Hawk 289 Roadster

And so the story goes; When ex-racing driver Carroll Shelby could no longer compete at the wheel, his only way to fulfil his dream, to beat Ferrari, was to create his very own racing cars and take the fight to Enzo.

In 1962, Shelby’s dream became a reality when a deal was struck with British car manufacturer AC Cars, to produce and supply bodies and chassis, based on the John Tojeiro designed AC Ace. Shipped to the USA, Shelby would then combine the neat British sports car with American muscle, in the form of the new small block Ford V8, a combination which would go on to become the legend we know as the Shelby AC Cobra.

Now, let your dream become a reality: The Hawk 289 Roadster has all the looks, design and handling of those early Cobras, with all the thrilling driving characteristics and horsepower by the bucketload!

The Hawk 289 Roadster was the first car to be produced by us in the 289 range. As mentioned above, the 289 was the evolutionary result of endowing the AC Ace with American muscle in the form of the 4.7 litre (289 cu inch) V8 engine. With the obvious exception of the redesigned nose of the Ace, it was visually similar to its predecessor but it had enough other subtle design tweeks to give it a slightly more aggressive image. The result was that the 289 not only succeeded in being an excellent and powerful road car, but also proved very capable on the race circuits for which it was originally conceived.

Features include:

• Type: 2 seater sports.

• Coachwork: Unstressed GRP construction.

• Chassis: 3.5 inch round tube, with folded steel outriggers, fully sealed and bushed where appropriate. Bracketed for your choice of engine.

• Engine options: 8 cylinder 3500cc, or 302 cu inch V8. Others to special order.

• Gearbox: 4 and 5 speed options can be fitted.

• Front suspension: Independent, coil sprung, double wishbone with lever arm, or telescopic dampers.

• Rear suspension: Live axle, leaf springs with lever arm, or optional telescopic dampers, or Jaguar IRS.

• Brakes: Discs to the front and drums to the rear (or disc rear with Jaguar IRS). Servo, or non-servo assisted. 4 pot front calipers and adjustable brake bias options also available.

• Wheels: 15 x 6 wire wheels (Optional chrome), with 205/70 x 15 radial ply tyres.

• V8 performance: 0 – 60 mph in under 6 seconds, with top speed around 130+ mph.

• Overall Dimensions: Length = 3937mm (155″). Width = 1575mm (62″). Height to screen = 1220mm (48″).

Upgrades:

Rear Axle and suspension: A Jaguar IRS unit can simply be fitted in place of the MGB live axle if required. All chassis are bracketed to accommodate either system, so an upgrade to a modified Jaguar can be done at any stage. We recommend the use of a Jaguar unit when using Ford V8 engines.

Front suspension: Hawk Cars supply their own fully independent front suspension that is fully adjustable. This accepts MGB hubs, stub axles, brakes and pivot rods etc. This superbly designed system is all you will ever need, whatever engine you choose.

Brakes: In order to maintain the correct braking balance between front and rear systems, we recommend using our 4 pot, vented conversion when fitting the Jaguar IRS unit, or when using more powerful engines.

Engines: Rover V8 or small block Ford V8 engines are ideal power units. These provide strength, power, originality and ease of maintenance. Also, being mounted low in the chassis, they enhance stability and no deviation from the original bonnet (hood) shape is required. We have chosen these engine, drive-train and running gear combinations to provide a very quick car with flexible and pin-sharp handling across the model range.

The aluminium version of the Hawk 289 Roadster – Price on application.

The aluminium bodied version of this model is the ultimate in authenticity and quality. The bodies are millimetre accurate reproductions of the original cars, formed in hand-beaten and rolled aluminium to exact specifications. The chassis are also of the original round tube design and these, along with the specially made hubs and suspension components are also to original specifications, but using the latest materials and engineering methods.

In fact, the production of original spec’ components for our own cars has established Hawk Cars as the major supplier of parts and spares for original cars in the UK and Europe.

A thorough look at these cars being assembled in our works, combined with a close study of our company demonstrators will leave you in no doubt that these cars are about as close to the real thing as it is possible to get.