1920 Stutz Series H Bearcat
The famous Stutz Bearcat. When I was a kid these cars were still looked upon with reverence as one of the early sports cars of the day, owned by men of means with an addiction for speed. Not the synthetic drug; the real drug. They were expensive and fast, had a cool name and a racing reputation to match.
This car underwent a marathon restoration lasting 20 years – not sure what took so long, but it’s very cool. It also won the Vintage Class for 2015 at Pebble Beach. A similar barn find, totally original 1921 Stutz Series K found by car expert Wayne Carini won the FIVA Prewar Trophy for best preserved vehicle at Pebble that same year.
The Series H boasted a 360 cid, T-head, 16-valve, 4-cylinder engine generating 88 HP on an underslung chassis. Harry Stutz was an innovative sort, as he was the first to incorporate a shaft drive and transaxle in 1910 while at the Marion Car Co. With it he decided to form the Stutz Auto Parts Co. In 1911 came the Ideal Motor Car Co., where he began producing the Stutz. Ideal wasn’t his first car company though – that was the American Motor Car Co. founded in 1905 (see the 1914 version below). His American partner Fred Tone invented the famous underslung chassis, and Stutz borrowed the underslung concept for the Bearcat.
It’s interesting to note Stutz didn’t begin producing left-hand drive cars until 1922. By that time Harry Stutz had taken his company public and long since resigned (and cashed out in 1918) after a 3-year stint as its President. So the car above was produced after Harry had left the company he founded. He was a busy man, however, as a year later he founded Stutz Fire Apparatus, building fire engines, and HCS Motor Car, building taxis. Both would fail by 1929 and Harry would die of appendicitis in 1930. Stutz Motor Car would last until 1935 when the Depression finally took it.
The yellow on this car is actually a standard Stutz color introduced for the Series H. They were expensive cars for the time with a list price of $3,250. This car was also part of the Val Valentine Collection for many years before being acquired by its present owner in 2014.
The Wayne Carini Series K barn find, that was also at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours, sold two days before the Concours for $594,000. Not a bad investment for Carini, who reportedly only paid $30,000 for it and had to do a minimal amount of work to get it running.
American Motor Car was another Harry Stutz company. As it’s name suggests, the frame is hung under the axles allowing the car to sit lower. With its 41” wheels & details like a rosewood steering wheel, this car is a real eye-popper. It has a 7.8L 4-banger producing 60 HP. It’s a very rare car, as American ceased production in November, 1913 after only 9 years. This is one of those cars that just grows on you. “Really cool,” as Wayne Carini says.
