SOLD --- Very special Stutz Bearcat from '79, the convertible version of the Stutz Blackhawk. The first ever Blackhawk was purchased by Elvis Presley, and many more celebrities after that.

Exterior:

All original car, original paint which is in very good condition and very shiny. The Stutz has an extra heavy gauge steel body handmade in Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore, near Torino, Italy. Both paint and chrome were very well maintained. Soft top is always untouched and is easy removable (Either drive it as a T-top or a full convertible). Stutz come with a spare wheel located on the back of the car.

Interior:

Interior is in good condition and is equipped with 18 karats gold onto the wooden dashboard and console. The clock on the dashboard still works, so do all the other gauges. Leather seats do no show any signs of rips or tears but do show some ageing signs. Every passenger in this Stutz has a cigarette lighter, which was very important back in the day :). In general the car has a lot of luxury details that make her special and comfortable.

Mechanics:

Very smooth driving car powered by a 6596cc, 8 cylinder. For more information, please contact us.

History:

The Stutz Motor company was revived in 1968 by New York Banker James o'Donell.He joined forces with retired from Chrysler stylist Virgil Exner who designed the Blackhawk.It was based on

Virgil Exner's Duesenberg "revival" concept. Stutz had been a well known American car manufacturer in the pre-war period.

The new Blackhawk was prototyped by Ghia in Italy and the production of the car started in 1970 on the base of a GM chassis, engine and drivetrain.

Coachbuilder was first Carrozeria Padane in Modena (Italy) and from 1972 carrozeria Saturn in Carvallermaggiore (near Torino,Italy) Total productiontime for each vehicle was over 1.500 manhours. The interior included 24 carat gold plated trim,redwood dash and Coolly leather seats.

The luxury outfit and labourcost made it a very expensive car.In 1979 it costed 70.000 USD while the Cadillac Seville, the most expensive GM car, costed only 14.000 USD at that time.It was also more expensive than any luxury european car as Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, etc.

All this made it the favoured car of the stars of showbusiness.

The very first Blackhawk was purchased by Elvis Presley. This was the second prototype built by Padane (the first one was built by Ghia) It was restored after his death an can now be seen at his Graceland Museum in USA.

Other famous owners included Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Curt Jurgens, Jerry Lewis, Liberace, Willie Nelson, Isaac Hayes, Tom Jones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Barry White, etc.

Because of technical and design problems the Stutz was first made as a closed coupe named

Blackhawk.A convertible-targa named Bearcat was only introduced in 1979.

From 1970 till 1987 approx. 600 Stutz cars were produced, only 30 of them being Bearcats of which maximum 10 are believed to have survived. From 1987 till 1995 the Bearcat Il and III (not a targa but full open) continued for approx 13 cars.

The car presented here is one of only 7 Bearcats produced in 1979.It is believed to have been delivered new to the treasurer (at that time of the Stutz Corporation and featured in advertisement for Stutz in 1979.(see picture)

The car is in full original condition (not restored) and has less than 24.000 miles.

Many Stutz cars are now part of private collections all over the world, especially in the Middle east and in USA.In november 2018 the Retro Classics Salon in Koln (germany) presents a special exhibition as contribution to Stutz but none of the cars in the exhibition is a Bearcat.