GT Hawk Rarity

[Stude Shoo-wop!]

According to that all-knowing Wikipedia, only around 900 GT Hawks across all three model years are still extant in the U.S. Is there any truth to this claim?

[(S)]

I doubt it. You can get the SDC roster and get a way better estimate of cars listed there alone. There are others, not listed, and many not even in an SDC members hands. .

I would say there are way more than that. The rough production numbers : 8,000 in 1962 , 3,000 in 1963 and 1764 in 1964 .......

I'd put it at 2,000 cars. who knows?

[StudeRich]

Jake I'll tell you what I told that Guy the other day that has Body #8 and thought it was significant and adds value.

If you own One of about a hundred thousand common Chevy Chevelle's but it is "Special" for one of many reasons ie: the ONLY Blue 2 Door Hardtop ever built with Black Vinyl Interior, a White Vinyl Top a 427, a 4 Speed, and a 4.11 axle or WHATEVER, it is RARE!

But since all Studebakers were built in small numbers and are rare among others, a rarer one is not very significant, and way less People actually care, so the value and desirability do not change much.

NUMBERS? WHAT Numbers?

[ivorydan]

No truth; just someone sitting around in smoke dreams. Dan

[WinM1895]

According to that all-knowing Wikipedia, only around 900 GT Hawks across all three model years are still extant in the U.S.

Is there any truth to this claim?
I doubt it.

Take what you read on wiki-wiki with a grain of salt, because some of their info is so flawed, it's laughable.

For example their info on Ford FT engines (1964/78 500 and larger series trucks) is pure unadulterated crap!

[Metman]

As Michael Scott said...

[Milaca]

If you only count the number of GT Hawks that are registered/insured for driving in the U.S., 900 seems high to me!

[mch]

well, you can count on me for 2 of them, a 63 GT Hawk and my 64 SuperHawk
Mark

[studegary]

Take what you read on wiki-wiki with a grain of salt, because some of their info is so flawed, it's laughable.

For example their info on Ford FT engines (1964/78 500 and larger series trucks) is pure unadulterated crap!

Seems like you are someone that could enter the correct information.

[stephenj]

In 2016 there were 834 in US and 40 more in Canada on the GT Hawk Registry.

[STEWDI]

In one of Fred Fox's TW article not that long ago %-& years he postulated that 50% of all '64 GT's still exist - likely in various states/conditions. That takes care of almost 900 right there. Also, when SDC was fairly new, they gathered numbers for which were the most popular cars in the club. The number one most - owned car was the '62 GT. Probably a high number of the GT's owned by club members are good candidates for survival.

Personally, l'm with you. 2,000 exiting GT's is a very believable number (maybe even a little low!) The Black over Red automatic one my Dad bot new in May of '62 in Kingston Ontario also still exists, but in someone else's garage, not mine. l 'm remembering how rust had taken hold by the fall of '69, even in that 60,000 mile car. l thank the people who owned her in the 70's and '80's and spent money on making her a cool car again.

[HOXXOH]

I seriously doubt the '64 I sold in either '69 or '70 is a survivor. The guy who bought it banged it up twice in the first 3 months and it was last seen on a car lot in Toledo for sale real cheap. The '52 may still be around. Pretty much rust free when I sold it to another Studebaker enthusiast about the same time.

[bensherb]

In 2016 there were 834 in US and 40 more in Canada on the GT Hawk Registry.

I know of at least three more that aren't in any registry, mine included.

[Hallabutt]

Mike, you may be right about 2000 surviving, but if so the GT would be among a select few post war cars with a survival rate over 15%. I would tend to go with the 900 number for a couple of reasons. Cars that registered might, in fact, be the number of cars registered, and derivable. If true then that number would still be far higher then the expected 1% survival rate of all cars over twenty years old. A 7% survival rate of a specialty car is certainly believable. Maybe there are 1000 non-derivable cars out there, many of which we might like to think of as restorable, but will they ever be restored, I think not.

There is simply not enough pent up demand to raise the value of the GT to the point that most people are willing to take the plunge and restore one. As we die off there will be far more cars on the market then there will be demand. The glut on the market should depress the value of all, but the best cars. Then there is the escalating cost of restoration. Don't misunderstand I love the moxie of those still doing the restorations on their post war Studebakers, but they are outliers in our world.

[Skip Lackie]

This "how many are left" mania started 30-40 years ago when Duesenbergs and Cadillac V16s started selling for hundreds of $K at the newly-established antique car auctions. One could with reasonable accuracy state that there were only a certain number left, because (1) only a handful of each model had been built, (2) the CCCA had been keeping count of such cars since right after WWII, (3) its members knew the fate of nearly every qualifying car, and (4) it was assumed that nearly all survivors would have surfaced to take advantage of the potential profit. Even then, an occasional unknown Model J would turn up and the number of survivors would be increased.

Then the same thing happened with low-production models of common cars, like fuel-injected 57 Chevys and Studebaker R3s. Eventually, the digitization of original production records allowed people to make such claims for relatively common cars that had somewhat unusual options, colors, and features (see post #3).

No one knows how many Studebakers of any model exist, because an unknown number are either not registered or are in foreign countries. These articles are written by stringers working for non-automotive publications who must write something every day or not get paid. Querying North American DMV data bases is a good way to serve as the basis for some prose -- and almost nobody who reads it will know that it's BS.