow it you might get home with half a car. I like these, but there’s not much left here to save.
So Much rust is not fun :-(
So better a non matching no. Drive train.
Shame.
And if its also a non runner, so are 2500$ in another car better
Good for a parts car for under $900.
Don’t let the man ( or woman) see those street signs in the floor. It’s illegal to remove them.This car is pretty fried. The clean looking shifter looks out of place with the deterioration around it. It’s strange, Studebaker still used the brake master under the drivers feet. I love a Hawk, but I’d pass on this one.
Studebaker’s last new “clean sheet” car came in the early 50’s. After that, there were few changes to anything but the sheet metal. Even the Lark was not “all new”. It was a shortened version of an earlier model.
I’ve said it before. Same underpinnings from 1953 till the end. 54 got bigger brakes and an extra frame stiffening and that’s it.
I never knew until a few years ago that the master cylinder was located where it was on these. I’m a fan of reading old newspaper articles, & in a article about 1961, there was a story of police pulling over a car in North Carolina for not making complete stops. It turned out the brakes lines were shot, & the passenger was pouring brake fluid into the cylinder as they drove. I wondered online how you could do that, & a friend of mine told me where they were on these cars. He should know, his Dad had a ’55 President Speedster. (bought ‘er new) & had until he passed.
Classic enterprise makes all the patch panels for these,of good quality too. I restored a 62 gt,also a 54 Commander coupe,basically same car. if the frame is solid,not that big a deal. Many Hawks,like this one,didn’t come with the full dash,meaning the clock and tach. I just cut out the holes and added them to mine. Its the 289,i don’t think the 259 was available in Hawks in 62,unless for export.
Scotty, the first time I read this I bought you said “obviously flexible” in reference to the amount of rust, not “obviously fixable.” I think both are correct in this instance…
If you have not restored one of these in the past you should know that this is very thick metal compared to new cars and yes the frame carries all the structural weight so while this looks awful it is not that bad. Just time consuming to cut out properly and replace.
There is a large and very useful Studebaker club that can give you excellent sources for all the parts you need for this Hawk. Including the floor patch panels.
I have seen this car in red, black and both a light and dark blue. My favorite is the dark blue color. There is something about the panels and that color that make this car really pop out from the background from other cars. Especially new ones.
They drive well and are basically very reliable but I would caution to get a new wiring harness so you do not have old wires losing insulation and burning up you beauty prize after you are finished. If I were to compare this to a more modern car it would be a mix between a 1970’s era Camero and a Mercedes 560SEC. Much more room than the Camero not as finished as the SEC, but very nice to use even as a daily driver.
Back in high school a buddy had a rusty old Jeep. Cruised around late one night looking for some road signs to patch all the holes. 4 guys in a CJ doesn’t leave room for much else so the signs were being stuck up between the soft top and its bows. Of course the first cop to see 4 kids in a rusty, muddy Jeep at 1:00 am had to pull us over and check things out. After 10 minutes of interrogation and shining his light around inside he let us go, though you could tell he knew we were up to something. We were all scarred Sh*$$#@ss at the time but never laughed so hard afterwards. Still cant believe he didn’t see them. The good old days!
I agree with Bruce. I’m a Studie guy ,I got 3 and a little biased but if I didn’t have a fully restored 64 I would be tempted to take this one on
When I take my Hawk to car shows there is always a crowd around it because it’s different than anything in the show. Hawks were built for 3 years and there were less than 12,000 built in all 3 years. When compared to other manufacturers they were rare when new. Well worth saving especially considering the price.
I am pretty sure that the Seller researched the WRONG Number to determine the Engine Size.
All Serial Numbers on Eight Cylinder V8 Studebakers are “V” starting Alpha, but the Engine Serial Number he/she should have been looking at, would be a “P” for President 289! And it likely IS a 289 as built.
The 259 Engines however, are coded with a “V”.