56 September 2019 http://www.completekitcar.co.ukREADER’S BUILD | GCS HAWKEthe eye. Not happy working with guesswork,
Drew remeasured the body and chassis
himself before repositioning the headlights
and creating his own revised shape. Almost
everything on the GCS, including the
paintjob and subsequent resprays, has been
done by him and him alone. You can’t argue
with the end result, as not only is the wider
Morgan-esque roadster more symmetrical
than other early Hawkes but it’s also, to my
eyes, better proportioned. The wider stance
gives the car a more purposeful look which
has won it many fans in the community, and
has the trophies to prove it. It hasn’t always
been this way, however.
In the early days, many purists were
critical of the changes made to the classically
styled car, but putting enthusiast’s noses out
of joint isn’t something that is completely
new to Drew.
Back in his University days, he built a
heavily modified Lenham bodied Austin-
Healey Sprite that many of the Healey
boys didn’t fully appreciate. In fact, at one
club event, marque founder Donald Healey
made a beeline for the baby sports car and
his opening line according to Julie was,
“What have you done to my car?”
He had a point as with its 1440cc 8-port
engine, close-ratio gearbox, stripped out
interior and full cage that required climbingIt may come as a surprise to some that
Drew chose the four-seater Plus Two
derivative of the Hawke as his starting point,
but his reasoning had little to do with the
car’s minuscule rear seating. The extra space
may have been beneficial with a little one
on the way, but it was the model’s superior
rear suspension set-up that sealed the deal
for him. As an engineer to the automotive
industry by trade, Drew could see the
limitations of the original kit’s basic Cortina
rear suspension set-up – especially with the
meaty powerplant that he envisaged for his
car (more on that later). However, as the
Plus Two kit was designed with rear space
in mind it made use of a lower and crucially
more efficient twin-trailing arm set-up in
conjunction with a Panhard rod. This system
was much more sports car than family run-
about and, as the Plus Two body was barely
any longer than the standard Hawke’s, it was
a no-brainer for Drew. The larger footprint
wasn’t an issue anyway, as he was to spend
a significant amount of time widening and
beefing up the bodywork.
Many early GCS builders had warned
Drew that not everything on the body fitted
quite as it should and that the best way to
fit the bodywork was to build everything
around the tub and mount the complete
body to the chassis where it looks right toRear seats are mainly used for extra storage.Drew is a fan of his many dials which all serve a purpose.054 GCS Hawke.indd 56 31/07/2019 3:15 pm