Elite Company: 1974 Stutz Blackhawk
The Beatles famously once said that money can’t buy me love. Another thing that money has some difficulty in obtaining, is good taste. The Stutz Blackhawk is a perfect example of this. The Blackhawk was not a cheap car. In 1974, when our feature car was built, a Blackhawk could be yours for a mere $35,000. Doesn’t sound like much until you realize that when you convert that amount to current values, it is the equivalent to $175,000 today. For that kind of money, you don’t really get yourself a car that could be considered to be the height of restrained good looks, but you could join the ranks of people like Elvis, Sammy Davis Jr, Lucille Ball, and Liberace. All of these people were famous (or infamous) Blackhawk owners. If you fancy joining that illustrious group, this Blackhawk is located in Liberty, North Carolina, and is listed for sale here on eBay.
The Stutz name was famous from 1911 through until production ceased in 1935. The company built some of the fastest and most luxurious cars that America had seen up until that point. In 1968, New York banker James O’Donnell revived the brand, and contracted renowned designer Virgil Exner to design the company’s first new offering, the Blackhawk. Free of the constraints of a large motoring corporation, Mr. Exner was able to let his creative juices really flow, and the Blackhawk was the result. First seeing the light of day in 1970, the car grabbed the attention of a number of wealthy celebrities, and orders began to flow. The first car was delivered to Elvis Presley in 1971, and the model remained in production through until 1987. Records are a bit vague, but it is believed that during that 16-year period somewhere between 500 and 600 cars were produced. The design of the Blackhawk was nothing if not distinctive. The side-pipes, which were standard fitment on all cars, were non-functional, while the chrome radiator grille owed nothing to subtlety, nor did the headlights. For a 2-door coupe, the car was a relative giant at a length in excess of 19-feet, while the spare tire was mounted on the back of the car outside the trunk. Money was no object in the finishing of the car, with the Blackhawk body featuring 22 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer, which took six weeks to apply and finish.
The overall condition of this Stutz looks to be quite good. It is not unusual to see these cars looking quite run-down and neglected, as they were a car that lost value at an incredible rate in their early days. The body of this one looks to be straight, the paint looks really good, and all of the exterior trim and chrome has held a nice shine. One of the exterior items that was prone to deterioration was the spare tire cover. However, this one looks to have survived really well.
The interior of a Blackhawk was designed to be about as luxurious as a car could be. The timber trim in this car appears to be Birds Eye Maple, although you could also choose from Burl Walnut and Redwood. The timber has remained in remarkably good condition, as has the burgundy Connolly leather upholstery on the seats, door trims, and dash. All of the metal trim in the Blackhawk is plated in 24-carat gold, and this has also held up well. The original owner of this particular car must not have been the wealthiest individual, as I notice that the carpet is the optional wool item, rather than the mink. The car is fitted with an aftermarket radio/cassette player rather than the original 8-track player. Everything else appears to be original.
I wish that we had a clearer photo of the engine, as it is quite difficult to establish what is actually hiding under the hood. The Blackhawk was built on what was essentially a GM frame, and while there was a pretty wide assortment of engines available, I believe that the one fitted to this particular car is the 455ci Pontiac V8. Not satisfied with the output of the standard engine, there was a lot of re-work performed, and as fitted to the Blackhawk, the engine pumped out 425hp. The transmission of choice was always GM’s Turbo Hydra-Matic. The owner claims that the car has covered a total of 63,000 miles, which is certainly a real possibility for a car of this type, while he also says that it runs and drives well.
Now we get down to the nitty-gritty with this car, and that’s the price. Bearing in mind what this car cost in 1974, and how it equates to today, I think that the original owner would probably be horrified to learn of the vehicle’s depreciation. The current owner has set a BIN price of $24,500 for the Blackhawk. As I said before, the vast majority of these Blackhawks became quite run-down over the years, and this really impacted their values. However, a couple of good examples have recently sold for prices above $40,000, so maybe the price for this one is pretty good.
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Comments
A true pimp car.
That is the kind of person who would buy something like this, flashy, trying to make a statement. Elvis got number one. Oh, I am an Elvis fan, big time, but don’t try to tell me he was smart. Too many examples in his life to say otherwise. His personal life was in shambles, he couldn’t control his impulses, and as far as money was concerned, he died almost broke. He wasn’t a musical genius either. Oh, had a good voice, for sure, but plenty of people unknown on the street have that. He just got lucky being at the right place at the right time. A fairly good looking young man who liked to move his hips on stage and TV that caught the girls attention who just happened to be able to sing. This is the type of person who bought these cars. People who stumbled upon great wealth and who also had no common sense on how to spend it or maintain it. We see the same thing today with sports and entertainment stars. I recall Mike Tyson having a fender bender with a 125K Bentley years ago and in disgust gave the car to the attending cop and walked away. (He went through 130 million dollars in two years) This car is a curiosity, a museum piece perhaps, but it says much more about human nature then automotive engineering.
Sidney, to clarify the Tyson story, he called the cop the next day and demanded his car back. Also, he was not disgusted, he was worried about his wife, Robyn Givens, going to jail for purposely ramming the other guys car.
Tyson just recounted this story on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Elvis got # 2. I have # 4.
I can’t believe your ignorance of the achievements of Elvis Presley while calling yourself a fan.Are you saying he was not a musical genius because he didn’t write songs about strawberry fields or marmalade skies that is all subjective. But if you can name another singer that excelled in rock,blues gospel,ballads country rockabilly then you can say he’s was just lucky at the time. He died almost broke because of leaches around him and giving more than he could afford too charity. After serving his country. But if you want too put him down because he liked flashy cars and it makes you feel ibetter about yourself do it on a site that is not devoted too cars and all the different tastes we have in cars.And stop calling yourself an Elvis fan.
Elvis owned Cadillacs., Ferrari, Rolls Royce, BMW, and even a Stutz. Elvis was classless on choosing cars? Call me the same!
very sad to hear someone discuss a celebrity’s live after he is gone, Elvis was a person that will always be remembered for many things, none of which you bring up. this should not have been printed here and you should be ashamed of yourself for discussing things you have no idea of, mostly rumors from those that need attention, i guess you got yours.
@Dave, you are being pretty subjective with your assessment. Who do you consider a musical genius? Mozart or Johnny Rotten? Was he a good musician and performer? Of course, but did he fall into success? You would be foolish to say otherwise. Money management? He had not a clue. The Col cheated him for years but he allowed it. But his spending was out of control, right down to buying people Caddies on the street. IQ and EQ go together, I am not sure he would have done well with either test if they were ever performed.
The look that pimped-out cars speed to.
My inner pimp loves it.
I am surprised the self appointed politically correct police posters here haven’t called you out for on using that term.
Snazzy Grand Prix! For $24k, it better have the swivel seats!
I am very surprised to discover that this car was designed by Virgil Exner. He had previously produced so much fine automotive design. It would be very interesting to have been been able to ask him why he came up with this strange design. I cant find any view of this automobile that is attractive.
Exner, Teague, Mitchell, Stevens, et al. were all looking for ways to revive the bespoke styling of the classic cars of their youth – Pierce Arrow, Marmon, Packard, Lincoln, Cadillac, Duesenberg, etc. You can really see it, Smokey, in the Imperial line of the early 1960s and, of course, the ’66-7 Olds Toronado.
I always felt that the revived Stutz lacked the finesse of these great US marques.
Remember the 1960 XNR? Wonderful car with a hyper pack 3 speed built over a Valiant chassis. If I had the cash, even grumpy old me would spring for that one. Seems to me some guy from Canada found it in a warehouse in Beirut, Lebanon during the civil war there, and somehow managed to get it back to North America for what I am sure was a high buck restoration. There is video online of him showing it to Jay Leno. This owner says he displays it in a museum up there in Canada , pretty nice to at least allow the public to see it in person, much better then only letting your friends oogle it in a private collection.
Smokey,
Did you know about the Renwal model car designs by Exner and son? What do you think of them?
https://www.velocetoday.com/exner-renwal-revival-cars/
Sidney, I do remember the XNR and was amazed to read of its survival a few decades ago. An amazing machine, although I wonder if a production version would have been successful in a world of V8s (asks the fan of Chrysler’s Slant-Six, especially the Hyper-Pak version)?
Scottymac, thanks for sharing the link. I remember seeing the Renwal ‘revival’ model cars in my local hobby shop back in the 1960s, but was never motivated to buy a kit.
Scottymac……No, I did not know of the model cars designed by Exner and son. Not much improvement in design compared to this Stutz. I do like the Bugatti design a lot more than the others, But the other models look too much like the Stutz, especially the rear end design on them all. To me, that is not good. Thanks for this interesting information!
People don’t see the beauty in these cars because they don’t know what they are looking at exner went for the neo classic you would have to go back to the roaring thirties and look at the cars then you would see what he was doing they had the exposed spare tire exhaust coming out of the side the floating head lights the chrome on the bottom of the doors replicates the steps or running boards of the neo classic cars I get it it’s one of those you love it or you hate it but if you know what your looking at you will love it as I do
Neo classic does not work on a contemporary body style . There is no beauty here, only beast.
In case an owner passes on they can always use the radiator surround as a nifty grave marker.
I remember laughing at this when I first saw one in person in college. To me it looked like nothing more than a standard GM offering with some tacky sheet metal applied.I recalled thinking that it would have bought me a brand new house for the cost. I then started to form my opinions of conspicuous wealth display and how vulgar (and indeed stupid) it was. In my profession, there are a fair number of reasonably wealthy people, but no one I have ever known would buy something this ridiculous just to show off. I guess that when you are actually smart enough to become wealthy on your own, you show restrain and common sense.
What’s the electronic thing with a cord on passenger seat?
Power seat/heater control? Remember, didn’t some of the high end aftermarket (Recaro?) seats had controls like that?
The Recaro controls were on the lower side bolster I think rather than a cord?
I think it is the GM 70’s era CB radio.
Magic Fingers control…..’nuff said.
cb
There was one of these for sale in the Baltimore area for about $10K about two years ago, nowhere near as good condition–one fake side pipe rusted off, for example– that still had the fur on the seats and a ROTARY-DIAL car phone inside! I found it parked on a side street in a not-very-nice neighborhood……….. and, yes, there is no better way to describe it than the “ultimate Pimp-Mobile”!
ugly !
A better design would have showcased the engine with ease of access for mechanical maintenance. I wouldn’t go as Zero G (reference to the new 5G that will be pushed onto all of society soon) as having a crank to start the engine, but would have made driving the car far more driver-involved (turning dials, pulling knobs, four-speed trans) in a way required to piloting an aircraft for the experience.
Less sheetmetal, rounded surfaces, separate headlights. In other words, pick up where the original Stutz designers left off.
“distinctive” ? He called it “distinctive” …!!!! ??? This has got to be the ugliest car that was ever produced in america.
In germany they have a department which will not allow a parent to name their child something crazy or offensive.
If america ever had such a department they would have never allowed this monstrosity to be born.
I think I am going to make BOTH his mom and dad sign his report card.
I saw one of these in Miami.
Black…red interior…with the top chopped off.
The owner had reworked the suspension and bumped the horsepower up a notch. I will tell you that I thought it looked good.(imo)
Sydney I could not agree with you more, if the only car left was a fiat abarth I would then drive this thing. Good good this thing looks ridiculous 😂
I like its unusual look, really fine interior and craftsmanship. It has rarity, was designed by an automotive design icon. It also has mechanical simplicity going for it. If I had the money, I’d buy it just because.
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on everything you said. That car was ugly when it came out, and it has gotten nothing but worse since.
Looks good in a world that features bell bottom pants and polyester leisure suits…
Looks like someone thought enough of it to pay the asking price.
Yea, there’s no shortage of fools out there.
The car is in perfect condition.. i made a real steal with..i know, it’s not everybodies taste , to find that car beautiful.. for me it’s a piece of art on wheels
Seems, YOU are not the class to recognize what treasure that is. Maybe you are a member of the loser class??
Speaking as a 63 year old man with a garage full of Chevelles; I’d take one of these in a heartbeat (no pun intended). I would also be cool with an Excalibur from the 70’s or the 80’s. Nothing like having something no one else has; plus with a little class thrown in.
Raymond, I think you misspelled the word “clown”, it came out as “class”.
Art is art. Some people like Monet, some like Van Gogh. I appreciate them all. What do you have? Look at this car again! You will begin to like it! It is now in and on your mind forever!!!! You’ve just been hexed! Google 1930 Stutz M Cabriolet. When new; some people laughed at this car, too.
Raymond,,,,Elvis was class less at making music but he did not have good taste in cars.
He was uneducated in the automotive industry, and was a bit of a hillbilly when it came to cars. He bought expensive cars on a whim. He really did not know what he was doing. You cannot go wrong on a ferrari or a rolls royce, however you can go very wrong on a customized lead sled that is as gaudy looking as anything on the road.
Elvis did not keep this car very long. Furthermore, most people who bought these monsters quickly said, , “What was I thinking! Everybody hates this car” and they sold them at a great loss.
The company went out of production on this style because of the lack of sales.
Like I said, it was an ugly car when it came out, and it’s even worse today.
I’m sorry. I thought you were being serious. Enjoy that Huffy. Someday maybe you can afford to move up to a Schwinn. You are funny, though.
right under this block for comments it clearly states no personal attacks, but whoever moderates this must be a close friend of yours to allow you to keep attacking someone that can no longer defend himself, the world disagrees with you about Elvis so your words mean very little, they only show what a sad and unhappy person you must be with no friends and most likely drive a rusty old station wagon. your comments about this car and elvis seem to be asking for a personal attack from other readers.
Raymond: No, a lot of people enjoyed Monet and Van Gogh’s art, not just some.
Where as this car was (and still is) the opposite.
A lot of people disliked it, and just some people liked it.
So many people disliked it that most people would not buy it. This is why it went out of business. And people are stil laughing at the car.
What do you own Mr. Carnac the Magnificent?
A friend had one back in the day. If I remember correctly, it was a cream color, with a slightly darker laudau type roof. The carpet was mink. I only rode in it once, because back then, I was embarrassed with the attention. This friend also had a whole fleet of Eldorado convertibles, and several Corvettes, including 2 he bought and immediately stored to give to his twin nephews on their 21st birthday.
There is quality in that interior.
Sorry Raymond but I just do not see the beauty in a car that was so ugly that it could not make it in the ruff and tumble world of economics.
It will never be anything other an oddity.
I suppose one of them will make it into a museum some day, however, not as a thing of beauty like the XKE Jag, but more like an example to express the excess in design flaws and failures of that particular point in time. Much like the “spruce goose” airplane that was
never really successful.
Lot more than just a GM ‘frame’, glass, greenhouse inner sheetmetal, the whole interior (even though most pieces were covered by other things, inner fenders in the front, inner lower trunk wells, inner door skins, frames and glass, basically the whole car was a Pontiac Gran Prix (or similar depending on year) with many parts reshaped, recovered or replaced with other junk that was (mostly) available in the aftermarket.
Elvis was a genius performer and composer IMO (in the sense that he reworked and put his ‘spin’ on a lot of other people’s work), but didn’t write much of anything, which is probably the core of the creativity. Any good singer/performer can make a nice song from other people’s words and melody (just look at some of the kids doing this today, wouldn’t call any of them genius).
the kids today enjoy success because of the rampant ignorance of life, and the technology of recording studios could make even you sound good. Elvis like many of the older legends of singers could actually sing, at my age i’ve heard many of them sing with out the high end sound resolutions and cleaning used today. stand in a parking lot and make the audience faint from the sound, or in a crowded honky tonk with drunks fighting and yelling and be recorded on ancient equipment and sell millions, you have no idea of talent, you just say the words you want to hear, your opinion is just that, not facts. history tells us the facts
I was fortunate enough to see Dean Martin driving his Stutz a number of times when I was in college. I originally saw the car from behind, but as I pulled closer and saw the license plate “DRUNKY” I knew it had to be Dean. I was not disappointed when I pulled next to him. He looked very cool to say the least. Another time I followed him from afar, and drove through the gates of Bel Air, Ca. a few car lengths back. The guard at the Main Gate waved me through as though I lived there. (Try that now….good luck getting in.) A few blocks later the Stutz pulled into a driveway of a SPECTACULAR brick covered English style Mansion. Say what you will about his taste in cars, the home was truly stunning. I saw him one other time, but only in passing opposite directions. I am 61 years old now, and have owned/own Ferrari’s, Porsche’s,
Mercedes, etc., but I think the Stutz is cool. It fit the era just fine, when wealthy
people thought they needed something more exclusive than a Rolls Royce or Ferrari. Most of them did not realize the car was basically a Pontiac. I would love to own one of these, and keep it in Palm Springs, Ca. just for fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously, and enjoy the moment.
I brought that unique great car….I am so happy with!!!
I envy you for sure, beautiful and rare car. clearly most of the comments on here are from people that have no idea what these cars are. the early ones were built on the pontiac grand prix chassis for sure but the majority of the body work was sculptured by european craftsmen, some of carbon fibre. it’s sad that so many have no clue about rare cars just because they don’t like the looks or can’t afford one. at my age i could but don’t have the energy anymore to pursue them. some forget lots of old classics were also built on existing chassis or actual cars, the cobra, the allards, sunbeam tiger, and many more. enjoy the car and pity the haters
Arrived 10th of May in Vienna, Austria…
Congratulations, you lucky dog. Take a spin for me, sometime.
Was at technical inspection with… not any issues.. besides the missing CE(Cerificated for Europe) letters at the head light glasses.. Looool !!
Technical inspection… the exhaust gas pollution is even better than from some new cars, the inspector told me… :-) Very low NoX , HC, CO and CO2..not bad for a 1974 455 CU.IN dinosaur…
A Stutz associated with Elvis just sold for almost 300K.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/auctions/elvis-presleys-stutz-rakes-in-297000-in-las-vegas/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_DailyDriver_Tuesday&hashed_email=0ee9c8e1cae4747ea66fb68844f30702634c1c167e0fed5f1213a107b95f8a90