The Gran Turismo Hawk was not officially introduced until 1962, but Sudebaker extensively previewed the name in its marketing campaign for the 1961 Hawk.

Here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, we’ve previously related the story of the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk, in which designer Brooks Stevens used clever restyling tricks to inexpensively create a modern new look for the Hawk’s aged 1956 exterior. (See our feature here.) Meanwhile, it seems that one year earlier, Studebaker had already landed on a name for the reimagined Hawk: Gran Turismo.

For 1961, Studebaker made bucket seats standard in the Hawk, and at mid-season the auromaker introduced the Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed gearbox as an available option. The Borg-Warner connection was a natural, as B-W already supplied the rest of the automaker’s manual and automatic transmissions. With these distinctive (for 1961) features, coupled with the standard 289 cubic-inch V8, the Hawk was now a grand touring machine, or close enough by U.S. standards as Studebaker saw it. Quoting from the ad copy that soon appeared, the ’61 Hawk was “the first American car in the true continental Gran Turismo tradition . . .”

More ads were produced featuring distinguished British actor James Mason, a car buff, and Lucius Beebe, writer, society personality, and noted figure at Pebble  Beach. In these ads, the Hawk is billed in the headline as the Gran Turismo Studebaker Hawk (above). However, no such badging appeared on the cars, nor did they carry that name in the official materials. So if the question ever comes up, “Was there actually a Gran Turismo Hawk in 1961?” the most honest answer is sort of, almost, but not really.