Istorie
The Blackhawk steel body was handmade at Carrozzeria Padane in Modena, Italy, and from 1972 at Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore, near Torino, Italy. The car used Pontiac Grand Prix running gear, engine and transmission. Blackhawk could accelerate to 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds with a 210 km/h top speed. The second Stutz prototype built at Padane was the first Stutz Blackhawk ever sold, and to none other than Elvis Presley.
Full description
The Stutz company was founded initially as the Ideal Motor Car Company in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1911. Ideal entered a car in the Indianapolis 500 race that year and ranked 11th. The next year, the founder Harry C. Stutz, renamed the company Stutz Motor Company and began selling high-performance roadsters like the famous Stutz Bearcat. The Bearcat featured a brawny 4-cylinder T-head engine with four valves per cylinder, one of the earliest multi-valve engines. Stutz has also been credited with the development of "the under-slung chassis", an invention that greatly enhanced the safety and cornering of motor vehicles and one that is still in use today.
Stutz cars were known for their racing success and speed records broken in the 1930s. Still, production ended in 1935 after 35,000 cars had been manufactured. The former Indianapolis factory is today known as the Stutz Business Center and is home to more than eighty artists, sculptors, photographers, designers, architects, and craftsmen.
The Stutz Motor Company was revived in August 1968 by New York banker James O'Donnell. He joined forces with retired Chrysler stylist Virgil Exner, who designed the new Blackhawk. Exner's design included a spare tire that protruded through the trunk lid, a massive grille and freestanding headlamps. The new Blackhawk was prototyped by Ghia in Italy at a cost of over $300,000. To offer exclusivity and still allow easy servicing in the US, a custom built Italian body was added to a GM platform and engine.
The Blackhawk steel body was handmade at Carrozzeria Padane in Modena, Italy, and from 1972 at Carrozzeria Saturn in Cavallermaggiore, near Torino, Italy. The car used Pontiac Grand Prix running gear, engine and transmission. Blackhawk could accelerate to 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds with a 210 km/h top speed, delivering 30 L/100 km fuel consumption. The second Stutz prototype built at Padane was the first Stutz Blackhawk ever sold, and to none other than Elvis Presley.
The interior included 24-carat gold plated trim and bird's eye maple or burled walnut and redwood, Connolly leather seats and dash, instrument markings in both English and Italian, fine wool or mink carpeting and headlining, a cigar lighter, and a liquor cabinet in the back. There was a clock in the steering wheel hub on some later models. Other special features included automatic headlamp control with twilight sensor, cornering lamps, bi-level automatic air conditioning, Superlift air adjustable shock absorbers, Safe-T-Track limited slip differential, an electric sunroof, cruise control, central locking, a burglar alarm, non-functional exhaust side pipes, and a high-end Lear Jet AM/FM 8-track quadraphonic sound system.
This car has covered 26,915 miles.
