Page 6 - 1971 Stutz

After the aborted attempt to revive Duesenberg, Exner was keen on seeing at least one of his Revival Cars on the roads. In 1968, he contacted James D. O’Donnell, a prominent New York businessman and investment banker. The idea was to find Wall Street money to finance a venture to manufacture a Revival Car using American engineering combined with the superior artistry of Italian coachbuilders. O’Donnell became personally fascinated with the project. He had fond memories of driving in a classic Stutz and decided to use that brand as he believed the name was now in the public domain. The model was to be called the Blackhawk. It was agreed that Virgil Exner would be responsible for the design, while O’Donnell provided financing and management. Exner reworked his 1963 design, and a meeting was set up with John Z. DeLorean (later the father of the DMC DeLorean automobile) who was head of the Pontiac division at the time. In short order, DeLorean agreed to supply a Pontiac Grand Prix platform in order to build a prototype. At the meeting, O’Donnell said, “If this car is so good, why don’t you make it?”, to which DeLorean replied, “O’Donnell, while you make the prototype of this car, I will make one million Pontiacs”.
O’Donnell managed to raise $1,200,000. According to him, “...a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix was delivered to a sophisticated, high tech model making shop in Detroit, Michigan. There, Mr. Exner fashioned a clay model of the new Stutz...When finished, the clay model had
the exact look of the car to be made... When Mr. Exner was satisfied with the final clay model, “skins”, or plastic forms, were made over the clay model. The process of making the skins destroyed the clay model, so it no longer exists. In the Italian factory, the skins were used to make a wooden mannequin over which steel body parts would be hammered into the body. The body parts would be placed in a large fixture where a Grand Prix chassis awaited the welding process. The mannequin was finally completed in July 1969. The prototype cost $300,000.00 in 1969 dollars.”
The Stutz Blackhawk prototype was completed in December 1969 and flown to New York City where it made its debut at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on January 20, 1970. It was a hit with the American and international press. The first “production” cars were then manufactured by the Carrozzeria Padane towards the end of 1970 as 1971 models. At the time, the Carrozzeria Padane was manufacturing the Maserati Mistral, Bora and Indy models under contract for Maserati. Interestingly, the Series I Stutz Blackhawk therefore contains many Maserati parts, including door handles, instruments and switches. Other items taken from the parts bins by the artisans at Padane included lights and fixtures used on Innocenti, Alfa Romeo and the Lancia Stratos. The entire Pontiac Grand Prix body and interior was thrown away, and hardly anything was used from the donor car, except the chassis and mechanicals. The Series I
1 9 7 1 STUTZ BLACKHAWK SERIES I
˚ THE 1971 STUTZ BLACKHAWK˚
The final design of the 1971 Stutz Blackhawk Series I. It retailed at $22,500. The other models never existed in 1971.
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