A lot of us dream about finding a car such as this 1963 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk in this condition hiding away in someone’s garage. While it needs a full restoration or at least a full refurbishment, it looks complete and in fairly good condition overall. This Hawk can be found here on craigslist in Mazeppa, Minnesota, just north of Rochester, home of the famous Mayo Clinic. The seller is asking $4,500 for this great project car. Thanks to Roger for sending in this tip!

The Rose Mist paint has seen better days but it’s nice to see this car in what looks like mostly original condition. The seller mentions that the previous owners of this car stored it indoors for decades. Although there is rust in the rear trunk area and some rust by the doors due to damp carpets, there is no structural rust. It’s looking better all the time.

I wouldn’t do a thing to the paint other than clean it, at least for now. Although, that color is pretty amazing when it’s like new. A car like this deserves a full restoration but even given the semi-solid condition that this car is in, it won’t be inexpensive. $50,000 maybe? The next owner will be upside down unless they can do most of the work her/himself. Hagerty is at $28,700 for a #2 excellent condition car and it wouldn’t take long for a restoration shop to hit that number, maybe the halfway point?

The interior looks rough, fabric and carpet-wise, but those things are fixable. Missing parts and pieces would be the big thing and this car looks complete. The driver’s cockpit is a thing of beauty. You can see that this car has a column-shifted automatic which may be the least desirable transmission configuration available in this car. A 4-speed manual is the most desirable and valuable and there was also a floor-actuated Powershift automatic available. Apparently, the vinyl seats in the ’63 Hawks was a lot better than it was in the ’62 Hawks, although you can tell that everything inside will need to be restored anyway. I would love to have this car to the point where the interior was the only thing left to do.

The big deal with this car, other than it appearing to be complete and in very restorable condition, is the fantastic R1 engine from the Avanti. This 289 V8 was a special order – the Jet Thrust R1 with 240 hp. The next one up was the supercharged R2 with 289 hp and the ultimate was the low-production 305 cubic-inch supercharged V8 R3 with 335 hp. There is no word on if this R1 engine runs or even turns over, the seller doesn’t talk about the mechanical condition at all. One quick phone call will answer your questions. I hope that someone restores this car back to like-new condition again.