The first Stutz progress cease eleventh in the first Indianapolis 500 and prompt the motto " The Car That Made dear in a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . " Stutz was soon building its famous Bearcat and , along with the Mercer Raceabout , introduced America to an early form of the sports railcar . With big locomotive and not much bodywork , early Bearcats could well be pack run . Both individual and manufacturing plant - backed Bearcats did well in competition and Stutz always trade in on a sporting report .
Stutz was never a high - intensity producer , arise from 266 cars its first full year of production , 1912 , to just 2207 in 1917 . But the house was have its own engines by the early ' XX : a large 361 - cubic - inch side - valve four with 88 brake H.P. and an overhead - valve 75 - bhp six . The latter was bumped up to 80 bhp and 268 cid for 1924 ’s Speedway Six . Fours were discontinued the following year .
Stutz design was old - fashioned by the mid 1920s . European - born , Frederick E. Moskovics arrived in 1925 to take over the presidency of Stutz . Moskovics did for Stutz what Zora Arkus - Duntov would later do for Corvette – add a European influence that better performance and handling . Moskovics introduced beautiful new open and closed " Safety Stutz " exemplar the following year .
These carry Stutz ’s first eight , a European - inspired inline engine with unmarried overhead camshaft and three-fold lighting with two plugs per piston chamber . Stutz called it the " Vertical Eight . " bow at 289 cid and 92 bhp , it would be the heart of all Stutzes through the final 1935 fashion model . The sole elision was the 1929 - 30 Blackhawk , a companion line powered by an lambert - head Continental eight or overhead - Cam River Stutz six . Though " cheap " for Stutz at a base cost of $ 2395 , the Blackhawk negociate just under 1600 units . After 1930 , its chassis was used for the least - costly Stutzes .
The Vertical Eight was quickly uprated , going to 298.6 cid for 1927 , then to 322 cid and 113 bhp two years later . Advertised H.P. would go no further , although actual HP might have reached 140 by the death of the ' 20s . Stutz added to its racing image by dominating AAA stock railroad car racing in ' 27 and giving Bentley a run for its money at the 1928 LeMans . Stutz chassis engineering change remarkably little after 1929 . For illustration , the same three wheelbases persisted to the end : 134.5 inches , 145 , and , after Blackhawk ’s dying , 127.5 inches .
Though Stutz could n’t afford a 12- or 16 - cylinder locomotive , it did experiment with a supercharger that lifted the Vertical Eight to 143 bhp . The blower was a immense affair mounted low-pitched , in the lead of the radiator . Like most superchargers , it was drive directly from the crankshaft . It did the job , but it was noisy and carburetion was a problem .
Moskovics pass on the company in 1929 , but some of the greatest Stutzes were still to derive . Stutz followed Duesenberg ’s approaching for 1931 by offering a raw 32 - valve twincam cylinder mind . This had no elbow room for the dual ignition of what was now name the " SV16 " ( single - valve ) engine , but improved respiration give the new " DV32 " ( three-fold - valve ) 161 bhp at 3900 rpm .
For more on defunct American cars, see:
Stutz Cars in the 1930s: Poor Luxury Cars Sales, Stutz Moves to Truck-Making
Stutz adjudicate to stem slew sales in the deepening Depression with revived six - cylinder mannequin , designated LA for ' 31 and LAA for 1932 - 33 . offer a standard coupe and sedan as well as five semicustom body style , the LA sold for as little as $ 1995 , the LAA for just $ 1620 .
Power came from what amounted to a Vertical Eight with two fewer piston chamber – or the same 241.5 - cid single - cam engine as the departed Blackhawk . But with just 85 bhp to propel dear than 4300 pounds , these cars were hardly swift on the road or the sales chart , and Stutz devote up on them after 1933 .
That left nothing but richly - priced gondola , which reflect a no - compromise approach to sporty carrying into action but also made Stutz an odd , slow - sell fish in sumptuousness - car amnionic fluid . Even standard - torso models sold for up of $ 3000-$4000 – a wad for " toilsome time " – and some 30 custom style were available on both SV16 and DV32 chassis from high - buck craftsman like LeBaron , Fleetwood , Rollston , Weymann , Brunn , Waterhouse , and Derham .
Stutz had offered Weymann ’s unusual fabric torso ( actually padded leatherette ) since 1928 ; these were light , strong , pliant , and unruffled . Compared to steel shell , they soaked up more dissonance and road jar , and were easier to repair . Weymann trunk did n’t last as long as sword or offer much protection in a crash .
Also , many people disliked their dull , pebbled ending and frumpish flavour . Stutz offer the well - proportioned Weymann Monte Carlo , a five - passenger four - door " sport " sedan . By 1932 the Monte Carlo was useable in Al on the DV32 program , price at $ 4895 complete . Stutz also revived the Bearcat name with a boattailed speedster and a unretentive physical body convertible coupe – both undertake for over 100 mph .
The DV32 itself made its debut in chassis form at the New York Auto Show in the winter of 1930 - 31 . Prices were announced at the end of March 1931 , and production was afoot by July . At about the same clock time , Stutz report net earnings of just $ 20,000 on gross sales agreement of only $ 100,000 – pitifully meagre , but still preferable to the red ink that had flowed since 1929 .
Further change were announce for 1932 SVs and DVs . The four - speed gearbox give way to a very tough three - upper synchronized unit , and freewheeling was a unexampled option . The spicy - line manifold was replace with a hot - urine heat organization , and an oil cooler was provided . A new trunk rack and rubble cornice were install at the prat , bodies were cast down in a curving line to cover the frame , and single - Browning automatic rifle bumpers replaced the former three-fold - measure design .
Stutz lose $ 315,000 in fiscal 1932 , but continued to stumble on with the same canonical lineup of SV16s and DV32s , all little switch . It ’s hardly surprising then that the company dropped a half - million dollars in 1933 and another quarter - million in ' 34 . Though these were n’t peculiarly huge pith even in those days , the losses greatly accelerate the drain on Stutz ’s already meager resourcefulness .
direction sought resort by contracting to build up a line of small delivery trucks called Pak - Age - Cars . George H. Freers was appoint chief engineer for this effort , and the first 28 vehicle in a total rescript of 340 were completed by the summertime of 1936 . But this was n’t most enough to keep things run short , so Stutz was forced to declare failure in April 1937 .
By that time , asset number $ 1.2 million and liabilities only $ 733,000 , yet Stutz still could n’t meet its debts . When creditors could n’t agree on a reorganization program , a Union judge arrange liquidation of all assets in April 1938 . That was finish by summer and the Pak - Age - Car yield affect to Auburn ’s jobless Connersville plant while Diamond T Truck Company wield sales and service .
