Much of the information provided here and on the attached pages is taken from Turning Wheel articles written by Fred K. Fox. The text is rewritten to include some of my own observations, ideas and interpretations of what I read. The charts are for the most part rearranged reproduction of information found in those issues. Any error in translation of the TW information is the total fault of the author of this page. Please feel free to point out any error you might find or to suggest additional information you think might be helpful. Use the “Contact Us” page from this website.
Disclaimer: This page and all sub-pages are not intended to be a complete reproduction of the work Fred has done and I would encourage you to seek out copies of his many TW article on GT Hawks as they contain a significant amount of detailed information way to detailed for me to present here.
Quick front view ID markers, for detailed information by year, go to the sub-page links above.
1962 GT Hawk
1963 GT Hawk
1964 GT Hawk
Simple grille with a square pattern and no grille emblem. Side horizontal signal lights
Grille has horizonal bars with a rectangular pattern. A Red, White, and Blue emblem. Round amber signal lights with clear bulbs at the ends of mesh background side grilles.
Same grille pattern, but the horizontal bars are recessed and painted flat black. New center Gold Hawk emblem. New circle “S” hood ornament.
General Restoration Information:
1962 GT Hawk
Note in the photo’s above that both the 1962 and 1963 body color (White) is showing through the grille. All 1963, 1964 and most 1962 GT Hawks should have had the area behind the grille painted flat black as shown in the photo at the left.
Except for a few early 1962 GT Hawks, all 1962, 1963, and 1964 GT Hawks should have the inner portion of the air intake under the bumper painted a low luster black. The outer portions should be body color. The lower hood locking mechanism was also painted low luster black.
In looking at many photo’s of GT Hawks, I noticed that many do not have front bumper guards. Others have them closer to the center, then others (1963 photo above) show them further out. I wondered about this, and this is what my research has uncovered. All three years the front bumpers guards were optional equipment. Item No. 68 in 1962 & 1963 and No. 71 in 1964. In close examination of the 1963 front above I discovered that there were no holes in the bumper where factory installed bumper guards would have been mounted, thus these must have been dealer installed or added by one of it’s owners. Some information I picked up on the SDC forum indicated that front bumper guards were optional, that factory installed bumpers were inboard and dealer installed were outboard as there were no bumper holes to install them inboard.
If you have any thoughts on this let me know using our “Contact Us” page on this site.
The wheel color on all GT Hawks (all years) was Pebble Sand on off-white color. Only two styles of exterior mirrors were offered for 1962 to 1964 GT Hawks, Stratoline (AC-2918) and Strato-Vue (AC-3188). The correct radiator and heater hose clamps are the spring wire type, except for the lower radiator hose clamp on the water manifold which was the flat metal type with the small screw and nut.
1962 GT Hawk Engine
All GT Hawks are equipped with 289 cubic inch V8’s. In April of 1962 the full flow oil filter system was adopted. Duel exhaust and finned brake drums were standard equipment. The engine block, heads, pan, air cleaner
1963 GT Hawk Engine
canister, pulleys, power brake unit, power steering unit, and electrical components (except alternator) were black. The valve covers and automatic transmission dip stick handle were painted yellow. The oil filler cap (or caps), fan and the oil dip stick handle were painted orange. The air conditioning compressor was natural metal color. STP decals are found on the oil filler caps (breather caps). The Avanti Jet Thrust engines were the same as above, except the valve covers, oil dip stick handle, air cleaner canister and R2 air inlet were chrome. R2 superchargers were Orange from the factory and black if rebuilt by Paxton. The R3 & R4 engines blocks, heads and pans were red, none were factory installed in any GT Hawks. Any 1963 or 1964 GT Hawk would be correct if equipped with the Avanti dress up kit AC-3421, which included chrome valve covers, oil breather caps and dip stick handle.
The left photo above is from an early (not full flow oil filter) 1962 GT Hawk engine and the right photo above is from a 1963 (full flow oil filter) GT Hawk engine. Not sure about the 1962 engine valve cover decal, but the 1963 engine STP decals are correct.
Grand Turismo Hawk History 1962 to 1964
Current Status:
Recent history for GT Hawks indicate that while the early Hawks are going down in value, the GT Hawks are in fact getting more expensive to purchase. The probable causes might be that there were far fewer of them made, especially 1964. The GT Hawk production started October 30th 1961 and ended in December 20th 1963 (64V-20197). In addition, these cars had a lot more of the driving comforts available, like power steering, power brakes, front disc brakes (mid 1963), factory air conditioning and power seats.
The Birth:
The GT Hawk styling is done by Brooks Stevens Design. A lot of the work on the GT project was done by Gordon Kelly, Stevens design department director, but Stevens was deeply involved in the project, acting as liaison between his company and Studebaker’s design chief, Randy Faurot1. The the project is given to Stevens by then Studebaker President Sherwood Egbert, with a nearly non-existent budget and very short lead time. Stevens is going for the European-inspired, clean look.
