If you like personal luxury coupes with a sporting bent, 1963 was one of the best years for the American auto industry. With the well-established T-Bird, the upstart Riviera, Pontiac’s dashing Grand Prix, and Studebaker’s last attempts to stay solvent (on the automobile side, anyway), the GT Hawk and the Avanti, you had an all-star lineup of aesthetic wonders. While the GT Hawk couldn’t shake Studebaker’s stench of death, selling only 4,634 units, it was still a remarkably handsome design considering its early ’50s genesis. Some GT Hawks are even more special; the owner of this R2-powered Gran Turismo says that it was originally a New York Auto Show display model and currently has 48,268 miles on the odometer. Our friend T.J. has been working overtime finding some interesting iron, and he found this car on craigslist in Springfield, Oregon, for a healthy $39,995 obo.
What makes this show car a little more special than the average GT is its powertrain: the supercharged 289 R2 with a four-speed manual and “Twin-Traction” limited-slip differential. Studebaker rated the R2 at 289 horsepower (although some sources round up to 290), and the engine and supercharger in this car were rebuilt sometime back in the 1980s; the car has only been driven 3,682 miles since. It’s a bit tight under the long hood of this Hawk; with the supercharger, power steering, and giant fan shroud, you’ll earn your money to make the flat-rate scale.
What interior color harmonizes the best with a black exterior, especially on early 1960s American cars? Yes, it’s red, and the reupholstered red buckets and red door panels almost look as if they were done by a custom shop back when the car was new, but that was the factory look. The woodgrain dashboard has a full complement of gauges, including a tachometer and clock. The red carpet is also new.
The current owners have had the bumpers rechromed, but the implication is that most of the exterior is original, and if that’s the case, it’s been exceptionally well-maintained over the years. Even if it’s not, this is a beautiful example of a beautiful car. I’ve seen prices all over the place for ’62 to ’64 Hawks; few of them approach the nearly 40 grand the owner of this one is asking, but few of them have the supercharged powerplant, attractive color scheme, and overall condition that this one can brag of. I’m personally in love with GT Hawks; they’re one of my few remaining “bucket list” cars. This one’s a little too nice (I prefer a well-worn driver) and too pricey for my wallet, but if you want one of the best, this may be it.
WOW. Just, WOW 8^)
82 AC3180 L on the build sheet means air conditioning? How else to explain that “thingy” in front of the battery?
I believe that is the power brake booster.
https://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~0001003a~AAJUP~~~~~~~0001003a
AC was not available on supercharged Studebakers because the AC compressor goes in the same space where the supercharger is mounted.
This is an amazing update to what is basically a 1953 car. Studebaker was the only car company that could do more with less than even AMC could!
I find it interesting that so many folks comment on how the GT Hawk was basically an upgraded 1953 car. That’s only 10 years! Many, many cars on the road today are designs that span more than 10 years. Changing them every couple or 3 years was a stupid, expensive idea back in the 50’s, and besides— Studebaker’s design was very good. They drove well, and lasted many thousands of miles. I mean, think about it. Do you consider a 2015 car “outdated” now?
@Kenny – back then changes in automotive design were rapid. If you compare 1953 “Big 3” cars to their 1963 equivalents the differences are quite large. By 1963 even AMC was abandoning the designs of 10 years prior. (Compare a 1953 Nash to a 1963 Rambler Classic or Ambassador.)
Porsche 356 ran 17 years: 1948 to 1965
The AC prefix was used for accessories. In this case the “AC3180 L” means left hand side view “strato-vue” mirror. Awesome example.
This is just stunning!! Black with a red interior is like the equivalent of a car wearing a tux. These have beautiful lines, I always thought Studebaker did a great job on them. And not only does it look good, but the Supercharged 289 and a 4 speed to give performance to back up its handsome good looks to boot. Absolutely beautiful.
The first time I saw one of these, it was in person. It was almost a religious experience for me. One of the sexiest automobiles ever made.
In my opinion this car was way ahead of it’s time, design wise.
82 AC3180 L was the style door mirror left side
With a car this nice it should have the correct wheelcovers instead of 62s.
They did not have much of an audience when new, and, as us old farts die off, even fewer fans will remain. Bottom line, a great car if you don’t need A/C, but values will probably slowly drop over the decades to come, adjusted for inflation. Even with supercharger will be out accelerated by almost all EV’s and most turbo charged gas vehicles. Subaru’s will beat it around any corner, Civics and Sentras will go 85 all day and this will probably overheat. Cars have come a long way in 65 years.
But they don’t LOOK like that.
WOW – the real deal and a beauty along with all the documentation – asking price seems very reasonable for a serious collector.
I’m with Aarpn on this..definite bucket list car for me too and this one..well if I had $40,000 in disposible cash and a nice place to keep it it would be mine. I love these normally but black and red, supercharged and four speed..just perfect. Thanks for making my day Aaron..
What Studebaker did with a 1953 design in 10 years is impressive.
Yep….and those C-10 Chevy trucks went from 1973 to 1986 without too much – even further into the 1990’s with the Suburbans………
I’ve got a Blaze Red 62 sitting in my garage now, waiting for my Nova to quit draining my bank account! Like several other folks who’ve posted on this thread, i think the GT Hawks are one of best looking cars in all of “auto-dom”.and all the more amazing that design dates from early 50s. Engines are bulletproof, automatic trannys are ancestor of Ford’s Cruise-o-matic so lot’s of shops can work on ’em, parts are easy to get and relatively cheap, plus they’re easy to work on. This one is about the best one I’ve ever seen, and well worth the asking price in my opinion.
VERY NICE! I don’t recall the price difference between the R1 and R2 Hawks. I bought my white w/red interior ’63 Hawk R1 s/n 63V-4868 in May of 1963. Equipped with Flite O Matic 3 speed, PS, R&H and WW the dealer price was $3728.57 less my trade. To complete the front end’s Euro look, I installed a set of Lucas SLR576 long range pencil beam/SFT576 fog flat beam auxiliary lamps on the bumper guards. Where to locate the lamp switches was solved by removing the console ash tray and making a stainless steel insert with independent switches for each lamp.
The Hawk’s performance and handling was very good for a domestic car of that era but, as Road & Track advised, don’t try to closely follow a well driven Alfa Romeo into a decreasing radius turn. My Hawk ate mufflers. When the factory warranty expired, I found a muffler shop with a lifetime warranty. The manager seemed to hide whenever I pulled into his shop. The car served me well with no mechanical issues. When I found another 4 wheeled beauty, my Hawk went to a family member who kept it for 9 years.
After 62 years, the Hawk’s lines still look great. If only I had a 3 car garage!
This is a beauty, in wonderful shape. Did the Studebaker body designers get into the plans for the 1964 Facel Vega coupe by any chance? I see a lot of similarities in proportion and “look.” https://youtu.be/WkrQG-Np848
Definite hints of Facel Vega and Mercedes..incredibly European looking for an American car at the time..just lovely
The Mercedes influence was almost certainly intentional, as Studebaker-Packard Corporation was the North American distributor for Mercedes-Benz at the time.
Disk Brakes also…….
very nice. lot of money but a lot of car. good luck
Holy Moly.. yet another car I had no idea even existed. When I saw the pic my first thought was it was European.. imagine my surprise to find it’s a Studebaker! I want one.. I’ll cruising in style down the boulevard with a big smile on my face. :-)
I’ve owned and/or restored several GT Hawks over 30 years, and remember seeing photos of this car at the NYC auto show [If I remember correctly, the other GT Hawk at the show was red with black interior].
The only “fault” I can spot on the car is the steering wheel horn button, instead of the Hawk emblem, it has one with the Lark emblem.
Good to hear from you again, sir.
Nevada, Thanks for the kind words, I had some medical issues that are under control now, along with a set of new eyes, courtesy of some top-notch cataract surgery. Now I can see, type, and read again!
Perhaps the best redesign of the hawk series without the tacked on fins, but I still wish I still had my very first car, a 53 Commander Starliner in the same black over red. Studebaker hit it out of the park in 53.
I own 3 late ‘50’s Hawks, and after looking them over closely, I’ve never found any “tacks” on the fins. Hmmm…