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History Lost a Stutz to the pros.....

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Barn Hunter, Apr 28, 2015.

  1. Barn Hunter
    Joined: Feb 15, 2012
    Posts: 1,514

    Barn Hunter
    Member

    s10.jpg s2.jpg s15.jpg If you are a regular reader of the Sitting and Rotting thread, you probably saw my once in a lifetime garage find....a 1920 or 21 Stutz that had been sitting since 1931. It had a bad head gasket, so it was pulled into the garage, the head was pulled and there it sat with the 1931 tags still on it. A good friend of mine had known about it for 35 years and told me about it a couple years ago. The guy finally decided it was time for it to go, so we went over and looked at it. Very cool....stored up on blocks with no rust but lots of dust. He told us his asking price but it was a little more than we could come up with. We came up with a plan (offer) but the owner said he had one more guy flying in to look at it. Well, yesterday was the day. The guy came and a deal was made (and filmed). I guess a lot of you have heard of Wayne Carini and the show Chasing Classic Cars....yep....he was the guy flying in. I guess we'll all get to see the Stutz on TV next season. Tune in....in the meantime I'm going to keep hunting.
     
  2. sorry you couldn't get the deal done. looks like a nice find.
     
  3. The old TV series that had the Stutz Bearcat in it, brought these cars to my attention as a kid.
    Recently, I looked it up on You tube, and whata ya know, there's whole episodes there.
    Sorry, kinda OT, but that's my only connection to this brand.
    Cool cars.
     
  4. Are they going to put in a BBC/700R4 and channel it and run it without fenders?
     
    Truck64, jdownunder and Model T1 like this.

  5. Barn Hunter
    Joined: Feb 15, 2012
    Posts: 1,514

    Barn Hunter
    Member

    Wouldn't bet on it....
     
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  6. aircap
    Joined: Mar 10, 2011
    Posts: 1,748

    aircap
    Member

    You're thinking of those knuckleheads at Gas Monkey Garage on Fast & Loud aren't you?
     
    Atwater Mike, jdownunder and loudbang like this.
  7. Dan in Pasadena
    Joined: Sep 11, 2009
    Posts: 867

    Dan in Pasadena
    Member

    Don't be ridiculous! Who would ever channel and run a car like this without fenders?!

    It'll have 24's with spinners on it. Ha ha ha.
     
  8. DAMN Carini!!!!!!!!!!! That would be soooooooo cool with just a little bit of work. Whip down to NAPA for a new head gasket, wash that sucker and a little buff out on the paint and chrome........shit. It could be cruising by the 6 PM cruise.
     
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  9. Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Joined: Apr 20, 2008
    Posts: 4,670

    Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Member

    Carini will get it running , clean it up and more than likely quickly flip it as is/unrestored at auction, so maybe you still have a shot at it if it goes on the block without a reserve......
    I'd bet most of the high roller bidders would plan to restore it and more than likely they would farm out 100% of the restoration work. That cost factor may effect their bid, whereas we would be doing most of our own work.
     
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  10. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    WOW! What a nice find, thanks for posting the photos and story. Years ago the A.K.Miller collection sold up in Vermont with a Stutz in about the same condition, it got a great restoration on the West Coast, and was later bought by Jay Leno. It is green with black fenders, should turn up in a vedio, great cars. Bob
     
  11. 37 caddy
    Joined: Mar 4, 2010
    Posts: 487

    37 caddy
    Member
    from PEI Canada

    Any idea as to what he paid for it,just curious as to what something like that is worth,and how would you put a price on it?.It just goes to show you that when you see something you like you better jump on it because there is always someone waiting for you to drop the ball. Harvey
     
  12. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    Bummer - I'd rather see a couple "grass roots" guys end up with the resto than a big buck TV/corporation (for lack of a better word) end up with it. Would have been cool to see a "common Joe" get it up and going via the HAMB . Better luck next hunt.
     
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  13. elba
    Joined: Feb 9, 2013
    Posts: 628

    elba
    Member

    I hope Wayne doesn't have his mechanic ( the one on the show ) work on it. He sure didn't know how to work on a Corvair engine in one of the episodes. He was beating a head on with a hammer. No need for that.
     
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  14. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,244

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Since it's gone how about telling us your offer, or the guy's asking price? I think it's worth about $100K as is, at least $300K + in concours condition. Rare car that simply doesn't show up for sale very often, especially in that condition. I'd be hard pressed to restore it. Clean up it's storage mess and get it running, rock it like it is.
     
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  15. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    Bob (37 Kid) I trust your opinion as you have been around these cars but as “great” as they are, and they surely look great. We had a few Stutz autos in my grandfather’s car collection and they were not the best cars to drive. They look racy but driving them is another thing altogether. My brother went away to school in high school out of state and did not have need for a car. In the summer he used my car for his summer job, way across town and I drove my dad’s restored 1923 Stutz Bulldog to work as the place I worked was only about 5 miles from home. Hated driving the car and took a lot of side streets. They had two wheel mechanical brakes and a transaxle with long shifting rods. They steer very hard. Where I worked was a truck garage where we repaired and built up new trucks and a couple of the guys there tried to help the car overall (“it can’t be that bad”). They thought I was nuts with my complaints until they worked on them and threw up their hands in disgust. Not much help, they are just not that much fun to drive. Some old cars are a pleasure to drive such as Packards and my old Chalmers and Mercers and of course a few others.

    Wayne will probably clean it up and peddle it to someone that wants a Stutz in their collection as they surely look cool and have Indianapolis racing lore (“The car that made good in a day”). Highlander is in the business more than I am these days but I am surprised if they are bringing that kind of money. My dad’s car was given a 100 point restoration in the 80s and it brought I believe somewhere in the $50,000 range. If they have gone up that much since then WOW. I know one thing if I had the money I would say cool car, pass and come home and work on the junk I have. Jim
     
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  16. 2935ford
    Joined: Jan 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,843

    2935ford
    Member

    I might have stretched my neck out a lot for that one..............:)
     
  17. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Thanks for the first hand knowledge Jim, I always enjoy your trips into the hobby's past. I drove a restored 1922 MERCER years ago that I think would run rings around a restored Stutz of the same era. Based on pure looks they are both great cars. Bob .....................If the above Stutz is a "Barn Find"the tires look new and so does that garage door, staged photo?
     
  18. Barn Hunter
    Joined: Feb 15, 2012
    Posts: 1,514

    Barn Hunter
    Member

    Not staged. The garage door was replaced. The property has been in the family since the 1800's. Tires are in great shape as the car is up on blocks inside. Very few miles on the car. They filmed the whole ordeal and I hope to see it next season. I hear it's going to be cleaned up and shown as a survivor somewhere in Florida. Amelia Island? That's my guess.
     
  19. 3wLarry
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 12,804

    3wLarry
    Member Emeritus
    from Owasso, Ok

    so, how much did it sell for?
     
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  20. Barn Hunter
    Joined: Feb 15, 2012
    Posts: 1,514

    Barn Hunter
    Member

    Owner wouldn't tell me how much.....
     
  21. What was the inital asking price? Just Curious
     
  22. Well first off I am sorry that you didn't get the Stutz. They are cool cars and have been among my favorites as long as I can remember.

    Now this is a truth that has been a constant in my own life, you cannot compete with money. No doubt aside from the fame hat the seller thinks he is going to have I am going to suggest that the buyer didn't make an offer he just bought the car.

    Anyway sorry you didn't get your car, it is a shame. And for the record I probably won't bother to watch the show.
     
    JB_roadrage likes this.
  23. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    My family always had interesting cars...(before and after I was born)
    My grandmother's niece, Dolly, bought a new Stutz Bearcat in the early '20s. She drove that car for 20 years, traded it in on a new V8 Ford roadster. (1933 Model 40)
    The cars my Mom, aunts and uncles had were always 'notable'...
     
  24. The numbers don't add upo_O:)
     
  25. luckythirteenagogo
    Joined: Dec 28, 2012
    Posts: 1,269

    luckythirteenagogo
    Member
    from Selma, NC

  26. she was old, my grandpa once lived on a farm for 20 or so years during the depression. The older he got the more the time varied. ;)
     
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  27. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Good piont porkndbeaner, sometimes is is easier to just pay the asking price and move along. I find myself doing that more often at swap meets. Bob
     
  28. Not to get this thread off track, but I remember that series. It was called "The Bearcats". If my memory serves, a friend of my dad named Ed Clark crashed his biplane while they were filming that series. It was a DeHavilland Gipsy Moth. If I remember the story correctly they had a camera mounted on a helicopter. As the plane flew at low altitude, the camera crew tried to get a shot from right above the plane. The downdraft from the chopper forced him right into the ground. I do recall him saying that after the crash he tried to exit the cockpit but his foot was trapped. He said he could hear the gas dripping down from the wing tank and sizzling on the hot exhaust. He finally manged to pull his foot out of his boot and got out of the plane, leaving the boot behind. He escaped major injury but the plane was busted up pretty bad.
     
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  29. @jimdillon, thanks for the info on the stutz'. the only experience i have had with them was a barn find 1929 dual cowl phaeton that we put back into working order. i remember driving the car for the first time and remarking how much power it had, how easily it shifted and steered. the car at 55mph just hummed along..........so i guess they improved greatly since the first part of the decade. ohhh and full disclosure; we did a lot of resto's on model A's and by comparison this car was a joy compared to those lumps.
     
  30. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    Also don't want to swerve too far off track but I suppose the thread is kind of off track already. When I think of Stutz motorcars it reminds me of Bluto who I am not so sure is a fan of the marque, quite the opposite (his dislike always made me chuckle). After reading my earlier post I don't want to come off too strongly against the car altogether. I actually like the car overall, not just a fan of driving some of the cars of the teens and early 20s. The OHC racecars of the mid teens were great cars and the car that came after this 4 cylinder was really a much better car and were actually a great car to drive. The the last cars of the 30s were beautiful cars to look at and drive. I believe in 1926 Stutz came out with the SOHC inline 8 cylinder. My grandfather had a 1927 Stutz Blackhawk speedster with that 8 and I really liked driving the car. I used it when I got married -my wife and I went in that two seater Stutz and the wedding party followed in a 1923 Packard Touring. A funny aside about the Blackhawk is the day before my wedding gremlins crept in and screwed up the carburetor. These collector cars sat most of the time and the carburetor getting gummed up was not too unusual. I worked on the car the day before the wedding and actually for a few minutes the morning of the wedding. The car ran flawlessly but when the wedding photos came back my wife was upset that the hokey pics of closeups of our hands together showed my fingernails were not quite perfect. Marriage didn't last anyways in the end and it makes me chuckle.

    The car in this post is more than likely a four cylinder Wisconsin T-Head (I believe the 16 valve version).
    Also I am including a pic of my dads Stutz which I believe is probably 1921 but it was his car so his decision I suppose on the year. Also here is the picture of my grandfather's Stutz Blackhawk on an old car tour in the late 60s, with my grandfather and grandmother. Can ran perfectly on quite a long tour. My grandfather bought both this car and an Austin Bantam back during the late 40s for $40. I found the receipt for them and wrote about it in an article I wrote on my grandfather's collection.

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