No car for wallflowers or poor sloebers. Refined taste was not a necessity. Preferably not even. A power of God was a requirement. No embarrassment again.
As a renowned American brand, the Stutz Motor Company produced beautiful models from 1911 such as the Bearcat, the Vertical Eight and various racing cars, after which Henry C. Stutz's life work in 1935 was destroyed. In 1971, the brand that was revived three years earlier flew out of the curve with this Stutz Blackhawk. Between art and kitsch.
Noisy design
Kitsch so. Designer Virgil Exner went completely to his drawing table and kept on adding curves, folds, slopes, chrome and noisy, too big goodies to a fairly tight coupe. The best man must have been exhausted when he finally submitted his design to banker James O'Donnel. He thought it was a good idea, such a neo-classic sign for the nouveau riche, and once again obliterated the old brand with his Stutz Motor Car of America. The world was waiting for this.
A success
Elvis Presley, at least. De Man Met De Goede Smaak was the first to purchase a Stutz Blackhawk. And then four more. When that rocking sheep crossed the dam, more followed. Much more. Singing, acting and sporting America toutly moved in such a same Stutz show sloop. And also in the Middle East, where people were not bothered by lack of money or good taste, the Stutz Blackhawks went just like the proverbial hot sandwiches. The Stutz became a baroque service bicycle for The Rich and Famous.
Exaggerate
But a pricey one. That was not so much in the technology, it was pretty clear. And american. General Motors had everything for this and, as usual, housed a fat V8 under the hood, coupled to an automatic transmission. There was a choice of various eight-cylinder masts, up to a capacity of a sloppy 8 liter. If you exaggerate you must do well. After all, the styling was also very successful. And then we still have to go inside ...
Versailles
Schraalhans also turned out not to be a kitchen master. The Connolly leather was thickly stitched around the furniture and the rest was made of precious wood, so it seemed. The counters in the dashboard were in chrome or even in 24 carat gold for the glitzy frogs who found rococo a bit too modest. This became the automobile equivalent of Versailles. Furthermore, every conceivable luxury was present, from automatic lighting to a quadraphonic eight-track sound system. You will no longer find them even in the cycle.
No bargain
The fact that the Stutz Blackhawk was so exorbitantly priced (a Rolls Royce suddenly seemed like a bargain from the ram) was caused by the rich equipment, but mainly by the fact that the bodies were built by hand in Italy. This Stutz Blackhawk was the first variant. Later a four-door version, the Victoria, and a convertible, the Bearcat, became available. They were then shipped to the US and built on a chassis that General Motors had on the shelf. A monstrous V8 with accompanying technology in it and Bob's your uncle. On top of that, an average of twenty layers of varnish had to be applied, and that just took six weeks. All in all, the construction of this compact prot palace took around 1500 man-hours. So the wallet had to be open for that. And then there was not even a lush smoke coming from the side pipes. They were actually fake ...
gpwhilhorst@hilhorst.nl
Your description is absolutely correct, there are currently a piece or 7 of these luxus liners in the Netherlands and despite the fact that tastes differ, they attract a lot of attention because nobody knows the cars from the past and yet they have a level of entertainment for the sake of the public, thus also added value.
They are well known in America, because most wealthy entertainers bought one or more. A total of 625 units were produced in various models, ranging from max. 27 units to 225 units per model, so these cars are currently in rarity, all the more so since only one 200 has survived. You can say what you want, but they are beautiful but ugly, so interesting. The car magazines and value-giving books have not even been registered because they may underestimate everything in this brand. Only when you have driven in it will you appreciate the ugliness and turn it into an unprecedented beauty, which you actually never want to say goodbye to again.
A Stutz fan