The Gran Turismo was the finale in a long line of Hawks brought to market by Studebaker. Its production ran from 1962 through 1964. The styling was a departure from prior Hawks, drawing on cues from the Mercedes Benz in its pronounced radiator-shaped grille, and the Thunderbird in its roof line and the chrome strips along the top crease of the body line. And (alas) the fins of the 1950s were finally jettisoned. The interior was updated as well, with a more visible arrangement of gauges. Bucket seats were standard. Despite the facelift, the GT Hawk sales numbers were only a small fraction of close competitors such as the Thunderbird, making these cars somewhat rare. Here on craigslist is a 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk for sale, with an asking price of $6,000 located in Tom’s River, New Jersey. T.J. – thanks again for the tip!
The GT Hawk came with a 289 cu. in. V8. Either two-barrel or four-barrel carburetors were offered; depending on carburetion horsepower ranged from 210 to 225 bhp. This car is equipped with the optional four-speed floor shift. Zero to sixty times were not great, at slightly over 11 seconds for the four-barrel/four-speed combination. These numbers helped explain the slack sales: Studebaker’s competition was achieving much better performance. (Later GTs were given punchier engines, while their relative – the Avanti – benefited from supercharged versions of the 289.) The seller indicates that this car ran when parked some fifteen years ago. No word on the current state of the mechanicals. The odometer reads 65,304 miles.
The interior shows the wear typically evident when a car has been neglected – missing door panels, torn upholstery, worn windlace. This is a Twin-Traction car, which refers to the Dana/Spicer limited slip differential offered as an option on several iterations of the Hawk. The “TT” emblem is found on the gas filler door in ’62.
Another distinctive feature of the ’62 GT Hawk was the rear “grille” panel. This panel was altered for the 1963 model year and completely disappeared in 1964 in favor of an unadorned trunk lid. This car has minor rust all around; we don’t know about the undercarriage but it’s a good bet there’s rust there too. The tires will probably need to be replaced. The hubcaps and glass look good. Prices on these cars haven’t moved in some years; high-average cars sell in the mid-teens. That limits the headroom here unless you plan a major restoration, which can bring values up substantially. Maybe reconditioning the mechanicals is enough here. What do you think?
Well if that was the concrete floor barn this GT Hawk was stored in all those years that’s a big plus. IMO considering this is a factory 4-speed Twin-Traction rear equipped GT Hawk I think it’s a potentially great buy and don’t expect it to be available for long.
If those are the tires it was wearing when it went into the barn, add new ones to your budget for sure.
I always love the “ran when parked” line. Yep. Just didn’t want to fix that turn signal, so we parked her for a couple decades.
Lots of potential. More stupid money talk… I can picture this in white diamond or black metallic with a rich tobacco brown leather interior, black carpet with the metallic threads, beef up the 289 hp, thinner white wall tires, 4 wheel disc brakes….
This car was a beauty. Too bad it was so badly neglected, there is literally nothing it does not need. A money pit.
Studebakers, starting in 1953, had water drains at the leading edge of the door skin, the drains were only about 2″ long and 1/16″ wide, hence they quickly stopped up. If not cleaned out with a knife on a regular basis, they could fill up with several inches of water, that if allowed to stay, could cause rust problems like what I see in these doors. Plan on replacing these doors.
In the mid 1980s I had an elderly customer who bought her 1964 Studebaker Commander [6 cyl & O.D.] 2-door sedan new. She was a school teacher who spent summers in Maryland, and taught school in Florida the rest of the year, so the car sat unused outside in Maryland all during the school months. I would check over the car after Memorial day each year, making sure it was ready for her to use.
Her drains would clog up every winter, so eventually the lower outer door skins had rusted away, and the overflowing water had caused the interior door panels to disintegrate. Standing outside as she drove past me, I could literally watch her feet as she used the clutch and brake pedals! Every fall just before boarding the train south, she would take old metal signs & put them against the inside of the doors, held in place with bricks. She said this was to keep the squirrels out!
And did I mention she was very frugal? LOL
Guess I got a good deal on mine, which I bought a couple of months ago for a similar price. Mine was frame off restored maybe 15 years ago, not quite finished, running off a gas candle to an inch of ethanol sludge in the tank. Put a new tank in, new carb and distributor and she runs like a top. Equipped just like this one with 289 2 barrel, 4 speed, Twin Traction, Ermine White paint (high driver quality). Needed new tires and a lot of small stuff, but it’s nearing “local car show” quality with under 10K invested.
If you bought the ‘62 GT Hawk for $25 buy it now, rather than this one, you’d be money ahead. This one needs everything.
Note to all flippers. At least take it off the trailer to take photos. Although by leaving it on at least it tells the world “flipper beware”.
100% agree !