63 R2 Hawks

[satdoc2]

How many 1963 Full Package R2 Powershift Hawks were produced?
Allen

[bezhawk]

Um...... all of them?











Yeah, I know. My kids call me a smart a$$ too.

[studegary]

There were 276 R2 1963 Hawks built. I do not have the exact breakdown that you are looking for.

[JDP]

How many 1963 Full Package R2 Powershift Hawks were produced?
Allen

42 1963 R2 package Hawks, best quess, about half were Powershift.

[BobPalma]

OK, here's the actual production totals for 1963 Full Package, R2 Super Hawks:

Four-Speeds: 16. Of the sixteen 4-speeds, here are the colors:

Ermine White: 2
Regal Red: 2
Champagne Gold: 2
Super Red: 9
Rose Mist: 1

Powershift: 26. Of the 26 Powershift cars, here are the colors:

Ermine White: 2
Regal Red: 1
Champagne Gold: 1
Super Red: 21
Velvet Black: 1

[starliner62]

I guess everyone liked red.

[StudeRich]

Obviously, the trick with these cars is VERIFYING by Serial Number, IF the Hawk truly IS a genuine "Super "Hawk" or just one of many Avanti Powered or Avanti Supercharged Hawks some of which have; ALL, SOME OF, or NONE of the "Package peculiar Components".

[PackardV8]

I guess everyone liked red.

Super Red was a new color developed specifically for the package cars, There's a good chance S-P just painted the first 30 produced Super Red and the others colors were to order.

A check of production dates may disprove this hypothesis, but it would be consistent with the way manufacturers introduced a new model or option back in the day.

jack vines

[Bill Pressler]

Super Red was a new color developed specifically for the package cars, There's a good chance S-P just painted the first 30 produced Super Red and the others colors were to order.

jack vines

Super Red isn't a real deep, lustrous color, but I do like the 'exclusivity' of it--it is rarely seen.

I remember Nelson Bove's terrific Super Red '63 GT with R2 and Powershift at the South Bend 2007 International meet. I'm thinking it had been a museum car. Gorgeous.

[8E45E]

There were 276 R2 1963 Hawks built. I do not have the exact breakdown that you are looking for.

Does that figure include the 20 or so that were produced in Hamilton? Their engine # has an 'JTSC' prefix.

Craig

[BobPalma]

Does that figure include the 20 or so that were produced in Hamilton? Their engine # has an 'SJTC' prefix.

Craig

No, Craig; it does not. BP

[nels]

Bob
I imagine the white cars, two four speeds and two power shifts, were the introductory cars??
Bill,
Yes my '63 R2 super red GT did come out of a museum in Denver. It is an unbelievable survivor. All the paint on the car is original, original carpets, seats, chrome, radiator hoses and clamps etc. The trouble with all that is I'm now afraid to drive it. It really belongs in a museum but the one that had it did not seem to appreciate it as they never had it on displayed but thanks to them it was stored properly in a temp controlled enviroment for 30 plus years. For many years prior to that it was stored in a Denver garage and only driven several miles per year to get inspected and replated. That had to be one of the best hipo Stude finds of the century.

[BobPalma]

I remember Nelson Bove's terrific Super Red '63 GT with R2 and Powershift at the South Bend 2007 International meet. I'm thinking it had been a museum car. Gorgeous.

Yes, Bill; the car had spent most of its life in a museum in Colorado. Not on display, though, but gathering dust in a dark, nondescript back room(!) as a donation from the second owner (IIRC) until the museum got tired of it and told the donor's adult son to come get it! (The donor had long since passed away.)

Nelson Bove mounted his white horse and rode out to save it from a possibly terrible fate because it was quite dead, but still original, at that time. The donor's son wanted little to do with it as he had no interest in cars. He did have an interest in money, though, so Nelson didn't exactly steal it <GGG>

I don't think Nelson would mind my sharing what I consider to be one of the more unique "things" about that car.

To wit: The second owner bought it in 1966 or 1967 as a used car...now remember, this is a legitimate, full-package R2 Super Hawk in Super Red....and I believe it had miles in the teens when that second owner bought it.

Anyway, as a used car, it had the keys hanging on a regular, used-car dealer stock tag. That 1966/1967 dealer stock tag still exists with one set of keys on it. On the back of the tag is written: 1963 Stude. $1,895.

Ah, pleasant dreams, eh? BP

[BobPalma]

Bob
I imagine the white cars, two four speeds and two power shifts, were the introductory cars??

That's close, Nels: One of the 2 Ermine White 4-speeds and one of the 2 Ermine White Powershift R2 package Hawks were built right when the package cars were introduced. The other two were mixed in later in production with little apparent notariety as to sequence. BP

[Bill Pressler]

Anyway, as a used car, it had the keys hanging on a regular, used-car dealer stock tag. That 1966/1967 dealer stock tag still exists with one set of keys on it. On the back of the tag is written: 1963 Stude. $1,895.

Oh, man, what a story!

I've had two SDC'ers approach me in the past 20 or so years and tell me that en route to Pymatuning State Park near where I grew up, they saw a black '64 R2 Cruiser on the local Chevy dealer's used lot, and it looked pretty good. That was the Service Manager of Filer's car, which I've heard about but never saw. In '70 I was riding my bike a lot to the Chevy dealer but I don't remember that car. Bummer!

Super Red reminds me to bring this old story out again...just to 'bump' it. Hecker Motor Co. of Hollidaysburg, PA sold a new Super Red '63 Lark Custom 2-door sedan, complete R2 Super package, Powershift, with white Skytop and solid black vinyl bucket seats. Serial no. 63V-31238. I wrote the fellow who was listed as the owner per info in the SNM and received a shaky handwritten response that said, "Bob Hecker was a friend of mine but I don't remember owning that car". I'd sure love to find that one...but in SW PA, I'm afraid I know what happened to it.