Stutz Motor Car Company

The Ideal Motor Car Company, organized in June 1911 by Harry C. Stutz with his friend, Henry F. Campbell, began building Stutz cars in Indianapolis in 1911. They set this business up after a car built by Stutz in under five weeks and entered in the name of his Stutz Auto Parts Co. was placed 11th in the Indianapolis 500 earning it the slogan "the car that made good in a day". Ideal built what amounted to copies of the racecar with added fenders and lights and sold them with the model name Stutz Bearcat, Bear Cat being the name of the actual racecar. File:H C Stutz portrait.jpg|Harry Stutz File:H F Campbell portrait.jpg|Henry Campbell File:Bear Cat Indy500 (cropped).jpg|Bear Cat with designer, driver, and riding mechanic 1911 File:Stutz Bearcat.jpeg|1914 production Stutz Bearcat The Bearcat featured a Wisconsin brawny four-cylinder T-head engine with four valves per cylinder, one of the earliest multi-valve engines, matched with one of Harry Stutz's transaxles. Stutz Motor has also been credited with the development of "the underslung chassis," an invention that greatly enhanced the safety and cornering of motor vehicles and one that is still in use today. Stutz's "White Squadron" race team won the 1913 and 1915 national championships before withdrawing from racing in October 1915. The capital consisted of 500 shares par $100, split 2-for-1 on November 12, 1912. The new owners brought in Frederick Ewan Moskowics, formerly of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, Marmon, and Franklin, in 1923. Moskowics quickly refocused the company as a developer of safety cars, a recurring theme in the auto industry. In the case of Stutz, the car featured safety glass, a low center of gravity for better handling, and a hill-holding transmission called "Noback". A significant advance was the 1931 DOHC 32-valve in-line 8 called the "DV32" (DV for 'dual valve'). This was during the so-called "cylinders race" of the early 1930s when makers of some expensive cars were rushing to produce multi-cylinder engines. However, Stutz continued its performance heritage with the dual overhead cam, in-line 8 engine design. Brochures boasted the cars were capable of top speeds of more than . The following year, a Stutz (entered and owned by wealthy French pilot and inventor Charles Weymann) in the hands of by Robert Bloch and Edouard Brisson finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (losing to the Bentley of Rubin and Barnato, despite losing top gear 90 minutes from the flag), the best result for an American car until 1966. That same year, development engineer and racing driver Frank Lockhart used a pair of supercharged DOHC engines in his Stutz Black Hawk Special streamliner land speed record car, while Stutz set another speed record at Daytona Beach, reaching driven by Gil Andersen making it the fastest production car in America. When production ended in 1935 35,000 cars had been manufactured. Stutz Motor was charged by stock manipulation again in 1935, but without the excesses that occurred in 1920. Stutz Motor filed for bankruptcy in April 1937, though its assets exceeded its liabilities. Creditors were unable to agree on a plan for revival and in April 1939, the bankruptcy court ordered its liquidation. Models • 1911–1925 Stutz Bearcat • 1929–1930 BlackHawk • 1926–1935 Stutz Vertical Eight • Stutz Vertical Eight AA • Stutz Vertical Eight BB • Stutz Vertical Eight M • Stutz Vertical Eight MA • Stutz Vertical Eight MB • Stutz Vertical Eight SV-16 • Stutz Vertical Eight DV-32 ==Gallery==

File:Stahls Automotive Collection December 2021 103 (1929 Stutz Model M).jpg|1929 Stutz Model M File:1929 Stutz Model M LeBaron.jpg|1929 Stutz Model M LeBaron File:1929 Stutz Roadster - black - rvr (4669178660).jpg|1929 Stutz Roadster Supercharged File:1930_Stutz_SV16_Monte_Carlo_by_Weymann_8409209219.jpg|1930 Stutz SV16 Monte Carlo File:1932 Stutz Convertible Coupe SV-16 (8941435712).jpg|1932 Stutz Convertible Coupe SV-16 File:1932_Stutz_de_color_chillón_(3721017811).jpg|1932 Stutz Vertical Eight SV-16 roadster body by Derham File:1933 Stutz DV-32 Monte Carlo, front left (Greenwich 2022).jpg|1933 Stutz DV-32 Monte Carlo by Weymann ==Stutz Motor Car Company Factory==

The Stutz Motor Car Company Factory, now known as the Stutz Factory, was the manufacturing facility and former headquarters of the Stutz Motor Company located at 1060 North Capitol Ave. and 217 West 10th St. in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The site consists of two building, the Stutz Factory and the Ideal Motor Car Company Building. The Stutz Factory (now known as Stutz I) occupies of space, bounded by West 11th and 10th streets to the north and south and North Capitol and Senate avenues to the east and west. The Ideal Motor Car Company building (now known as Stutz II) is located directly to the south of the factory, with its boundaries as West 10th street to the north, North Senate Avenue to the west, and Roanoke Street to the east. Both structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2022. After sitting vacant for more than a decade, Indianapolis-based real estate developer Turner Woodard purchased the Stutz Factory in 1993. ==Revival as Stutz Motor Car of America==

In August 1968, New York banker James O'Donnell raised funds and incorporated Stutz Motor Car of America. A prototype of Virgil Exner's Stutz Blackhawk was produced by Ghia, and the car debuted in 1970. All these cars used General Motors running gear, featuring perimeter-type chassis frames, automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes with discs at the front. Features included electric windows, air conditioning, central locking, electric seats, and leather upholstery. The sedans typically included a console for beverages in the rear seat. Engines were V8s, originally , but by 1984 the Victoria, Blackhawk, and Bearcat came with a , engine while the Royale had a Oldsmobile engine rated at . This incarnation of Stutz had some reasonable success selling newly designed Blackhawks, Bearcats, Royale Limousines, IV Portes, and Victorias. Elvis Presley bought the first Blackhawk in 1971, and later purchased three more. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Evel Knievel, Barry White, and Sammy Davis Jr. all owned Stutz cars. The Stutz Blackhawk owned by Lucille Ball was for a time on display at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino Auto Collection in Las Vegas. The Stutz was marketed as the "World's Most Expensive Car" with a Royale limousine priced at $285,000 () and a Blackhawk coupé over US$115,000 () in 1984. However, other producers sold secret cars for much more, and the much more expensive Ferrari F40 appeared just two years later. Production was limited and an estimated 617 cars were built during the company's first 25 years of existence (1971–1995). Sales of Stutz began to wane in 1985, but continued until 1995. Warren Liu became its main shareholder and took over ownership of Stutz Motor Cars in 1982. Stutz models II • Stutz Motor Car of America (Neoclassic automobiles) • 1970–1987 Blackhawk (coupe) • 1970–1979 - based on the Pontiac Grand Prix • 1980–1987 - based on the Pontiac Bonneville • 1979–1995 Bearcat (convertible) • 1977 - a converted Blackhawk • 1979 - based on the Pontiac Grand Prix • 1980–1986 - based on the Pontiac Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, or Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale • 1987–1995 - based on the Pontiac Firebird or Chevrolet Camaro • 1970–1987 Duplex/IV-Porte/Victoria (sedan) • 197? Duplex • 1977–1987 IV-Porte - based on the Pontiac Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, or Oldsmobile 88 • 1981– 1987 Victoria • Diplomatica/Royale (limousine) • Diplomatica - based on the Cadillac DeVille • Royale - super-long limousine • 1984– Defender/Gazelle/Bear - Chevrolet Suburban-based armored SUV • Gazelle - military SUV with mounted machine gun • Bear - four-door convertible ==References==