Stutz Motor Car of America

Logo in 1987

Stutz Motor Car of America was an American car brand that produced so-called revival cars from 1970 to 1988. The company revived the classic Stutz brand , which was successful before the Second World War , but had no legal or organizational relationship with its predecessor. The new vehicles with the name Stutz were more or less heavily modified large-scale production vehicles that had a classic-looking design and were the most expensive American automobiles of their time.

Company history

The forerunner of the Stutz revival was the failed attempt in 1966 to revive the Duesenberg brand . Stutz Motor Car of America was founded in 1968 by the New York banker James O'Donnell.

As with the Duesenberg project, the initiative came from the designer Virgil Exner , who designed the Duesenberg Model D presented in 1966 . The company in which August Duesenberg's son Fred was involved had failed due to a lack of capital; regardless of this, Exner was still looking for investors who could still finance the start of production. One of the potential financiers Exner approached was New York investment banker James O'Donnell. He had the project explained to him and after an in-depth investigation declined to support the company. Nonetheless, O'Donnell was fascinated by Exner's design, which he considered "the most beautiful car I've ever seen". A little later he therefore contacted Exner again. Both agreed to build a similarly designed car together. John De Lorean , then manager of GM's Pontiac brand , was consulted. He endorsed the design and thought the project was feasible; eventually he promised O'Donnell logistical support.

In August 1968, James O'Donnell founded Stutz Motor Car of America , which he ran for the next 20 years. O'Donnell explained his choice of the “Stutz” brand with a personal affinity for the well-known pre-war sports cars, of which he claims to have driven in his youth. At least an equally important reason may have been the fact that the name Stutz - unlike other past brands such as Packard or Duesenberg - was no longer protected under trademark law, but was available as a public domain . In 1988, O'Donnell gave up his position as President and CEO, but initially remained a majority shareholder. In the early 1990s he sold his shares, and Stutz closed the doors a little later.

Between 1970 and 1988 Stutz sold around 600 vehicles. By far the most successful models were the respective basic coupés with the name Blackhawk, followed by the four-door sedan on the regular wheelbase. All other models - convertibles and long limousines - remained more or less unique pieces.

The cars were mainly sold in the United States , but also in the Middle East and Brunei . Only a few cars were sold in Europe, even if the well-known luxury car dealer Auto Becker had temporarily taken over the agency for Central Europe.

The importance of the wagons is assessed very differently. More than with other cars, the viewer's cultural background is important. What is certain is that the "new Stutz", as O'Donnell called his cars, were very American vehicles. Accordingly, in American publications, the cars are often referred to as impressive cars, "classics" or "the most beautiful cars ever made". In Europe this is usually viewed more critically. The British trade magazine Thoroughbred and Classic Cars positioned the Stutz Blackhawk from 1971 on their list of the 10 ugliest cars in the world in 2000 on the third place, combined with the comment: "simply tasteless". In the 9/2003 issue, the same magazine was even clearer:

Anyone wanting to drive a flashy luxury car around 1980 had to resort to a Rolls-Royce Camargue or an Aston Martin Lagonda , depending on their taste - or, if you are a successful porn star , a Stutz Blackhawk.

The concept

Between 1970 and 1988, Stutz built a number of vehicles that - with the exception of the rare Defender and Gazelle off-road vehicles - always followed the same concept regardless of the differences in detail.

They were luxurious and very expensive automobiles that were based on American high-volume technology and were given a “classic” style bodywork that was handcrafted in Italy. It was important to O'Donnell that Stutz did not manufacture engines, technical or electrical components himself. Rather, Stutz saw himself in the tradition of the "coachbuilder" who produced the bodies and the interior using the technology provided. The sheet metal parts were attached to the unchanged base vehicle; therefore, the dimensions of the newly manufactured parts had to correspond exactly to the specifications of the basic model. This concept later became known under the term "boutique car", which a number of other manufacturers in the USA and in Europe (for example Monteverdi with the Sierra model ) continued to pursue. O'Donnell explained the benefits of this concept in a 1991 article as follows: “In 1969, all foreign cars were sold in the $ 20,000 plus segment. Service and repairs were a big problem here. (…) The use of high-volume components from General Motors ensured that the cars could be serviced and replaced with spare parts anywhere in the world ”.

From 1969 - the year in which the first prototype was manufactured - up to and including the third series, the respective Pontiac Grand Prix served as the basis for the Coupés from Stutz . It should be noted, however, that Stutz usually implemented a model change of the base vehicle with some delay, sometimes even two years later. For the fourth series, Stutz used the two-door versions of the Pontiac Bonneville or, after its discontinuation, the Oldsmobile 88 ; the last series was based on the Pontiac Firebird . On the drive side, the series engine of the Grand Prix was mostly used, but in individual cases different customer requests could be met. It is known that individual models of the third series were equipped with the 8.2 liter eight-cylinder from Cadillac ; an American catalog note even wants to know about a coupé of the fourth series that had a 5.7 liter diesel engine from Oldsmobile .

Oldsmobile Delta 88 vehicles were used as the basis for the four-door sedans , which were lengthened to varying degrees for the Diplomatica and Royale models.

The production of the cars took place mainly at the Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore in the Italian Piedmont . O'Donnell had set up this workshop especially for his cars. Stutz received finished basic vehicles from General Motors, which were delivered to Italy by ship. There, around 10 Italian Sprengler handcrafted the new body parts and adapted them to the basic vehicles that had been freed from their standard body. The interior was also made in Italy, after all, this is where the paintwork was done (with 20 layers of paint, which O'Donnell proudly pointed out repeatedly). The fact that no technical changes were made to the basic vehicles made itself repeatedly disadvantageous. For example, the magazine auto motor und sport noted that the smaller radiator openings compared to the base vehicle quickly led to high thermal loads, which could cause considerable problems in city traffic. Another example was the door and hood hinges, which were adopted unchanged from GM and were apparently too weak for the considerably heavier Stutz components, so that opened doors quickly hung crooked.

The vehicles

A striking design feature of all Stutz models: a large, exposed radiator grille

Exposed spare wheel that severely restricted the trunk volume. In earlier models it was not covered

The original design of the "new Stutz" was directly a work by Virgil Exner. Like the 1966 Duesenberg, it was a retro-look vehicle that deliberately imitated classic elements of the automotive design of the 1930s without actually being a serious copy. The Stutz adopted many of the ideas that Exner had tried out on this topic on the Duesenberg Model D and added more. Unlike the Duesenberg, Exner's design was to be implemented on a large two-door coupé.

The outstanding design features of the Stutz were:

Curved chrome strips on the sides of the car, which reproduced the lines of classic fenders
Imitation running boards below the doors
A long, exposed hood
A large radiator grille protruding over the front of the car, into which the lines of the bonnet flowed and which, according to O'Donnell, Virgil Exner wanted to be understood as a phallic symbol.
"Free-standing" headlights made possible by cutouts on the left and right of the radiator grille
Imitated sidepipes, i.e. exhaust pipes that emerged from the fenders behind the front tires and ran to the rear under the doors
An open or covered, in any case freely visible spare wheel, which was partly let into the trunk.

All of these elements became the distinguishing features of the “new Stutz”. The subsequent designers, who designed the later series after Exner's death, clearly tried to adopt these features completely and to fit them into the respective base vehicles. This remarkable consistency ultimately also became a problem for Stutz, as the company was able to offer its customers a few modifications over the years, but ultimately nothing really new. Accordingly, interest in the car decreased significantly in the 1980s.

The Stutz Blackhawk

The prototype

The prototype was made in 1969. The starting point was a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix Coupé. The car was first measured in detail in a special workshop in Detroit. Exner then created a clay model of the Stutz on a 1: 1 scale, which, with the exception of an extended wheelbase, corresponded exactly to the dimensions of the Pontiac. A plastic cast was made of the clay model, which was taken to the workshop in Cavallermaggiore, where the Italian craftsmen first made a wooden model on which the body parts would in future be made by hand. The wooden model was realized in June 1969.

At that time the Cavallermaggiore plant was still under construction. The prototype of the Blackhawk was therefore made by Carrozzeria Ghia . It was completed in December 1969. On January 20, 1970, it was presented to the public in New York at an event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel . Then there was a whole series of advertising campaigns, television reports and of course test drives with journalists from the motor press.

The visual appearance of the prototype largely corresponded to the later production model. However, it had a windshield that consisted of two parts and had a veritable center bar. The later series model took over the one-piece windshield from the Pontiac Grand Prix, on which a separating bar was subsequently applied - as an imitation, so to speak. This feature was omitted from the second series.

Series 1

The rear of a Blackhawk Series I

The first series was produced from 1970 to 1971. Two-seat coupes were built, which were called Blackhawk; In addition, a four-door sedan named Duplex was created as a one-off.

A total of 25 "series" vehicles were built. Most of them were built by Officine Padane , a company specializing in the manufacture of buses in Italy. The vehicles used a number of Italian attachments. These included, for example, door handles from the Maserati Indy and taillights from the Fiat 850 . From 1972, the Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore took over the construction of the coupés; at most, single copies of the first series were made here.

The technical basis for the Blackhawk was a Pontiac Grand Prix of the second generation, produced from 1969 onwards (so-called G platform from General Motors ). The body was very independent; Also in the area of the roof lines there were no recognizable references to the base vehicle, the wheelbase was lengthened a good deal compared to the Pontiac Grand Prix. A distinctive feature of the first series Blackhawk was the lack of rear bumpers. Instead, the spare wheel mounted on the trunk protruded a little over the rear end of the body and suggested that it could absorb bumps from colliding vehicles in an emergency.

The first mass-produced Blackhawk was delivered to Elvis Presley . Until his death, the King was to order three more Stutz. James O'Donnell reports that the Blackhawk was the only vehicle that Elvis Presley himself drove.

Series 2

The second series, which was only produced in 1972, was completely redesigned. The lines, while still bearing all of the classic elements of Exner's basic design, were less complex and therefore easier (and cheaper) to manufacture. The car was again based on General Motors' G platform. The dimensions of the second Blackhawk - and thus also the wheelbase - were now exactly matched to those of the Pontiac Grand Prix. The windshield (now without a separating middle bar) and side windows corresponded to the Pontiacs, as did the small side window behind the doors, which is a special feature only of this series. The spare wheel was still placed on the trunk as standard, but it no longer served as a replacement for a bumper. The car now had a full-width bumper with wide taillights embedded in it. It was taken over from the Pontiac Grand Prix and only slightly alienated by later attached chrome struts.

A special feature of this year was the so-called hump trunk or the tonneau : a metal attachment on the trunk lid, which broke through the lines of the car and aimed to increase the trunk volume. This clumsy looking element replaced the spare wheel. It was rarely ordered; Experts speak of five to six copies. Regardless of the style that takes getting used to, hump-trunk models are in great demand today.

The Series 2 was only produced as a Blackhawk Coupe.

Series 3

Stutz Blackhawk III Coupe

The third series was produced the longest with various modifications. It was on offer from 1973 to 1979 and, with 300 vehicles produced, represented the most successful series. The basis for this model family was the third series of Pontiac Grand Prix , which was introduced in late summer 1972.

The design of the third series differed from its predecessor in some details. The small side window was omitted, the C-pillar became wider. A special characteristic of the third Stutz series was a steeply sloping rear end that ended in a high bumper; the taillights were (as in the first series) mounted below the bumper. The 7.5 liter eight-cylinder from Pontiac was used as the series engine, which was not revised or tuned and delivered between 180 and 200 hp. The wagons were very big and heavy. The curb weight of the coupés was given as 2,400 kilograms, the length was 5,800 millimeters.

There are few contemporary driving reports of the third series. A driving report by auto motor und sport from the spring of 2000, which deals with a coupé stationed in Berlin , primarily criticizes the driving behavior:

The Stutz moves through the dense city traffic like an old rigid axle Pontiac, the trunk of which has been poured with concrete to improve comfort: soft as Lenor laundry, rocking like a carousel horse, agile like an oil tanker.

The Blackhawk of the third series is the basis for two convertible versions: a model without a roll bar called d'Italia and another convertible with a roll bar called Bearcat. The IV-Porte sedan, offered from 1977 onwards, has nothing to do with the Blackhawk technically. It bears some of its design elements, but is based on the 1977 Oldsmobile 88 .

Series 4

The fourth series of coupes was produced from 1980 to 1986.

After the Pontiac Grand Prix had already experienced a noticeable downsizing in the 1978 model year and had become an intermediate model, when the supply of 1977 Pontiacs was exhausted, Stutz used the full-size models from General Motors for the new series . The base vehicles were the two-door versions of the GM-B platform . Two different types were used: Up until the end of 1984 it was Oldsmobile 88 Coupés, after which they were discontinued, the technically identical versions of the Pontiac Parisienne, which were still in production, were used from 1985 to 1986 .

The styling of the coupes changed significantly. The cars were now significantly shorter than their direct predecessors. The proportions in particular had shifted significantly. The bonnet was noticeably shorter; instead, the passenger cell grew, which now corresponded to the dimensions of the base vehicle. The roof section of the Oldsmobile Coupés was taken over unchanged, only the rear Opera window was closed, giving the impression of a very massive B-pillar. The rear section was significantly higher, it had massive chrome-plated bumpers, the round tail lights were now arranged above the bumper. She took up a design that had been developed for the IV Porte sedan in 1977. Aside from that, the fourth series Blackhawk models continued to sport the now traditional features such as free-standing headlights, mock sidepipes, and curved fender-style chrome strips.

In terms of drive technology, Stutz also made a reduction. Instead of the 7.5 liter eight-cylinder used in the third series, engines with a displacement of 5.0 or 5.7 liters were now used as standard. However, special requests from customers were still implemented here. Some fourth series vehicles were fitted with a 6.6 liter engine and there is a single report of a vehicle with a 5.7 liter Oldsmobile diesel engine.

The production of the coupe remained at a constant level for a long time. The Swiss trade magazine Automobil Revue reports that the Carrozzeria Saturn produced 50 Blackhawk coupés of the fourth series per year between 1980 and 1983; from 1984 to 1986 20 units are said to have been built each year.

The production of the Blackhawk coupes was stopped at the end of 1986. There was no successor with a coupé body. In 1987 the Blackhawk was replaced by the Bearcat II convertible, which was the only model in the brand's portfolio.

The convertibles

From 1977 four different convertible models were produced.

Stutz D'Italia

The first version was created in 1977 on the basis of a Blackhawk Series 3. It was a convertible without a roll bar, which was presented under the name D'Italia . The initiator of the project was a Stutz dealer. In terms of production technology, the D'Italia was a conversion , i.e. a subsequent modification: the roof of a "standard" Blackhawk Coupé was removed after its completion. The conversion was not carried out at the Carrozzeria Saturn in Italy, but in a workshop in the United States, which is no longer known by name. The D'Italia went on sale for $ 100,000. A factory brochure described the car as "The world's most expensive car".

The D'Italia remained a one-off. In this form it had no chance of series production. The lack of a roof made the car unstable and in the absence of a roll bar, safety in the event of an accident was questionable.

A few years later, a second wireless convertible based on the Blackhawk Series 3 was offered for sale. This was another subsequent conversion that was carried out on behalf of a customer.

Stutz Bearcat

The response from the public to the Convertible D'Italia had shown that the clientele needed an open mind. O'Donnell responded with the Bearcat Convertible, a factory-opened version of the Blackhawk Coupe. Unlike the D'Italia, the Bearcat was not a full convertible. Rather, it followed the structure of the so-called safety convertibles, which had been developed in Europe and implemented with models such as the Triumph Stag , the Lancia Beta Spyder , the Porsche 911 Targa and 914 or the Bristol Beaufighter : A massive roll bar replaced the B-pillar, it gave stability and security in the event of an accident. Between the windshield and the roll bar was a plastic hard top in the Targa style that could be removed manually if necessary; the hood behind the roll bar, however, was made of fabric and could be folded down.

The Bearcat was realized in several versions between 1979 and 1985:

Initially it was based on the Blackhawk Series 3. Apart from the roof construction, the body of the original vehicle was taken over unchanged. A factory brochure from 1979 described the convertible as

"an absolute explosion into high intensity motoring experience. (...) It has that unique flair which gives the feeling of perennial youth" .

About 30 copies of this version of the Bearcat were made in a short time.

When Stutz presented the Series 4 of the Blackhawk Coupé in 1980, a convertible version of this model, which was also called Bearcat, was submitted with some delay. The car took over the heavy lines of the Coupé of the fourth series and combined them with the roof structure of the previous Bearcat. In total, only seven copies of this version were made. Its successor was the Stutz Bearcat II.

Stutz Bearcat II (Series 5)

Stutz Bearcat II (1988)

The Stutz Bearcat II, presented in 1988, replaced the previous Blackhawk and Bearcat models. Its introduction represented the most radical model change in the company's history. The new Stutz was significantly more compact than all its predecessors, and modern sports car technology worked under the body, which was still traditionally shaped.

The compact Pontiac Firebird now served as the technical basis . Its chassis and drive technology were taken over unchanged. The body was made of plastic. Stutz called the material "Diamond Comp" and stated in the first sales prospectus:

"The same material is used on US Space Shuttle vehicles (and) Formula 1 racing cars".

The car was only offered as a convertible; For the first time in 20 years, there was no coupé. Stylistically, all (now really) classic elements of the newer Stutz models were quoted, but they had to be reduced to significantly smaller dimensions, which gave the Bearcat II a very independent, compact appearance. In the interior there was still the familiar luxury: hand-sewn leather, hand-polished woods, gold leaf plating on almost all visible instruments and levers and much more. The factory brochure described the Bearcat II as "the ultimate fulfillment of the automotive artistic dream" and, after reference was made to the production of the car in Italy, endeavored to place the car in a tradition line to the Renaissance artist Michelangelo .

The Bearcat II sold for $ 125,000 in the United States. Auto Becker offered it in Germany at a price of 385,000 DM.

A total of 12 Bearcat II vehicles were built. At least eight of them were built in 1988, some of them probably earlier. From 1989 onwards there is no more production. However, the sale of the vehicles dragged on until the early 1990s. In the course of 1995, a thirteenth vehicle is said to have been manufactured from spare parts.

The limousines

Even before the presentation of the first Blackhawk, James O'Donnell and Virgil Exner thought about adding a sedan to the side of the Stutz Coupé. What is meant by this is a four-door vehicle in the sense of American sedans, not an elongated representative limousine. A first draft for such a sedan, which was given the name Ministrale , did not get beyond the stage of a sketch, but the drawing of the car was published in a sales brochure from 1971. In 1971, the Duplex sedan was initially created as a ready-to-drive single item. For half a decade limousines of the Type IV-Porte and Victoria were produced in small series. An alienated Cadillac sedan from 1971 has a special status.

The Stutz Duplex

In the first half of 1970, Officine Padane , who was building the first three Blackhawk models at the same time, created a four-door sedan that was stylistically an elongated version of the Blackhawk. In a factory brochure from 1971, the red painted car with a chauffeur and an expensively dressed middle-aged lady was shown in front of a New England property and was called "The Stutz Duplex Sedan". The duplex was also listed in the price list; Stutz asked for an amount of $ 32,000 for him. Serial production is also doubtful here. As far as can be seen, only one copy has been made. For several years now, a white painted limousine has been on the internet repeatedly, which - apart from the color - corresponds exactly to the red vehicle from the sales brochure.

The Stutz IV Porte

Stutz IV porte

The first series sedan was the Model IV Porte, which was introduced at the end of 1978 and for a time was produced in parallel with the Blackhawk Series 3. The name of the sedan was reminiscent of the Maserati Quattroporte . The design for the limousine goes back to the Italian designer Paolo Martin .

In contrast to the Duplex, the IV-Porte was technically not an extended Blackhawk, but a separate model. It was based on the 1977 version of the four-door Pontiac Bonneville , the so-called B platform from General Motors . The wheelbase, passenger cell and drive technology were adopted unchanged; the same applied to the shape of the doors and the glass sections. The familiar design features of the Stutz were transferred to this template. The rear end was slightly higher than the version of the Blackhawk Series 3. A sales brochure described the IV-Porte as "the car by which future generations of luxury sedans will have to be measured". The IV-Porte was welcomed by the customers. About 50 vehicles were built in a short time. One of the first buyers was singer Kenny Rogers .

The Stutz Victoria

Stutz Victoria (1985)

In the 1981 model year, the IV-Porte was replaced by the Victoria model. Technically, the Victoria corresponded to its predecessor, but the wheelbase had been lengthened by 10 centimeters. The stretching benefited the rear passengers only, because it was done by inserting a spacer between the (unchanged) rear doors and the rear axle. The interior space enlarged in this way gave the passengers more legroom. In addition, it was now also possible to install massive picnic tables in the backrests of the front seats. This design element, which was originally a special feature of expensive English sedans, blatantly copied the Maserati Quattroporte III, which was also able to come up with such utensils from 1980.

Outwardly, it can be seen that the Victoria was regularly produced without sidepipes. The bumpers were initially chrome-plated, but in later models they were - at least optionally - painted in the body color. A total of around 20 Victoria sedans were produced in five years.

A Cadillac limousine

Apart from these vehicles, which were stylistically and technically similar to the Stutz coupés, in model year 1972 - parallel to the Blackhawk of the second series - another sedan appeared in a Stutz sales brochure. This was a Cadillac Fleetwood Sedan, which had fender-shaped chrome strips on the sides of the car and some alienating applications, but otherwise had no resemblance to the Blackhawk and was easily recognizable as a Cadillac.

This model can hardly be classified in terms of automotive history. Hardly any aspect of its history is known. The website www.madle.org reports that the car was modified by Carrozzeria Coggiola in Italy. It is not known whether O'Donnell seriously considered selling this vehicle as a Stutz. In any case, the fact is that the car remained a one-off.

The representative vehicles

In addition to the limousines with (largely) standard wheelbases, Stutz also manufactured several representative vehicles of different lengths. The design for these vehicles goes back to the Italian designer Paolo Martin.

The Stutz Diplomatica

The Diplomatica, also called Diplomatic Sedan in an advertising brochure, was presented in New York in 1981 as a pure chauffeur-driven limousine. Technically, it was not an extended version of the IV-Porte or Victoria, but an independent model based on a standard Cadillac Fleetwood 75 sedan. Most of the brand's design features were adapted to the original vehicle, but the side pipes were missing. The changed technical basis also required a higher, longer rear, and the chrome strips on the sides, which were supposed to imitate the curved fenders, were different from those of the IV-Porte sedan.

In the passenger compartment, a chilled bar, a TV system and some other amenities could be accommodated on request. Seven copies of the Diplomatica had been produced by 1985, six of which were delivered to Saudi Arabia .

The Stutz Royale

The Stutz Royale was an even lengthened representative limousine. The vehicle was 7.5 meters long and weighed more than three tons when empty. It had spacers between the front and rear doors and between the rear doors and the rear axle, so in American usage it was a double stretched sedan .

The history of the royale is not completely cleared up. A total of three long limousines are likely to have been produced:

There are reports that the prototype of the first long limousine was built as early as 1977. The technical basis of the vehicle is unclear, and no photographs of the first prototype are available. The website www.madle.org reports that the vehicle was delivered to the King of Saudi Arabia in 1978 .
Another vehicle was produced in 1979, which was officially named Stutz Royale as a reference to the equally impressive Bugatti Royale . This vehicle was painted dark blue and equipped with blue velor. It was delivered to the Saudi Arabian royal family at the end of 1979.
In 1980, another limousine was finally built and delivered to the President of Gabon , Omar Bongo . Remarkably, in a press release from 1980, the vehicle was not referred to as the Stutz Royale - Stutz only used this name in relation to the second car delivered to Saudi Arabia - but as a Stutz sedan. The vehicle was painted dark red and equipped with a rotating throne in the passenger area.

Off-road vehicle

O'Donell's extensive business relationships in the Arab region brought the company a lucrative contract in a different field of activity in the early 1980s: Several Arab states needed specially designed, sometimes armored, off-road vehicles for their armies or body guards. O'Donnell accepted this order and in 1984 had some peculiar vehicles manufactured in the Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore, which had no technical or stylistic reference to the other Stutz models:

Stutz Defender and Gazelle

The Defender and the identically constructed Gazelle were armored, visually unchanged versions of the Chevrolet Suburban , which were factory-fitted with a large sunroof and a machine gun. Most of the cars were sold to Saudi Arabia .

Stutz Bear

The Stutz Bear, a large, four-door convertible, was more interesting. This model was also based on the Chevrolet Suburban . With otherwise unchanged technology, the combi roof of the base vehicle was removed. An electrically operated fabric hood was installed behind the rear seats, which covered the front and rear seats if necessary. The rear overhang, which housed the loading area of the large station wagon in the base vehicle, was given a trunk lid so that the Bear gave the overall impression of a four-door notchback convertible. The rear lights of the Alfa Romeo 1750/2000 were installed, the front had rectangular headlights arranged one above the other and a prominent radiator grille. The Bear was produced in a total of 46 copies. Most of the cars went to the royal guard of Saudi Arabia, but also to Morocco.

Well-known Stutz drivers

One of the few European Stutz drivers: Curd Jürgens

Over the years, James O'Donnell has made sure that his cars are bought and driven by numerous famous personalities. Above all, they included artists such as Elvis Presley , Dean Martin (he received the DRUNKY license plate for the car with which his then-girlfriend later caused a traffic accident), Frank Sinatra , Sammy Davis junior , Wayne Newton , Lucille Ball , Robert Goulet , Elton John , Curd Juergens , Kenny Rogers , Liberace , Barry White and Evil Knievel ; also some athletes such as Muhammad Ali and finally numerous politicians mainly from the Arab and African countries such as Omar Bongo , the President of Gabon (he owned one of the two royal limousines), King Hassan II of Morocco and the Sultan of Brunei .

literature

Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . Beekman House, New York 1984, ISBN 0-517-42462-2 (English).
James O'Donnell: The Story of Stutz. Rebirth of a classic car . James O'Donnell's 1991 outline of the company's history, written for his doctoral advisor (available at http://www.madle.org ).
Franz-Peter Hudek: Carved on the neck. Impressions of a Stutz Blackhawk from 1974. In: auto motor und sport 7/2000, p. 224 ff.

Web links

Commons : Stutz Motor Car of America - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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