In jpcavanaugh’s CC on the 1962 Studebaker GT Hawk the other day, there was some discussion of how it could have been the first Pony Car, if the wheelbase had been shortened a bit. Well, that got me thinking. I shortened both the wheelbase behind the door and the rear deck. The result, as seen above, somehow reminds me of a 1956 Continental Mark II.
Here’s the original version, for comparison’s sake. I would assume the “regular” GT Hawk two-door hardtop would continue, so the new Hawk would need a new name. How about Gran Turismo Eagle? It would fit right in with the Hawk and Lark lines. Sadly, Studebaker – and Sherwood Egbert – were lucky to even get the GT Hawk off the ground, so there likely would not have been money to make a short wheelbase, short deck variant.
But since we’re dreaming, let’s say Studebaker managed to find a few million dollars in the sofa cushions in the board room. Wouldn’t a full lineup of Hawks, including this handsome sedan, have been cool? Too bad Studebaker went out of the car business, but thanks to Sherwood Egbert, at least they went down fighting.
Speaking of Out-Mustanged the Mustang. If Studebaker had built the Aventi differently (with steel instead of fiberglass), we could wonder if the Avanti could had been the 1st “pony-car”? Then I didn’t mentionned the Rambler XR-400 yet.
That four door Hawk hardtop is full of win. The long-hooded VUE you inadvertently created behind it is also somewhat full of win.
The long-nose Vue reminds me very much of the first gen Caddy SRX…
4-seat Lincoln Continental?
Maybe Stude could have out Lincoln’d Lincoln. That sedan does look good.
I love the 4 door. A Hawk Cruiser? Or Night Hawk.
I always wondered why Studebaker didn’t do more with variations on the Hawk name. They had the Golden and Silver Hawks, a Sky Hawk and some others. I always thought special editions like Black Hawk, Red Hawk and Night Hawk would be great names. Not Chicken Hawk, though. For that matter, I am surprised that nobody else ever picked up the name and used any kind of Hawk for a car. Maybe Studebaker just made too big of an imprint with the name.
As for the 2 door, I figured that the easiest part of the wheelbase to whack out would be in the hood and fender area. That car had a mighty long hood.
JPC, you’re forgetting the Buick Skyhawk.
Though, it was somewhat forgettable.
Oops, sorry.. I didn’t have my eyes on when I first read that..
Humber had used the Hawk name from the early 50s as their base 4cyl model probably where Studebaker stole it from
Somehow I think whacking the hood and fenders would make it look like a pug bulldog. A short deck with a long hood has been a winner forever, thinking of the mustang and going all the way back to the duesenberg. If this had been built I think I could have afforded one before they all turned to dust.
I think there was 6″ to lose without hurting the styling
*Could it have Out-Mustanged a Mustang?*
I’m sorry, No.
Mustang was the perfect storm. The right car, the right look at exactly the right time. People didn’t see it as a Hot Rodded Falcon, it was all “sizzle”.
The GT Hawk still carried the 56 Hawk stigma. It looked like a brand new old car.
My dad had 2 of these (a 62 and 63) that he partially traded for a 67 Mustang GTA “around 68 or 69”. He would give almost anything to have the GTA back. The Studes? Not so much.
The GT Hawk was also a lot more expensive than the Mustang. The big appeal of the Mustang was that a basic six was only about $50 more than a Falcon Futura and was better looking. In 1962-63, the GT Hawk started at over $600 more than the original 1964½ Mustang.
But it was also over $1,000 less than a Thunderbird in 1962 and about $400 less than a Grand Prix. However, it was also priced right in the upper range of a Chevy Impala, which was a pretty nice car in 1962.
In a word, no.
LIke others have mentioned, the Mustang didn’t look like a hot rodded Falcon, but the Hawk (if I’m interpreting the idiom correctly, I was born the same year as the Hawk in the pictures) really did look like an old car in a new suit. Brooks Stevens did as much as he could with the car and the budgetary constraints, but when you really look at the car, you can see that it’s the 1953 Studey underneath. It was most evident when looking at the pix from the CC the other day.
Where the Mustang broke new ground (and coincidentally the Barracuda, too) was taking the form factor of the small car and restyling that it mimicked larger sports cars. The Hawk looks very much like it’s competitor, the Flair Birds of the early 1960’s. I think it was a valid target, the square- and flair- Birds had done exceptionally well, particularly compared to the original Birds.
While I like the styling exercises we can divine using Photoshop, I have a hard time believing that during the gestation period of this particular Hawk that the folks at S-P had the foresight to imagine the baby boomers becoming such a force in the market. They were in survival (or wind-down) mode, they didn’t have the resources to devote to such market studies.
To me, the logical competitor to the ‘Stang would have been either the Avanti or some variation of the Lark. But, the Avanti, while it had the advantage of the advanced construction (Fiberglas body), it still sported a 1950’s era chassis, actually, even earlier… King pins, anyone? To be fair, AMC’s used king pins until the late 1960’s, too. Regardless, Avanti, also aimed at a higher priced demographic, and by the time the concept of the pony car was truly fixed in the minds of the public, Studebaker was breathing it’s final gasp…
I have seen many people state that the GT Hawk body style looked dated by 1962. That is was nothing more than a warmed over Hawk of years before. Compare the 53 Starliner, which the Hawks are based on, to almost any other American car of the same vintage. The styling of the Starliner was at least 10 years ahead of its time. To my eye the styling of the 53 Starliner compares very well against any American car of 1963. Brooks Stevens refinement of the older Hawk/Starliner body style was pure genius. He created one of the most timeless, simple and stunningly beautiful cars of all time. The engineering under the sheet metal may have been a bit dated but the Studebaker 289 was willing and strong.
Back in 1984 I was looking at a 65 Mustang at a used car lot when I spotted a 63 GT Hawk sitting nearby. I had never seen one before and I liked the look of it. I took both the Mustang and the GT Hawk out for a test drive and I had to admit to myself that the Hawk had the better preforming 289. I had my mind set on the 65 Mustang though and passed over the GT Hawk but I always remembered it. Today I’m hoping I can find another GT Hawk like the one that I passed up all those years ago.
The four door: a French Presidenciale Special.
Franco-Soviet?
Paul: Of course! A DS rival from the compagnie that created la deesse Americaine! Quick to pick up the Rambler connection, you were.
As others have pointed out, Studebaker didn’t have the funds to make the GT Hawk anything but an updated ’53 Starlight hardtop.They did as good a job of it as was possible, but it was still an updated old car.
The Mustang, OTOH, was an all new body on the Falcon chassis (which still wasn’t that old). Because of that clever bit of chassis-sharing, Ford was able to keep the price of the beautifully styled Mustang low, making it accessable to damn near anybody.
The Avanti might have had a shot at that same huge market if Studebaker could have, somehow, priced it in the same low-priced field as the Mustang (many people forget that a majority of Mustangs sold were six-cylinder, automatic ‘secretary specials’).
A better choice would have been the 4-door hardtop GT Hawk pictured. That’s a clean looking car with a definite European flare. Studebake should have done that car instead of the Avanti.
“many people forget that a majority of Mustangs sold were six-cylinder, automatic ‘secretary specials”
Many people forget that the majority of the 60s “muscle cars” were equipped that way. A story for a much later time though..
Hollywood doesn’t help with this mistaken perception.
To look at a movie or TV show made today but set in this time period, you’d think that everyone drove top-tier musclecars…probably because the more pedestrian models weren’t preserved, and aren’t as available today.
Of course – as covered in another article – if you watch a movie or TV show actually made in that time period, you’d think everyone drove vehicles from only one manufacturer.
Keep in mind that if Studebaker shortened the Hawk’s wheelbase that would have allowed substantially restyled rear-quarter sheetmetal, e.g., a fastback design. There was ample opportunity to mask the oldness of the underlying platform . . . at least for a few years. Remember that the Avanti was essentially a shortened Hawk with curved side glass.
An updated Hawk body could also have been the basis for a lower — and thus more modern-looking — Lark sedan.
Comparisons with the Mustang aren’t very useful because production scales are so different. A redesigned Hawk could have been a profitable addition to the Studebaker line up if it had generated a mere 30,000 in annual sales — a drop in the bucket compared to the Mustang.
Wow, a big difference in a small change! What could have been…
Studebaker Hawk was so mysterious!
The 4 door looks awesome, but the coupe definitely needs longer doors.
I love the 4 door. Studebaker should have spent some money on new fenders and hood when they put the new roof on the GT hawk.
. the front looked to much like the 57 to me.