The Gran Turismo or GT Hawk was the last variant of the Studebaker Hawk that dated to the mid-1950s. It was only produced in 1962 through 1964, discontinued at Christmas 1963 when the company ceased automobile production in the U.S. The seller’s vehicle is said to be one of only 70 1964 GT Hawks built with a supercharger, which would have added 50 hp. And it has a 4-speed, which would be even harder to find today. Located in Battle Ground, Washington, this running project is available here on eBay where bids will have to exceed $10,000 to break the seller’s reserve.
Studebaker repositioned the Hawk in 1962 as more of a personal luxury car. Styling cues were borrowed from the Ford Thunderbird (formal roofline) and Mercedes-Benz (upright grille), and the name of the car became European to the ear, rebadged as the Gran Turismo (GT). The many changes improved the car’s appearance significantly yet were accomplished on a shoestring budget (a hallmark of Studebaker). Even the tailfins of the 1950s were finally gone.
The financial woes of the company continued to mount in the 1960s, so the new GT Hawk would only be around for three years, with 13,882 copies seeing the light of day, and only 1,484 in the abbreviated 1964 model year. It’s a real shame that the GT Hawk and the Avanti didn’t make the move to Canada after that, but Studebaker as a car builder was gone altogether a couple of years later anyway.
Rarest-of-rare honors for ’64 GT Hawks must go to the supercharged (R2) editions with a 4-speed manual, perhaps only a few dozen rolling off the assembly line in South Bend, Indiana. Like the R1 GT Hawk, these cars had a 289 cubic inch Studebaker V8, but with a lot more gusto. This surviving example has only had three owners, with the seller knowing the history of the car and its prior ownership. For the last four decades, it has been garage-kept, but that wasn’t always the case.
While the Stude does run, it needs some mechanical attention, such as a tune-up. Also, the tires are ancient and can’t be trusted. Recent work performed on the GT includes a new starter solenoid, wheel bearings, fuel hoses, transmission gear oil, and rear brakes. Most of the original Jet Green paint is still there, but it’s thoroughly worn out, and rust shouldn’t be much of a problem (though there is a little).
The upholstery is old and cracking, but the seller has replacement material, and the carpet needs swapping out. At 83,000 miles, parts of the engine are getting worn. The engine smokes when started, leading the seller to speculate that the valve stem seals are brittle. Once this car is refreshed, it should be a treat to drive and even be seen at Studebaker gatherings where you’ll find yourself in rare company with an R2 GT Hawk.
A classic moment in American car history.
This needs desperately to be saved-too, it appears to be all there in core originality so its savior already has the template intact!
Boy howdy, got that right, Nev. Rare supercharged version? Not today, it’s all you see, the seemingly cheese( never heard of Studebaker son, well, it’s supercharged, youngun nodding in then approval) to those that have never been around these cars. Hawks in general were rare. Not sure why. Supercharged ones, in Wisconsins( and Indianas) winters? Not bloody likely. It seemed, Hawks were neat to look at, but nobody I knew in a 10 block radius of my folks house actually had one. I never drove a supercharged Hawk, so I don’t know what drivabilty is like, and I certainly wouldn’t buy one to putt to Walmart, just driving one of the coolest cars made, SLOWLY,, would be good enough for me.
We all think financial problems closed companies such as Packard, Hudson and Studebaker but it was the DC lobbyists being paid under the table and Congressional bribes to support the BIG 3 that acually drove out these smaller elite automakers. The Hawk and the Avanti models are true classics sadly forgotten because of the greed of Chrysler, FORD and GM. Well worth 10k.. go for it!
By the end of the postwar sales boom the independents had the problem of high production costs spread over a declining number of units sold. Which made them comparatively expensive to buy compared to the Big 3. At the same time the independents lacked the capital to develop V8 engines and other tech and keep up with the annual styling changes which were becoming the norm. Hudson’s step down unibody was not economic to restyle so it never was and Packard stayed with flathead straight 8s while the rest of the industry was going to OHV V8s. By 1954 Studebakers cost as much as Buicks but didn’t offer the same name value or resale value. Add in costly mistakes like Hudson’s Jet and Packard’s Ultramatic and the outcome is not surprising. Even Kaiser was done by 1955 while AMC managed to hang on by serving a market the Big 3 didn’t. Not sure how much DC lobbyists had to do with it but in any case there were many factors involved in the independents’ decline and eventual extinction.
There’s a conspiracy theory for everything. Pretty much the same story was told about Tucker. Willys was another small car that was sold in the early 1950s, but it was more expensive than full-size Fords and Chevys. My uncle bought a 1960 Studebaker Lark for my aunt, and it was very basic. My uncle often complained that for the amount the Lark cost he could’ve bought a full-size Ford or Chevy with a radio & sunvisor on the passenger’s side too.
Not sure the number of cars left is correct, the figure I found was 46-47. I would want to see the production order from the factory to verify that the engine/supercharger was original to the car, as you can imagine many have had the blower added.
It’s a 1964 GT……check the production #’s just for them…..think 2500 max…..so you can do the math on the options.
A holy grail car. Great looks, rare, very usable in modern traffic, and fun to drive with the T-10. It really deserves a full restoration, but it would be fun to just rebuild the mechanicals, add some new tires and a Vintage Air unit, and drive it for a while.
Can’t fit an a/c compressor under the hood with the other compressor, that’s why the factory didn’t offer it.
Besides…why would you do that to a very rare car???
They offer kits to do that now since modern compressors can be quite a bit smaller. I still would not add A/C to this car. Deserves to be left stock. Also, this is what is known as a “package” car. You could order just the R2 engine, but the Super Hawk package also came with suspension upgrades.
Back in 1976 I worked for the Navy at the Pentagon. My boss, a Navy captain, had a black on black ’64 r2 4 spd GT Hawk. He offered it to me for the paltry sum of $800. The one that got away.
Id love to quarter mile this Stude…and blast through the gears 😎
There’s a guy in the midwest that’s got a 63 Lark with the same (!) 289 supercharged engine that thought…last time I checked which was a couple of years ago…he could get 9 second quarters out of it. Hes turning 10.0 second quarter mile times now. Look him up on the internet, think he calls it the “Chicken Hawk” Eats Vettes and GTOs for lunch with stock displacement 289 Studebaker engine. Amazing! I’ve got a V8 62 GT Hawk with auto that MIGHT turn a 16 sec quarter.
Yep…..check out the Pure Stock Drags……there’s a Commander in the top 10.
Can’t fit an a/c compressor under the hood with the other compressor, that’s why the factory didn’t offer it.
Besides…why would you do that to a very rare car???
The R4 supercharged 304.5 cu in was offered in the 1964 Super Larks and Hawks, but I believe only one Lark was built and NO Hawks. 9 Avantis were built with the R4.
Studebaker tried to cancel the one Lark after it was ordered, but were obligated to deliver it because it had been paid for in full.
BTW…the reason no R4 Super Hawks were ordered is…the option would’ve pushed the MSRP to nearly $6,000!
That is Ted Harbit. The Chicken Hawk was a 51 starlight coupe witn a 289 twin turbo. It was destored in a accident when a oil line broke. He noow runs a 63 2 door Lark Regal with a R2.
The are no supercharged R4s they had 2 4s. There were no factory R4 Avantis. There were 9 factory R3 Avantis
My bad…you are correct, those are R3s. The R3 is a supercharged 304.5 cu in. The R4 was a 304.5 with 2×4 bbls and the R5 was a 304.5 with twin blowers.
Studebaker made one R3 Super Lark and 9 R3 Avantis.
Please restore to new quality! What a beauty. Pity I’m still poor. And married.
They kinda go together Kurt! I’ve been telling my wife for years that if’ I’d killer her when I first thought about it I’d be outa jail by now!
Henry, that’s sick…but funny. Neat car though, I agree that it totally needs a resto. Be a shame to see another cool orphan be lost.
This doesn’t seem like a car where you to restore all at one time. Start by making it mechanically sound then do cosmetic work as time and money etc allow.
agree….the paint doesn’t look all that bad for a driver….
A sale price under $14K should leave some room for a thorough refreshing or a full restoration depending on the buyer’s preference for a driver or show car. 1964 Hawk R1 and R2 models have recently sold with prices from $25K to $56K.
I traded my ’57Giulietta Spider and took delivery of my ’63 Hawk (S/N 63V-4868) in May of 1963. My Hawk was white with a red vinyl interior and had PS/AT/4 barrel carb/R&H/WW and listed for $3728.57. Unlike today’s BarnFind sale car, mine had bumper guards on the front end. I welded brackets to the inside of the guards and installed a pair of Lucas SLR576 and SFT576 driving lights (long range pencil beam and low flat fog beam). The ashtray in the center console/armrest was removed and replaced with a polished stainless steel insert with 3 toggle switches (a master and one for each lamp) to allow selection of either or both lamps, an ideal combination for long haul redeye road trips or following the white line on back country secondaries. Aside from the practical benefits, IMO the auxiliary lights enhanced the “Euro look” that Brooks Stevens created from the original
Raymond Loewy design.
The 1962, ’63 and ’64 Hawks were good cars, affordable, stylish (IMO, still look good today) and had good road manners although I quickly learned to not attack a decreasing radius turn with the fervor I had when behind the wheel of a Giulietta! That heavy 289 block made its presence known in tight turns. I suspect that the suspension mods of the R1 and R2 improved the handling. Have any BarnFind regulars driven an R1 or R2 and compared its handling to a standard Hawk? What say you?
FWIW, my Hawk served various family members well for 9 years with no need for other than routine servicing and mufflers. Yes, it regularly ate mufflers. I’m sure the local muffler shop that offered a lifetime warranty deeply regretted not excluding Studebakers. And yes, it was also cursed with a weak hood latch that required a modification to assure secure lockup.
A high school buddy in the late 1950’s had a 1953 Studillac. He decided to test its performance on a long straight stretch of highway. I don’t recall what he claimed to be the car’s speed at the time but, the hood latch failed and popped the hood a bit. The wind caught the hood, ripped it off its hinges and it sailed over the roof landing on the roadway some distance behind the car. Somehow the windshield wasn’t damaged. IIRC, he sold the car “as is” and bought an A-H 100-6.
It’ll be interesting to see the final sale price on this Hawk R2!
I would sure love to add this to my collection however I purchased anR1 Avanti with a/c earlier this year and I already have a supercharged Lark and have to store it If I only had endless storage space
I’ve owned several GT Hawks, and worked on many more, but this is the first one I’ve seen without the factory radio, only the radio delete panel in place, with the fake wood grain.
The car has power brakes, and is likely to have the Dunlop disc brake in the front, but the listing doesn’t say. It doesn’t have power steering.
So think about it for a minute;
Supercharged engine, 4-speed, Twin Traction [posi] rear, power discs, no power steering, no radio. Anyone want to guess how the original owner intended to use his new GT Hawk? Perhaps 1/4 mile at a time?
If this was available 25 years ago, I’d be doing some serious bidding, but at my age and with a lack of a place to work and keep it, I have to take a pass.
The Bendix Hydrovac shown in the engine compartment is the one for drum brakes. If it had the Package, it would include a heavier gauge bottom plate on the frame and traction bars as well as the 160 mph speedometer, tach, disc brakes and Twin Traction rear end. (I know this because I have the build sheet for my Lark and it had all those “options” which were not specifically listed. It had the “Package” option: “46A High Perf Pkg.” NOTE: Some people ordered base models with just the R2 since the Package was extra money.
Well folks, not sure where the $10K meets reserve in the article came from, but as of 10-16-2023 it’s at $18,100 and still says reserve not met. I’m guessing that $25K someone mentioned is closer to where this will need to go to sell. It would look great next to my ’61 Hawk, but it’s likely to end up out of my budget.
Because of the most recent sale of Justin’s Super Hawk at 56k People think that they can get 25 k for a 12,5 k car but it will cost 35k to get that car where Justin’s was then you are upside down in the market unless you want to enjoy the car for 10 years or more then you may recoup your investment
To most car enthusiasts, profit doesn’t enter into the equation.