Studebaker GT Hawk- 1962

Studebaker GT Hawk- 1962

 
Studebaker GT Hawk- 1962
   

   

   

   

 

 


The Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk (or GT Hawk), a sporty coupe is a two or four-seater car with a fixed roof and two doors. The style is generally used for sportier models in a manufacturer's range. In the 19th century, a coupé was a carriage with two doors enclosing seating for two with an exposed area on the front for a driver.


Car Information:

Thanks to Bill, long time officer of The Long Island Chapter of the Studebaker Driver's Club this Studebaker GT Hawk got new life about 15 years ago. The original engine, which had 100,000+  miles on it and ran fine, suddenly got a real bad crank bearing knock and lost oil pressure. Amazingly, this didn't happen after going thru the gears too hard or driving too fast, but after a parade at 4MPH.  This could have been an expensive and time consuming repair but Bill happened to have a virtually identical, close serial numbered (even the same color) 1962 Studebaker GT Hawk low mileage parts car, which he so kindly gave me-it was great timing. Yes the donor car was a rust bucket from years of outside storage but with only 50,000 miles on it- I was very happy to receive it. The spark plugs in the donor car were so rusty I had to hammer smaller impact sockets on them, even getting down to 5/8". But after pulling the oil pan, was I surprised, no rust and almost no gunk deposit. After filling up with fresh oil, a distributor cam polish, point filing, and switching to my original carburetor, it was time to fire it up using an old lawnmower gas tank with gravity feed. Oh what a smoke screen- what are my neighbors going to say. Luckily I have nice neighbors. Well I never believed in those solvent "Motor Flushes" but I thought it might be worth a try in this case and sure enough the smoking problem solved. With the help of my boys we switched engines( a no no for Corvette owners and their "matching numbers, but on a Stude the numbers don't match anyway) and that engine remains in the Hawk today.


Studebaker Hawk GT

 

Photography by Charles Peifer