This vehicle is best known as the Hot Wheels Golden Hawk Dream Roadster, it was built over the course of 17 years, the show-winning car was then used in the Forza Horizon 4 video game as part of the Hot Wheels Legends car pack.
The Roadster was built by Paul Jurewicz based on the design of the 1968 Python Hot Wheels car, using a 1957 Studebaker body he found for sale in a junkyard as the starting point. By the time the car was completed it would incorporate parts from 11 vehicles including Fords, Jaguars, Corvettes, Audis, Pontiacs, Thunderbirds, Corvairs, Oldsmobiles, Shelby Mustangs, Lincolns, and even a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Fast Fasts – The Studebaker Golden Hawk Custom Roadster
- The Hot Wheels Golden Hawk Dream Roadster was built by Paul Jurewicz, drawing inspiration from the 1968 Python Hot Wheels car he played with as a child. Starting with a 1957 Studebaker body, the project took nearly 20 years, incorporating parts from 11 different vehicles.
- The car features a heavily modified Studebaker base with elements like a 1960 Pontiac nose and a 1959 Ford Thunderbird hood. It has independent suspension systems from a Chevrolet Corvette and Jaguar, four-wheel disc brakes, and a modern 4.6 liter Ford Modular V8 engine producing over 300 bhp.
- The interior includes period-correct black leather and fabric upholstery, a wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel, and a unique Audi sunroof used as the trunk lid. The car is designed as a true roadster with no folding roof, highlighting both classic and innovative design elements.
- The Roadster won multiple awards, including first in class at the 2019 and 2020 Detroit Autorama and other prestigious shows. It became part of the Hot Wheels Legends tour in 2019 and was featured in the Forza Horizon 4 video game. The car is scheduled for auction at the Mecum Harrisburg Auction on July 26th, 2024.
Building The Golden Hawk Custom Roadster
As children, many of us whiled away hours playing with our Hot Wheels cars, and likely more than a few times made plans to build full-sized versions once we grew up. Well, while for most of us those dreams faded, for Paul Jurewicz of Shelby Township in Michigan, those dreams solidified into a plan.
The A-symmetrical design of the Dream Roadster has been stopping people in their tracks since it first entered the show circuit back in 2019.
Back in the 1960s when he was a boy, Jurewicz had owned one of the original 16 Hot Wheels, the 1968 Python. This car had been based closely on a concept car designed by the team at Car Craft magazine in 1961, featuring an avant garde A-symmetrical design with a wedge profile, a distinctive nose, and a flat rear deck.
The design had remained with Jurewicz, though the car was long gone, and in 2004 he set to work building his own. Now his car wouldn’t be a replica of the Python, it would be his own unique design, but it took inspiration from the earlier car and looks like it could have been developed as its successor.
Building The Dream Roadster
The project began in earnest when he found a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk in a junkyard, and realized it would make a good starting point. The project took almost 20 years to complete and no small amount of ingenuity.
The body of the original Studebaker has been heavily modified, apparently using steel panels from various production vehicles, though these would need to have been modified and reshaped to fit.
The vehicle retains a Studebaker cowl, windshield, and door frames but now has a 1960 Pontiac nose section and door skins, a 1959 Ford Thunderbird hood, a 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado right-side headlight door, and rear sheet metal from a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair.
The vehicle is powered by a 4.6 liter Ford Modular V8 with double overhead cams and four valves per cylinder.
Unusually for a car with underpinnings from the 1950s, the Dream Roadster has independent front and rear suspension as well as four wheel disc brakes. The front suspension was sourced from a Chevrolet Corvette with the rear suspension coming from a Jaguar.
The brakes consist of Wilwood 6 piston calipers in front and inboard cross-drilled disc in the rear, many Jaguar independent rear suspension designs since the E-Type used inboard discs as a way of reducing unsprung weight.
Power is provided by a modern 4.6 liter Ford Modular V8 with an aluminum block and heads, double overhead cams with four valves per cylinder, and 300+ bhp and 300+ lb ft of torque depending on the specific version. This engine is mated to a C4 3-speed automatic transmission, with power sent to the rear wheels.
The interior of the car has been finished with a period correct black leather and fabric upholstery, with black carpet, and a matching black dashboard and door cards. There is no folding roof, this is a true roadster designed for sunny weather use, and it has a wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel and a wooden shifter knob, with lap belts for both driver and passenger.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of this vehicle, and one we’ve never seen on another car before, is the use of an Audi sunroof as the trunk lid. It can be opened and closed normally, allowing access to the fuel filler and trunk area when required.
The interior has seating for two with lap belts, black upholstery and carpets, a wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel, and a wood shifter knob.
The Awards Begin Rolling In
Once completed the car was first shown at the Detroit Autorama in 2019 where it promptly won a first in class award. It went back in 2020 and did it all over again, winning another first in class award.
It would then become a “Fine Nine” contender and Darryl Starbird’s Personal Choice award at the Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Car Show in 2020. A year later it would be the Judge’s Pick award winner at 2021 Eyes on Design Concours d’Elegance in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.
Perhaps the prize the car is most famous for winning is the a place on the 2019 Hot Wheels Legends tour, where the Golden Hawk Dream Roadster fulfilled its destiny to become a real Hot Wheels car, just like the 1968 Python that inspired it all those years ago.
As a result of this, the car would be created as a 3D model and made available to race in the Forza Horizon 4 video game as part of the Hot Wheels Legends car pack, where it’s been driven, albeit virtually, by millions.
Since the car was made available to race in the “Forza Horizon 4” video game as part of the Hot Wheels Legends car pack its been raced virtually by millions of players all over the world.
The Studebaker Golden Hawk Roadster: Now For Sale
After much thought, Paul Jurewicz has now decided to sell the Hot Wheels Golden Hawk Dream Roadster. It’s going to be offered as a major highlight at the Mecum Harrisburg Auction on the 26th of July and it will come with a build book and photos, parts records, and assorted literature. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
