First, is it really November, 2019?
Second, can “it” be “The One That Got Away” if you are unaware of “it” at the time. I’m going to rule Yes.
From Bring a Trailer a picture of an almost perfect 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk. This is how I envision my GT Hawk looking if/when I buy it. Maybe I would want a slightly darker green, but this car just looks awesome to me. It even has both the clock and tach on the instrument panel. Fewer than 1,800 of these were built for model year 1964 before Studebaker closed its South Bend facility and the Gran Turismo Hawk (and Avanti) were no more.
This car was auctioned on BaT last July/August selling on August 2 for $15,250. I think that’s $16,012.50 with the buyers commission. Even though I have had the idea to buy one of these for quite some time, I wasn’t explicitly looking when this car was available. Had I known who knows what I might have done. I still had the BMW Z4 at the time and that could have been an obstacle. By the way, in the comments the seller claimed he had more than twice the sale price in the car and that the car was “all there.”
Money is important, but it isn’t everything. Albert Einstein once remarked, “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” I don’t ever want to be the type of person who knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing. Car restorations should be a source of satisfaction for the person involved above and beyond the value of the build. By the way, I did not grow up with money and, as the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.”
Perhaps inspired by my friend Joe’s very recent purchase of a 2016 Corvette Z06 convertible, I have decided to show an affordable C6 Corvette. From Car Gurus:
This is a 2010 Corvette in 2LT trim plus navigation with about 46,000 miles in Crystal Red Metallic over Cashmere. The seller is asking $21,995. These cars are powered by a 6.2 liter/376 cubic-inch V-8 that generates 430 HP/424 LB-FT of torque. The NPP “two-mode” exhaust option would raise the maximum output slightly to 436 HP/428 LB-FT.
A beautiful, modern Corvette with more than 400 HP for a little more than $20,000…that’s a great deal, in my opinion. What do you think?
#FrugalFriday
#TheOneThatGotAway
#1964StudebakerGranTurismoHawk
#AlbertEinstein
#2010ChevroletCorvette
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
I think we are in a golden age for car lovers. For about $100K-which is the cost of a so so “luxury” car in today’s market, you can get a Vette with nice power, your Studebaker, a decent SUV/crossover, and a runabout for everyday errands. For $250K-the price of a new Bentley SUV, you can buy a used Bentley SUV and the aforementioned cars. Not sure what this means for auto makers-and the Fiat-Chrysler-Peugeot merger may be telling-but I wouldn’t want to be in the new car business.
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I agree that this is the golden age for cars. The FCA-PSA merger is largely about electric cars.
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That is certainly a handsome Hawk.
ICYMI – here’s a ’63 on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1963-Studebaker-Special/254403019319?hash=item3b3b9a0237:g:c5oAAOSw29Zdtid7
Reading between the lines, I think the seller has the reserve too high. It isn’t perfect, but it’s an unrestored original. A hint that the reserve is too high is the seller thinks the car was “Special Ordered” not realizing that all the Gran Turismo Hawks were fitted at the selling dealer with a plate “Built especially for xxx xxx” with the original purchaser’s name inserted. 😊
Re the PSA-FCA merger – PSA has been wanting to re-enter the US & Canadian markets. One benefit for PSA in this merger is the US/Canadian FCA dealer network will give them a natural platform from which to re-launch in North America.
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Many thanks, sir. Like the hashtag reads: so many cars, just one life.
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