1963 studebaker gran turismo hawk
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Today down in beaver pa for annual car show. Were I saw this 1963 studebaker gran Turismo Hawk, with all the requests for this episode time to see what it’s like. Period correct ads and specs and perceptions, detailed gauge layout.. enjoy this fun episode
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She’d rather be with me by the Turtles.
You got it =)
Hey, I was gonna say that . Thanks a lot....jk
Its amazing how if someone could make replica 53 Studebaker bodies, all the different cars you could make out of them. People can say what they like, but brooks stevens and raymond loewy were genius's
I totally agree =) ramen lol we got the last word in with the Avanti.. what was the fastest car in the world broke 12 speed records in 1963.. And the crazy thing of all is there’s a lot of people that don’t even know that car exists over shadowed buy lesser mustangs and corvettes
@@What.its.like. yessir, andy granatelli did wonders with Avanti cars, they say the old stude 289 block held up well to racing tortures. Ie: blowers, superchargers, etc...
They do, an outfit called Class Glass Performance makes them and they are quite popular at Bonneville. If you do a search for "53 Studebaker Fiberglass" you'll find their site.
When I was a kid (a long, long time ago) my grandmother’s next door neighbor had a turquoise Studebaker. That car was incredibly distinctive and contrasted sharply with my grandmother’s Lincoln. Not just the color but the Studebaker’s fluid lines were a touch of avant-garde in a definitely staid automotive world. Jay, this was a great way to spend a few minutes on a Sunday morning. Thanks!
I just wish they could have made it work the thunderbird out sold them by a lot and the baker is a far superior car in my opinion
I was born in 1949, I felt this was one of the most beautiful cars ever. And I still feel the same.
What I’m finding out is Mopar from the 50s tend to have more legroom any other car company out there minus Kaiser..
I think you may be right even though I drive a classic fd3s (1994) twin turbo rx7; the second best looking car ever designed.
I was born in 1947 and agree I thought the styling of these cars were ahead of their time and beautiful. My grandfather had a Studebaker he let me drive it at age 14. Interesting to me is the weight of older cars, heavier sheet metal than today but newer cars are heavier overall.????
Another great video about a great car that should have made the mainstream but unfortunately didn’t. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for enjoying this video I hope one day to find a Studebaker Gran Turismo hawk and a Buick Riviera I want to compare the two
I Am 76 I owned lots of Studebaker, you kid in the 60s I could get Studebakers cheap. My 1954 Champion was my favorite in the 70s was a Cherry 1960 Lark V8 with overdrive best work car I ever had.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience =)
My old man bought one in 1968 in metallic blue. To this day no one I know has had a kansas city, I will never forget that beautifully done interior, instrumentation, the roominess, classier car. Even though I sas only 5 when he bought itm and 7 or 8 when we lost in the riots in Kansas City, the ride was comfortable, the engine had a beautiful V8 rumble. We all missed that car. I still miss it. Especially riding with my old man when he punched it to shut up someone who wanted to play. I miss that car almost as much as I miss the old man.
That sounds like an epic car now that you mention it I’ve only saw these in white or black.. there is a teal 57 golden hawk driving around here that I’d love to do an episode on. I’ve never saw a gt hawk in any other color than black or white
Working at my dad's garage as a kid (and I do mean KID, I was like 10 or 11); my dad had a customer who worked at Lockheed in Burbank, Mr. Porter, with a Studebaker Silver Hawk.
He had his head shaved (remember, this is like 1966-ish), he looked like one of those '50s wrestlers ... but he was actually a nice guy.
Mr. Porter _insisted_ in parking in the back row of dad's parking lot, so he could back directly into the alley, and leave for home in record time.
What a great story thank you so much for sharing that memory with all of us =)
My friend had a golden hawk when he went into the army. The car stayed home with strict instructions that his younger brother was not to drive it. Of course he did, got into a fender bender smashing the passenger side vent. Unable to find parts for the vent assembly, they simply used bondo to cover over the vent area, and repainted the car. Friend gets home from the army to a freshly painted car. Super happy until he discovered the missing side vent. That car is probably out there somewhere.
Awesome story if it was my car I’d probably take the keys with me so no one could drive it.. different time back then I’ve heard stories of kids going off to fight in the war and parents sold all their cars..
@@What.its.like. As a teen I drove a friends 54 Ford in a snow storm a few blocks to the store, that had been vandalized and the side windows broken out. A drunk came sliding around the corner and hit the front fender. He got out and thought he had destroyed the old ford. Long story short, he did not want the cops, so took me to his house where he was storing his sons beautiful 58 Impala, 348 V8 in black. The son in Vietnam. He put some gas in the carb, started it gave me the title!
Same thing happened to my father, his younger brother destroyed his '39 Chrysler.
@@What.its.like. Yeah well... my first car was a 60 Hawk. I was at a Studebaker meet about 400 miles from home and lost my keys. That's when I learned how easy they were to hotwire.
My buddy in high school (1976) had a 1963 Gran Turismo, roesmist silver, 289 with Avanti Supercharged option, 4 speed manual. Fun Cruiser
I was never a lark fan they are growing on me tho =)
They were beautiful European looking cars, with fast engines! 😍 My neighbor had a basic Lark, 6 cyl 3 spd, low priced, dependable. There were a lot of Stud pickups around too.
Dual master cylinders are a necessity with disk front/drum rear brakes. That is because the drum brakes have a valve that creates a small residual pressure when the brakes are released, it prevents the rear wheel cylinders retracting or leaking. That small pressure would ruin the front disc brakes. Happy motoring.
Ampature gauge? C'mon - it's an ammeter, though no-one will complain if you use ampmeter. The big blank spot on the instrument panel would hold a tachometer if so specified, and the supercharged cars I think featured a boost gauge too. The rocker covers on this car are aftermarket I believe. On the preference you express on occasion for the headlight dimmer on the floor, I have no problem with that on automatic cars. But you ought to try a winding and hilly mountain road at night where you're working a manual gearbox and clutch pretty hard, and cars are appearing ahead of you from around bends at random. You'll find out pretty quickly how dangerous a floor dimmer can be. On the restyle, I don't think they had any choice. I love the finned Hawks, but by 61 the roofline was 8 years old and the canted fins 4 years old. The restyle to my eye made the GT Hawks considerably more elegant and up to date.
Thank you so much for all of that added information and corrections, yeah I know having a car coming towards you when bright lights are on have to push the clutch downshift like it’s hard to hit the dimmer switch
Actually I'll correct myself a bit. Studebaker did have a choice, which they must have agonised over, on restyling the Hawk. They could have dropped the Hawk line and made the Avanti the direct replacement. The extra money they would have had available to get Avanti production and marketing properly sorted out may have made that car a success. Who knows?
@@captaccordion Maybe, because of initial issues with the Avanti's fiberglass body, Studebaker decided to play it safe, so they kept the Hawk?
@@sparky6086 Yes, I'd concur with that view, that they were covering all bets, and playing it safe. And of course it's easy for us in hindsight to suggest that a different decision may have worked better for them.
My grandparents bought the 63 Lark, 289 4 speed on the floor bucket seats. I have been to many car shows, but have never seen another one.
Sorry forgot the Disc Brakes!
That car sounds like it would be a really good sleeper.. I was never huge into larks but they are growing on me I need to find one to review just more bakers in general
@@What.its.like. The 63 lark was black outside with maroon and cream color inside. My grand parents lived in Swisshelm Park which is right down the road from Beaver. I believe they purchased the car from the Studebaker dealer in Forest Hills pa
You should go to some Studebaker meets. I've seen a few like that, they aren't common of course, but they are around. One of the cars I'd love to have is like you describe, but a two door with a Skytop. (really big sunroof).
Studebaker seems like a car that people really want to see the problem is is they are hard to find around here..
Dear Sir: I enjoy these "what was it like" vids. Thank you :-)
Thank you so glad you dig the channel and content I really try
Really is a tribute to Studebaker that they were able to keep a 10 year old body shell that fresh.
Yeah and still use king pins as well
@@What.its.like. Yeah that is crazy, but considering there budget I think they did an amazing job.
I keep saying, Brooks Stevens was a magician who could pull very frisky rabbits out of very shabby hats.
I was a age 8 in the back seat of a late 50s Studebaker, I don't know the model. My mother hated the manual transmission. They traded it for a Ford automatic but often said they wished they had the Studebaker back.
Great memory thank you so much for sharing =)
Another factoid for you: the four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage (barouche) that took Abraham Lincoln to Ford's Theater was made by Studebaker and is now on display at the Studebaker National Museum.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that I know Studebaker when they went out of business they were the oldest automobile manufacture and it really hurt even now I wish Studebaker was around now
Too bad George mason Suddenly died otherwise I could’ve possibly been the reality they could’ve been under Amc Unbrella Whether or not they would’ve survived until now would have still been questionable
The '63 Avanti !!!!!!!! hands down !!! One that I saw looked like a new design of this decade !!!.
One of the most underrated cars of all time
It is one snazzy looking car! 🤩 I think I like it in gold best!
Looks good in any color
My wife just bought a 1961 Studebaker Lark in, great shape. I'm a new subscriber. Seems like a really cool channel.🙂
Welcome to the community =) glad you dig the channel
What engine is in the lark what body style color manual or auto?
I think it's a six. Two door. At some point, someone painted it red.
I grew up in Hunker Pa. My best friend had a 53 Champion. Think I pushed that car as far as I rode in it.............Jay
I know the feeling I took this savoy out the other to do a shoot with and got at back at the dealership and shit it off it has 440 cross ram. I must have flooded it I couldn’t get it started i pushed it (which it’s 1962 savoy way easier to push then any old corvette, vetted are hard to push, maybe that could be a segment on some how hard is it to push if it ever came to that). Probably pushed that car 2,000 feet.
4-wheel disc brakes were standard on the early 1950’s Chrysler Crown Imperial limousines.
But where they power disc brakes Crosley had them in 49 I believe not power operating
I would highly doubt that. Heavy duty, larger brakes and drums probably but discs? Don’t think so.
Question for the Studebaker people. At 6:56, the brochure shows an automatic floor shift quadrant with PRND21, (center row, left). My guess is that is a Borg Warner? The column shift quadrant is PNDLR, (center row, 2nd from right), which to me is a GM unit. Is that correct? Wasn't Studebaker related to BW?
Thanks.
I’m interested as well I know that Studebaker worked with Ford and Borg Warner but I’m not sure if they worked with Chevy to produce a transmission
I always thought this was a beautiful car. It was an amazing redesign to update the car and make it look "modern' on a tight budget.
Totally agree =)
Awesome!
Thank you =)
Look like a T Bird too.
Trying to find the FB group. No luck. Direct link? And if I have car collector money, there would be a Hawk in my collection. Gorgeous
Sorry about that I usually wait a minute to add a description just to make sure that there’s no copyright claim so I’m not doing it half a dozen times lol
facebook.com/groups/707697117215381/permalink/758452542139838/?fs=e&s=cl
It looks good from the side. The grill should of been more conservative though.
Headlights/front fenders look early 1950's... about 10 years behind in styling...
I just want to put it out there, but Modern and Classic car enthusiasts are very different. I've met my fair share of modern car guys who think I'm an idiot for liking classic cars (Usually because of safety features), they say they'll drive like a sock filled with rocks even though they've never driven a classic. If any people who are into modern cars but not classics are reading this, can't you just respect our hobby?
I’m not into a lot of cars that are mainstream.. I like some new cars but I’m not going to buy one (until 10 years later when price hits rock bottom then might) I’ve had both with a new car I would pay and pay and pay on it and then when it’s finally mine after paying on it it’s not worth a fraction of what i paid in.. I have never lost money on the old stuff.. just saying.. when I tell people I drive 52 Chevy truck I get weird looks. My Philosophy is why spend $60k+ to get a mediocre truck that one day when something major goes it costs more to fix it or can’t get parts for it because of shortages, I have a friend who is paying for a broken truck. He hit a deer and is waiting on parts brand new truck can’t get parts for it. I think I offend some people when I say I wanted a TRUCK so I bought one. To me a truck isn’t supposed to be comfortable, have massaging seats.. it’s a tool to get the job done and that’s what I use mine for.
@@What.its.like. Yeah a lot of people think I'm crazy for wanting to daily drive a 57 Lincoln Premier
Nothing wrong with that I say go for it =) if I had things my way I’d own a bunch of 50s cars and a 36-37 packard
The Mercedes influence came from the fact that Studebaker dealers sold Mercedes cars in the USA.
Thank you for sharing that =)
70.000 miles and the engine was wore out back then.
That was 1 dollar per pound back then,..
=)
Excuse me it's not a valve cover it's a rocker cover
Thank you for that correction =)
1:14 ah-VAHN-tee, not ah-VAHN-tay.
I know I pronounced it wrong the whole video because I got corrected first thing at the other way I say Ah-vahn-tee lol
Buckinghams
Tooo much talk we want to see the car…please..specs kinda don’t make much difference if we can’t ever find one…probly a ton if found…
No one talks about the specs tho.. if your looking to get this type of car people want to know what to look for, I’m a guy and I like the information presented to me =)
The biggest improvement (to me) of the GT Hawk over the ‘56 (‘53 to ‘61) is the the “Thunderbird inspired” roofline on the GT allowed for increased headroom and the higher roof and bucket seats allowed the for taller front seat passengers to enter and exit with a head and neck twist common with the lower roofline cars. When your over 6’ tall, it’s appreciated!
All really good points maybe one day could do a comparison video I’m 6 foot 2 I didn’t think getting into 56 golden hawk was bad. 54 vette would be hard to get in with top on 55 thunderbird is hard getting into with top on.. that’s what I like most about the hawk is it’s a personal luxury car that is useable and there isn’t any of the compromises found in the earlier thunderbirds
Well, well, well! My first new car was a 1963 Studebaker GT Hawk that I took delivery on in February of that year. I owned it for 30 years and put over 240,000 miles on it. One of my greatest regrets, and there are many, is having let it go! I recently learned it was the only Hawk with the R-3 Avanti engine, the result of a dealer swap. I ordered it with the R-1 Avanti engine. However, the dealer made an offer I couldn't refuse as he wanted an R-1 for a shop project. In the deal I came out with the R-3 for only the optional cost difference! In '63 all Studebaker models were available with Avanti engine options which included a beefed up suspension, front disc brakes, 140 and 160 MPH speedometers and other goodies! The Avanti engines starting with the R-1 were performanced enhanced 289 CID engines, except the R-3 which as you noted was 305 CID. Enhancements included camshaft, pistons, double valve springs, and some others! R-2 and R-3 engines were supercharged, and very fast. My Hawk could easily peg the 160 MPH speedometer. The Hawk in particular, especially those with the Avanti options, were unsurpassed as highway cruisers. A couple of things contributed to that! A very low center of gravity, that 120.5 inch wheelbase, and the fact that the engine does not sit directly between the front wheels. If a line were drawn from front spindle to front spindle it would pass about through the water pump, resulting in about a 60-40 weight distribution! The way mine was geared 80 MPH was what I called "Snooze Cruise" as it turned only about 2600 RPM at that speed, and when properly tuned averaged about 22 MPG. Mine was Black as is the one in the video, but had a saddle tan interior, 4 on the floor and tachometer. When I sold it, it was still running, but did need some restoration.
Thank you so much for the story and the added information.. the performance additions there is little info on them out there and the information that is out there is conflicting thank you so much for the clarification =)
I’m sorry you had to let yours go I feel your pain there is so little information on the R3 the fact that you had one is crazy.. R3 will go down in history as one of the most underrated muscle/performance cars of al time.. motor trend was in bed with Chevy even back then nothing could be better than the corvette
@@What.its.like. In 1963 Studebaker took Avantis, Hawks, and other models with the R-3 engines and set a bunch of land speed records for factory production autos! As I recall the Avantis clocked in around or just under 200 MPH, blowing the Corvette out of the water. The Hawks in the 180 MPH range! But as you say, they got very little coverage.
@@Valor_73737 the r3 record was 178 mph ]]]] r5 first record 196 but after over 200 mph
@@peterblows497 I recalled it was somewhere in that range.
Thanks, great history;; my Great Aunt’s Daughter: traded her Hawk, in for a **PORT -Hole Thunderbird (1956 ish:: ??, no,pictures but just my Memory inky! And, unfortunately I Did **NOT GET INTERESTED in Cars until 1958-59((?)).. She lived in S Bend Indiana, vivid memories some 65++ years later…. !! The Hawk was great, etc. I am from Noble County, Indiana etc..
The Hawks were among THE most beautiful cars ever built
and the Gran Turismo was the jewel in the crown.
Totally agree
Brooks Stevens produced a clean, elegant design that was in step with changing contemporary tastes, and it has remained appealing for decades. It's one of my all-time favorites, as is the Avanti. Toodleoo!
I agree what Stevens design made the studebaker hawk into a more formal car the front grill area looks, would be easily mistakable for Mercedes to a non car person
The styling of this Studebaker Hawk inside and out looks about 10 years behind the competition...
Considering all the years and iterations, the '63 GT was still on the bones of the original '53 "Lo-Boy" design. And just as beautiful.
@@What.its.like. The sort-of resemblance to Mercedes of the same era was not accidental; it was Stude's attempt to associate the brand with the best from Germany, for which it became the US importer/distributor. (Too little, too late: Stude was financially doomed.)
Sad ending to two great car companies who simply could not compete. Yes, some bad decisions were certainly made too. Good video!
Thank you I’m glad you enjoyed this one =)
Studebaker and Packard were both fine cars. It is a shame they were discontinued.
1962-1964 GT Hawks are among THE most beautiful American cars ever produced.
This and the 61-63 t-bird
One of the most fascinating and beautiful cars of the 60's, it's parent the 53 Studebaker Starliner started the whole longer, lower, wider movement of car design in the 50's. I like my 64 GT best with it's Mercedes Benz circle S hood ornament. Yes, that over the hood view is one of a kind. That black MB at 1:45 is not MB at all, but a Studebaker styling exercise of MB features on the Hawk chassis. Even tho Studebaker and MB were then tied together, MB wasn't thrilled. MB also killed any idea of a revived 59 Packard knowing their luxury 300 couldn't compete. They were both the 2 oldest transportation companies in the world.
Thank you so much for all the added information, and in-sight =)
I'm not ashamed to say that I have always felt like Studebaker was a classy vehicle, even their trucks were better looking to me than ford or chevy, I would've loved to see what their line up today would have looked like!!
I wish they would puke have sold better in 1963 studebaker sold 4643 cars number isn’t exact, hawks vs ford thunderbird sold over 60,000 units that year.. the baker is and was a way better car
Young'uns always skip over the dimmer or high/low beam switch on the floor.
I cover it in every single video I left it out in this one I also forgot to talk about the windshield washer switch on the floor behind it =) I personally think that’s where the dimmer switch should be is on the floor I don’t know why they stop doing that
@@What.its.like. I am glad they did stop putting the dimmer switch on the floor.
That’s a nice feature on older cars where the rear windows go down the way they did.
@@What.its.like. in the background someone is playing “Run around Sue” by Dion
Yeah you got it =)
One of THE most beautiful American-made cars ever built!
Agreed =)
I find it very surprising that Raymond Loewy would object to the fantastic job Brooks Stevens did in updating the Studebaker Starliner/Hawk hardtop. Especially since it disposed of the fins Loewy hated. At one time, Loewy took a 1959 Cadillac and shaved the fins. The car still exists.
Question - Does this 3 speed, overdrive car have the Studebaker "Hill Holder" that allowed the driver to take their foot off the brake at a stoplight and not roll backwards? And was the 4 speed equipped GT Hawk available with Hill Holder?
Yes, mine was a 4 speed and had the Hill Holder. As far as In know that was available only on manual transmissions, but I could be wrong on that.
I know right I’m not sure about the hill holder part
@@Valor_73737 - Yes, the video showed a GT Hawk with "three on the tree" and overdrive. No mention of the Hill Holder. Thanks for your response.
@@What.its.like. - I hear you. They may have discarded the Hill Holder feature previously.
@@scootergeorge7089 The Hill Holder was an option, not an expensive one, but as a result many Studebakers didn't have one. It was a simple, fool proof mechanism. On the back of the master cylinder was a chamber with a steel ball that on an uphill incline would roll back and block a machined port to maintain whatever hydraulic brake pressure had been applied with the brake pedal when the foot was removed from the brake pedal. As long as the clutch pedal was depressed and the car was pointed uphill the pressure on the brake lines was maintained! When the clutch pedal was released to engage the transmission a mechanical device relieved the brake pressure and the brakes by moving that steel ball away from the port it was blocking. My Hawk did have that option, and worked flawlessly for 30 years and over 240,000 miles.
I have both a both a 1956 Golden Hawk that I purchased in 1963 when I was 17 years old, my first car, and a 1963 GT Hawk, with factory air. The 63 Hawk was my fathers car he purchased in 1972 and was the second owner. The 63 in an original car and he kept it in perfect shape. The 56 also has factory air and is just finishing a frame of restoration. I will agree, I prefer the 56 Golden Hawk.
I like the 57 the most but I haven’t been in one yet very similar to the 56 with bigger fins.. =) they are both great cars just like the early style better. I’m a sucker for a car with nice fins.
@@What.its.like. I own a 57 Golden Hawk 3 sp. OD. on the floor, GT Hawk bucket seats. It is one of 20 or so in Azure Metallic Blue with white fins. I have rebuilt the engine and supercharger and have a long way to go on the body but fortunately no rust what so ever! I have never seen a road test of the stick shift car. They had 4:10 or 4:30 rear end gears with the overdrive, so should have been very quick. Every road test has been the automatic which was one of the fastest cars of that year.
Your hawk will haul some serious butt =)
Thanks for providing useful information and NOT gawd awful rock music. If wanted a rock concert, I'd call the Beatles.
Thank you for watching this is a learning channel I never got why people put music on and then try talking over the music.. =)
Long time owner of hawks and member of the local and national Studebaker club. All Hawks come from the 1953 Studebaker coupe and hardtop design. Studebaker did a great job of redesigning front fenders, hoods and door skins and even fender fins. Only one major change was the GT roof. So pick your favorite body design, almost everything is interchangeable. If you like raw power a 56 Golden Hawk with the 352 is hard to beat, but 289’s are great engines too. Great car to restore because of the model run 1953 thru 64
Great point my favorite is the 57 love the fins but haven’t done one for the channel yet hopefully when I get to do one for the channel I’ll get a chance to ride in one it’s my favorite car from the 50s
@@What.its.like. Love the fins too, At the moment I have Golden Hawks 56,57 and a 58. My 57 is my street rod project. Don’t know if you are aware but the fins bolt on. 56 Golden Hawks have fiberglass fins and 57 and 58 fins are metal and are different design than the ones on the hawk coupes and they change the design again for 59 thru 61
58 is the same as 57 and then the recession killed the golden hawk
@@What.its.like. For the record there are some differences between 57 and 58. The 58 had wings on the turn signals and seating was changed from 5 to 6 persons with bench seats front and rear in stead of bench in front and twin seats with a console armrest in back. 58’s had different spring rate in back also a one piece driveline and 14 inch wheels so the 58’s sit slightly lower. All 58’s have two toned paint unless special ordered. 58’s are super rare only around 750 were built for US market and another hundred or so for world export making it a rare bird to see.
Thank you so much for the clarification I wasn’t sure if the 58 was any different than the 57 I just assumed since they only made 750 of them that they were just a continuation of the 57 and then cut short.. my knowledge I’ve never seen a 58 in person. It’s amazing they didn’t offer the hardtop until 61 they offered essentially the Silverhawk until 61 or was it a little different as well
Studebaker made supercharged Avanti's. Ultra rare but faster than a factory Corvette at the time. They were lighter than the Hawks.😉
Yeah I wish automotive journalists put the spot light on both of those cars
In the 60s I saw and article in the LA Times talking about the last new Studebaker Hawk for sale in the US. It was at a Studebaker Packard dealer in Los Angeles Ca ( Frost & French).
My grandmother drove me to the dealer to see it because I was in to cars and really like the Studebaker Hawk. It had a gold exterior paint, I don't remember the interior color. The sales people were very nice to me because I told them about the news paper article and my grandmother made a special trip with me. To this day I still like the looks of the the Hawk and I will never forget that trip with my grandmother.
What an awesome memory thank you so much for sharing it on here =)
Resemblance to Mercedes Benz probably due to Studebaker being the Benz North American distributor, their cars in the same showrooms.
I recently bought a Studebaker Hawk that (at least according to the previous owners I can’t find much info.) was factory converted into a convertible. it is titled as a 54 Studebaker champion starliner, but there is very little left of that car in it. All the body panels were swapped for hawk panels, and the interior was hawk swapped as well. It has the later 289 engine, but for some reason, it still has the 3 speed column shift. Really oddball car!
Studebaker didn't start making the hawk until 1956 but the hawk would start offer as the starlight coupe in 1953 after they redesigned it. The champion models (after 51 which was the first year of studebaker V8 ) the champion model was the 6 commander packed the v8
It's a beautiful car, but a bit too Thunderbirdish. I prefer the '59 thru '61 Hawk.
The '56 Hawk series was a handsome restyle of the '53 Starlight and Starliner, but the '57 fins were stylish in 1957, but becoming stale by 1959, and the only reason the '62 Gran Turismo made the cut was that Brooks Stevens managed to get a facelift that looked almost like a complete redesign on a tooling budget that Ebenezer Scrooge would have thought paltry.
Different styles for different times.
The '62 Hawk was a beautiful car, but I like the cleaner rear styling (no extraneous stainless steel panel) of the '64. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to choose between the '64 Hawk and an Avanti.
I'll take one of each, and a '63 Wagonaire with the top regular fuel V8 and overdrive.
Every time the #11 bus passes Crotona Ave & Boston Rd in The Bronx I have to check out the two Studebaker Hawks in the driveway. After viewing your very informative video I had to leave a comment just because the car is so beautiful and thinking about those two Hawks rusting away in somebody's driveway. It breaks my heart very time the bus passes those two classic cars going to waste. Thank you for your work and I hope to see a video on a 1961 Buick LeSabre. My mother had a 4 door model with red on red in the 1960's and I loved that car so much as a young boy.
Thank you so much for sharing that memory I feel bad that the rusting away in that guy’s driveway
With 'Full Instruments', included with the blown engines and optional on natural aspirated, the tach would've been in the large blank spot right of the fuel and oil pressure.
The Chrysler Imperial had optional disc brakes in the late-50's.
The standard 289 V8 had a 2-barrel carb. The R1 added a 4 barrel carb. The R2 added a Mcculloch/Paxton supercharger. The R3 put the 4 barrel carb in a pressurized box. The R4(a special factory order and Granatelli built) was a 304 V8 with 2 4 barrel carbs. The R5 was also a 304V8 but added 2 McCulloch/Paxton superchargers to the single 4-barrel carb in a box.
Andy Granatelli owned the rights to the McCulloch/Paxton superchanger. His involvement with Studebaker allowed the use of the supercharger. With his expertise, the speed record holding Avanti was created. This was a special one-off race car which you couldn't buy.
As history, Packard began importing the Mercedes-Benz line of cars to supplement it's own limited offerings. When Studebaker closed down the Packard brand, they kept the Mercedes-Benz line, which was evolving into a luxury brand. When Studebaker ceased automobile production, their dealers became exclusive Mercedes-Benz dealers. In my town, the dealer took on the Jeep brand to supplement it's offerings.
Correctly, Studebaker didn't go out of business, they just stopped making cars. They were involved in other manufacturing, which included the Onan brand of engines and the Fedders line of home appliances.
Studebaker was actually the distributor for Mercedes Benz, not Packard.
Thank you so much for taking the time to add all of that I got to shoot 5 great cars yesterday it’s going to be a great week on here =)
@@danielulz1640 My local dealer was first a Packard dealer and Mercedes-Benz dealer. After the merge, they added Studebaker. Another local Studebaker dealer lost his dealership because of this merge. After Packard was gone and Studebaker stopped making cars, they only had M-B cars and Jeep. Because AMC bought out Jeep two other AMC dealers lost their dealerships. And then Renault took over AMC, they then added AMC-Renault to the roster. Another Renault dealer in town lost his dealership. After that fiasco was over, Chrysler took over Jeep and the Renaults were gone. The only remnant of AMC was the Eagle line based on the last generation Hornets. Then Chrysler started rebadging Mitsubishi's as Eagles, which didn't go over too well as Chrysler had the same basic car in in their other lines. The AMC-based Eagle was dropped and only Jeep remains. Chrysler had already started mucking up Jeep with models built on the Neon platform and when FIAT took over Chrysler they introduced a Jeep on the FIAT 500 chassis. Who knows what will happen to jeep after the French joined FIAT and Chrysler.
the R5 was fuel injected super charged after people did twins on 4 bll carbs
The R6 added afterburners to those two turbo chargers.
You can't get a car of that quality for ANY price now. They are all loaded with mickey mouse electronic junk!
I know right.. I’m not a huge fan of new cars there are a few that are cool but not built to last
IMO the C pillar was the most elegant and successful of any car, even beating the 62 Thunderbird.
A point you missed is that the extruded Aluminium piece at the rear was designed to cover up the grooves on the trunk from Golden Hawk and so avoiding a new pressing . However in the final model it was removed with a new smooth trunk lid.
Thank you so much for pointing that out =)
@@What.its.like. J'ai possédé moi-même une Hawk G.T. 63 et je connaissais bien-sur ce détail sur la présence ou non de cette plaque supposée décorative ...
So we should crucify the sources rather than you?😁
YES there is just so many different conflicting numbers out there especially when dealing with the R series cars which were all Avanti engine equipped which I totally forgot to mention..
@@What.its.like. Do You remember that the TV show “Mr. Ed “ was originally sponsored by Studebaker? The characters always drove Studebaker cars in the show. 🚗
As a kid in the 50's and 60's I lived in a neighborhood that was like a magnet for car dealers of almost every brand including Studebaker. Living in a virtual auto show was paradise for a young car nut. Studebaker always got my attention because they were so different. When the dealer drove a new 63 Hawk home I fell in love. The dealer was kind of a crabby old guy, never had kids and didn't like kids around his house or yard, but seeing how interested I was he let me climb all over it inside and out even taking me for a nice long ride. We even became friends after that, thanks to that Stude.
What an awesome story thank you so much for sharing on here.. my great uncle was a huge studebaker fan he passed in 2008 but had one of these, I don’t know why they didn’t sell well I would have this over any personal luxury car from 63.. unless avanti is included in that then it would be a toss up
In 63, as far as personal luxury cars, there weren't very many options. The first year Buick Riviera, Pontiac Grand Prix, Ford Thunderbird, and even a Chrysler Turbine, maybe a couple of others that have slipped my mind. All of these were great cars but the Hawk still stood out.
Hawk vs Rivera would be a good video because I honestly forgot about the Rivera.. it’s the only one in the field that comes close turbine car is in a whole another league (now).
@@What.its.like. Maybe you are right about the Turbine car considering they only built 50 of them. I got lucky on that one because it was driven by a Chrysler executive and he didn't have it very long but it sure was a cool car, and the sound was out of this world.
In 57, I’m in studebaker dealer salesman office looking at 57 hawk. I’m trying to get tha salesman to order me that car , a gold w white insert. He sz why don’t u git your daddy in here! I told em we don’t need my daddy,jus git me tha car! In 1957, I wz 15 hrs old. U think he cud tell?
The Citroen DS19 had fully-powered front disc brakes (inboard, to reduce unsprung weight, and with separate front/rear hydraulic circuits with effort distribution depending on load on the rear suspension) from 1955. I'm fairly sure they were available in the US by the late 50s.
First American car, and Studebaker WAS the first American car company to offer disk brakes across the board. You could get the most basic six cylinder Lark with disk brakes.
Crosley hotshot beat the Studebaker but they were not power operated they were mechanical disc brakes.. Also from what I’ve read they were extremely problematic
Loewy didn't hate those butt ugly late '50s fins but hated the GT? He probably thought the grill and roof was pretentious but as a kid I loved the GT and still do. I just never got around to buying one after they went under. The '56 pre-fins was very nice but they couldn't wait to screw that up with the fins so those '56 models without fins were even more rare than the post-fins GTs..That Packard 364 in a Power Hawk might qualify as proto muscle-car way before anything like a Pontiac GTO started that trend.. I believe an LA dealership would've put a Mcculloch centrifugal supercharger on that one if you wanted to forego your warranty..Mcculloch became "Paxton" either just before or when Studebaker bought them out.
7:15 Chrysler offered a truly weird clutch-type self-energizing disc brake system on the Imperial models starting around 1949, discontinued around 1953. Crosley offered non-power discs for a short time in the late forties, discontinued because road de-icing salt rusted the discs, binding the pads to the brakes. Studebaker compared their system to the discs on fighter aircraft.
Drum brake Studebakers (except for the severely decontented "Standard" model) did offer the dual-circuit brake system, but the disc brake system was a single-circuit system.
9:00 note the two tee-handles under the left end of the dash. The red handle is the hood release, and the chrome handle is the overdrive lock-out (pull to lock out).
Another function of the fender vents was to direct tire splash into the passenger cabin to wash the front-occupants' shoes.
Note also the ends of the instrument cluster angle toward the driver to allow better view of the clock and tach.
Heat sink type valve covers were a rare option, most often seen on the Avanti engines (chrome was standard on the _Jet Thrust_ Avanti engines, painted covers on other models).
The standard 289 was 210 horsepower, 225 with the four-barrel dual exhaust regular fuel 289.
Studebaker ads initially did not include horsepower ratings for any of the Avanti engines, allowing the Bonneville speed records to speak for themselves.
This was an excellent design! But, Avanti was even better. Avanti should have saved the company. But shit management will kill every company.
A friend of mine had one. He thought he was buying a Studebaker Thunderbird but it's all 1953 underneath.
This was my first car. Purchased in 1967 for $700.
It had I believe a r1 engine and work order automatic transmission floor shift on the console. Originally was gold with red vinyl interior light change the exterior paint to a red Cadillac fire mist.
Unfortunately it was a Wisconsin car and had nearly fatal rust issues.
Despite that I love the car and owned it for over 20 years.
Correction: work order should read Borg Warner...
Awesome story thank you so much for sharing that memory=)
Odd place for the clock
Obviously the passenger had need to know the time when in the car 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Stevens came back for one more refresh of the Starlite and it worked again. Sadly, Studebaker couldn't make the grade for him.
I was in Hi school back then Studebaker made some realy cool cars , to bad the management sucked they killed the Studebaker . Studebaker owned 6 other companys which are still going strong one is called Gravely you know it . but the powers to be sold all of Studebakers good assets to line there pockets Studebaker also owned Hudson Hornet you know the FIRST HEMI engine ever built it was a 372 cid back in the 1950's Not you MOPAR
Awesome information =)
Loewy didn't design the '53 Starliner/Starlight. It was Bob Bourke.
So wild that I have a running one in our garage. My grandpa let us keep it before he passed.
I havw a funny story about a Golden Hawk. When I was 16 I had a 57 Chevy with a 283 power pack heads and a Carter AFB. I also had a floor shift for the 3 speed manual transmission. My 57 was gloss black with four chrome slot wheels.
One night as I was leaving town I saw a Studebaker in front of me, so I down shifted to 2nd and opened up that Carter AFB. I managed to catch up with the quaterpanel of this red Studebaker when all of a sudden it took off like a jet leaving me way behind. I couldn't believe it.....a Studebaker????
Later I found out who owned this red Studebaker and he was what I thought of as an OLD man, he was in his 50's. (I'm now 70) This man with the red Studebaker was a well known racer and his Studebaker was a Golden Hawk Gran Turismo with a suoercharged engine and a 4 speed. This was my first lesson in Studebakers..
Awesome story 57 Goldenhawk is one of my favorite cars of all time.. I e heard stories that they would leave the ground
That’s a car that I really want to drive what is that car like to drive I drove a Packard Baker from 58 and it wallowed much like a 57 58 ford
I have owned two Studes: a ’64 Cruiser and a ’64 Gran Turismo. The Cruiser was Australia assembled (CKD) and the GT was Canadian built. Of the Hawks, I preferred the earlier iterations; the huge, chunky C-pillar on the GT was disproportionate to the otherwise clean lines of Loewy.
Now tell me: Why do Americans mispronounce Avanti as Avanté? It's Avantee, not Avantay - Italian, not French.
I’ve gotten corrected both ways I said it like this in the video to sort of make fun of that Pronunciation I say avantee =)
57 golden hawk is one of my all time favorites just absolutely stunning and underrated car
I had a 63 hawk gt, it had a four speed on the floor,clock, tach, oil gauge, ammeter, etc. I sold it for $1500 to a guy who sought it out, looked at it while I was working 400 miles away, and promised to fix the rusted spots. I regret that I never saw it again
Your story reminds me of an 88 town car signature series that I had the only difference in the story is I sold it for about half and I still don’t forgive myself for it. That was one car. The only reason I got rid of it was because I thought it was going to nickel and dime me and I didn’t want to put a transmission in that car.
I bought an 89 years later and I put three transmissions in that car. I bought it because it had low mileage and it was fully loaded Had everything my dad was a believer and low milage cars. I can’t say that I am because that car had 89,000 miles and it was the car that gave me the most issues… I bought a Toyota Prius two years ago that has 179,000 miles on it got 230,000 miles on it. Absolutely love it for a commuting vehicle but it is an appliance just a crappy car to drive the town that gets phenomenal, gas, mileage.
To my 3yes the cars you just reviewed are better looking than 60% of what's produced today !!!!!!.
9:15 My dad, who was right handed, always like the emergency brake on the right. _Very_ few cars had that.
Raymond Lowey stylised the Avanti, but did not engineer it.
Thank you for that correction
Minor quibble on pronunciation: It's "A-vahn-tee", not "A-vahn-tay." Likewise, it's "Tur-ees-mo", not "Tur-is-mo." The "i" in Italian is pronounced like a long "e". Sorry...just hit my ears wrong. My dad owned a 56 Golden Hawk (yellow and white) and later a white, 63 GT Hawk. The Studebaker dealer in Virginia Beach where he bought the 56 also sold Mercedes, and yes, the grills did resemble those on Mercedes at the time. He said the 56 was good for a 7-second 0-60 mph time. The neat item at the time on the 63 was that was the year the US changed to amber turn signals. It was quite a novelty to see them and JC Whitney catalogues even sold amber-colored polish to change clear turn signals to amber. The front fenders also had translucent markers that lit up at night. I took my driver's license test in the 63 and it was definitely a head-turner.
Thank you so much for all of that added information as well as corrections I really appreciate it =)
I was 17 years old in 1963 my aunt had man renting a garage apt from her he had a 1963 gean tourism black with red interior 289 with supercharger I remember on the top of the air cleaner it said to use STP additive I think but not sure at that time STP was owned by Studebaker I remember lifting the hood it was made of heavy gauge steel. The car itself was beautiful. All of this mans friends that came to visit had varying years of Studebaker cars and trucks all were pristine and like new Studebakers had a good service record and they were known to be fast. It hurts to see an American car company go out of business. Their final year they moved to Canada they always made money there yo no avail.
Great story thank you so much for sharing =)
Hawk never got a dual master cyl. Single unit stayed under floor.
Think one of the nicest cars is the Studebaker Champion.
Going to make it a point to do more studebakers on here I really wanted to hit more Nash Hudson and packards as well they are getting harder and harder to find
Oddly enough, living in the South Bend area, I didn't see many Hawks. Mostly Larks, were my Idea of a Studebaker. I pretty much was a Ford guy. In 63, my dad and I walked over to a neighbor's house to see his new Avanti. We thought it was pretty neet, which was strange because back in the day most people thought Studebakers were rather on the ugly side. In the area the Lark's were everywhere. Even as late as the early 90's you couldn't drive down a street that didn't have at lest one Lark in a driveway or parked in front of a house. I did notice one family in our town just north of the state line had a 56' Hawk. The brother of one of my friends had Studebaker Lark and bragged on how good of a car it actually was. As I have gotten older I have come to appreciate the Studebakers more, I actually think they were pretty decent looking cars, if I were a collector I would have at least one Lark, one Hawk and one Avanti in my collection.
Great story thank you so much for sharing =)
Just a couple suggestions. When quoting horsepower in both your audio recordings as well as in the on-screen info, might I suggest that you qualify the horsepower figures by listing the engine rpm at which the measurement was taken, e.g. 250 hp at 3800 rpm. You do this some of the time but not consistently. As any automotive engineer knows, omitting the rpm spec renders the horsepower figures almost meaningless.
I do it sometimes and then don’t do it for other times because in the comment section below people said too much information it’s finding the happy medium that’s really hard to do..
But yeah I totally agree with you I like having the RPM figures up there as well but it all depends on how much information I can find on particular engines.. some sources don’t have RPM figures or torque figures at RPM ratings =)
I really wanted to show more information like how much oil it holds and oil types but found out two things the oil they used back then and what we have now isn’t the same.. and it would also depend on where your located based on climate
I like that this Hawk GT is a manual transmission car! As for your outro, The Cramps have a great cover of "Surfin' Bird".
I love the hawks all really cool cars
Cool car. But I definitely wouldn’t have gone with a column shift, and why no tach? It surprises me how many old vehicles have a huge clock instead of a tach. Although punctuality was probably considered more important than today.
The blank on the left side of the dash is where the tach would go. And while it wouldn't be my choice along with the column shift that car had overdrive, so it would be much more relaxed (and get better gas mileage), on the highway.
Chrysler had disc brakes starting in 1949 and they were standard on some models and both front and rear. They are not the type with a separate caliper and rotor like most cars. But more like a clutch system.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that =)
If you read the book "More than they promised" you'll learn that Studebaker was the original distributor for Mercedes Benz in the US which is why it is no coincidence that the grills of Studebakers looked like Mercedes.
Thank you so much I’ll have to check that book out =)
1949 to 1954 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limos had discs. Also was available on regular 130 inch wheelbase Imperials.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that’s why I said in the video they advertise that they were the first but I believe that they were.. they might’ve been the first for power disc brakes even Crosley had disc brakes in 1949.. But they wasn’t power
For a year or two in the early 1950s Chrysler offered front disc brakes on imperials only. An extremely rare option that has subsequently been removed from most cars due to no parts availability.
Thank you so much for that added information I didn’t know that =)
A classic design and in my opinion superior to the older finned ones.
My father bought new 64 white Hawk GT
Fantastic!
Packard didn't get catfished when they bought studebaker. Packard was in worse financial shape than studebaker was. If anything Packard buying studebaker hastened the end of studebaker
They were both in bad shape but Packard was actually profitable from what I’ve read, studebaker did not disclose their financial turmoil to Packard Packard did not have a clue what they were getting when they bought Studebaker.. it was a Kmart in Sears style merger.. two wrongs did not make it right which Sucks imagine if George mason could get those to both Packard and Studebaker underneath the AMC umbrella just imagine a Packard Jeep how cool would that be
9:13 Did you ever do a study on why the "through the floor" pedals were abandoned in favor of "hinged from the top" pedals? Why was that considered a "feature"??
I’ll have to look into that
In my opinion, the original 1953 coupe was the cleanest and most beautiful treatment that body ever received, and was the most beautiful American production car from 1953 to now. My understanding is that Studebaker's main problem was the inability to produce enough cars to keep up with demand - production & management problems, and not design problems. The bullet nose 1950 models, for instance, sold like hot cakes. And orders for the 1953 "foreign look" new designs far outstripped production numbers.
I totally agree.. it’s sucks that they went under