PRICE CUT! Mink and Gold 1974 Stutz Blackhawk
UPDATE 4/12/2022 – Reader Pat L just let us know that the seller of this Stutz has significantly lowered their asking price. They were initially hoping for $47k, but have now dropped it to $29,500. Let us know down in the comments section if the new asking price is right on or if they still have a ways to go if they want to find a new owner for it?
FROM 4/6/2022 – Ah, the Stutz Blackhawk. Has a more polarizing car ever been made? When you take into account all of the high-zoot details, it’s rather staggering. The side pipes, the wire wheels, the chrome-plated nose, and the mink-coated interior – it’s all just a little too much, isn’t it? Well, not if you put everything in perspective and think about the fact that for every era, there is a vehicle that is intended to capture the most excessive of extravaganzas on four wheels. The Blackhawk is now just an affordable automotive curiosity, and this one is listed here on craigslist for $47,000.
Now, affordable is relative – I get that. But if you think about who was lining up to buy this car new, it’s a remarkable fall from grace. As the seller notes, Elvis Presley was one of the first customers to own one, and you can read the Rolodex of A-listers who wanted a Stutz on any number of fan websites. But unlike, say, a vintage Aston-Martin or Lamborghini, the Stutz has been relegated to the back pages of automotive folklore, and while this seller may be asking nearly $50,000 for his, I’m willing to bet the final sale price won’t be anywhere close to that. I’ve personally always loved the car from this angle – that swept-back trunk lid and taillights below the bumper make it look like it’s ready for take-off.
The interior featured mink upholstery and 14K-gold trim. Leather and a wood-rimmed steering wheel were obviously just the start of the most luxurious experience you could imagine on four wheels. The seller’s car is not a restored example, but it does appear to be at least somewhat preserved; I can’t put my finger on it, but the car just looks tired in some way. The paint especially looks rather dull and flat, but perhaps it’s just a result of the color and bad lighting. The seller reports there’s just 28,000 miles on the clock and that less than 500 were made, and I’m genuinely curious how many of these are still in existence. With that in mind, do you think the asking price is fair?
I’ve said it a few times now that new car collectors have to be careful to not race out and meet their heroes, especially if such a car has a price tag like this one. The market for an extinct dinosaur like the Stutz is extremely narrow and anyone still collecting them is likely just doing it to say that they owned one rather than out of some diehard brand allegiance. The Stutz is an easy car to live with mechanically speaking considering the drivetrain was just pilfered from any number of GM engine families, but the real question is value: when new, a Stutz would have set you back close to $200,000 when you adjust for inflation. Seeing it all these years later, clearly not loved judging by the filthy engine bay, and it’s a dramatic fall from grace for what was once one of the most exclusive cars you could buy. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Pat L. for the find.
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Comments
Beauty in the eye of the beholder. One could say it has striking styling. Others will call it polarizing and some will be very vocal in a non constructive way. When I look at this styling I make a facial expression only duplicated when I take a sip of a very bitter 3 day old on the burner coffee. I give praise to Virgil Exner and his radical styling of the late 50’s and early 60’s.
Pimp Daddy.
The Gold Tooth Ed . . . I mean Gold Trim Edition.
Gold rock pipe edition
That styling didn’t age well did it? Super Fly era all about excess, lights too big and those poor little critters died to become lining in a trunk, wow. That was what a Pontiac Grand Prix at one time?
Not worth the asking price as rust is seen most everywhere on the car and no telling what’s underneath. Wheels including spare and all surfaces of pain show rust
I would rather have the Gran Prix it was based on.
If I was the seller I would invested in a major detail on this vehicle. To make it showroom ready. The engine is filthy and uninviting to look at. I don’t understand these people today with these type of vehicles asking a big money and not to clean it and wax it. I guess people are just too lazy and looking for a quick flip what a shame. 🙄
Wonderfully hideous. Man, I miss the 1970s.
I remember some of the 70s…
47k ha ha ha good one….. oh are they serious then wow just wow I must be living in an alternate financial and design appeal universe!! Looks like someone took used parts from various roaring 20 autos and stuck them on an el dorado
Up until 1972 they were based on the Pontiac Grand Prix with a tuned 455 that made 425 HP. From 1973 and on they were based on various platforms with various engines you could even get Torino based with a 302,351 or 429.Basically..they were a specific car in the first 2 years(71/72) and a “whatcha want buddy” until the end in 1987
As an addition..this 1974 looks to be Pontiac Grand Prix based with the 455,which would be the best of the breed still after 1972.
I enjoy looking at a semi-custom car like this and picking out the items carried over from the donor car. I can see the forward section of the roof, windshield, a-pillars, and door glass are all GM colonnade items. The seats appear to be reupholstered Pontiac Grand Am seats. Anybody see anything else?
Maybe reupholstered.. but very well done.
Makes any car look beautiful when parked next to it.
In its day, it was meant to be over-the-top. And, it successfully was. Nearly fifty years later, it still garners plenty of comments and (mostly) criticism because…. it is still over-the-top.
I wonder how many actually change hands in a given period of time.
Its a beauty..and soooo smooth to drive… i like it.
It was tacky then and hasn’t improved with age. $47k? Seller forgot the first rule: don’t get high off your own supply.
Best example of US-American car culture from the 70s. I am impressed!
I once went to a free lunch sponsored by a group of Chiropractors. The restaurant was full of trophy wives and hair plugs. The parking lot had several of these and the like.
this will sound snarky as it is meant to be. first off, I would never be seen in such a disgusting behemoth. second, this is a classic example of excess. and it’s not attractive. finally, having grown up in South Florida where one of these, while not a common sight, is not all that unusual, the type of person who drives something like this is the cigar smoking New York-type. it’s an overpriced Pontiac. and an ugly one beside.
I always thought this should have been called the Austin Tashus.
Perfect for those days when Wretched Excess is barely adequate. B.T.W. some of the best comments I’ve ever seen on Barnfinds!
Comments from Clowns that don’t know what they’re talkin about one of those cars sold recently on eBay for $80,000 one just sold a few days ago of Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach for 60 thousand and yes they started off at Grand Prix and where hand built in Italy by old world Craftsman any body that was anybody at the time had one including celebrities like Elvis Presley Muhammad Ali the list goes on and on and also Saudi Sheiks what should we all like 69 Camaros rat rods rusted Mopars clones tribute cars restomods give me a break
This car would have been my choice for the car used in the movie, Escape from New York, that The Duke rode around in, played by Isaac Hayes.
I like Duke’s ride much better than this.
A rare machine, not many to be found in the wild, and once you actually see one in the metal, you instantly understand why! The ugliest piece of yard art ever foisted on an innocent public!
From the “B” pillar back, the car is fairly attractive…forward of that pillar, it’s uglier than a mud fence!
Fartly attractive, did you say?
Fartly attractive?
Wonderful Italian Craftsman’s art. Perfect symbiosis of Exner’s genius and Italian skills .
reminds me of a buick kinda thing…
When vehicles like this show up on B F I immediately go to the comments. I’m never disappointed. What were we thinking back in the seventies. Maybe what were we smoking might be more appropriate.
“Toledo Window Box”. 10 bucks for a two-fingered sandwich bag… so I’ve been told.
God, I miss George Carlin.
saint cloud, MN was the dealer for these. i saw most that they got. they came in a sealed metal box. so many times there would be 15 there at any time. and Pimps were not the ones buying these. there was two models of these. the top one had lots of gold chrome so this one is the cheaper one. . price was to high but they were so good looking when new. this is not like a kit car they were made not put together. fire one up and it did not sound like a GM motor that it had. now this one needs all the chrome to shin. wheels look durty . love to have this one. i recall the last ones they had trouble selling these so they dropped the price to around $70,000 new. if i had the money i would get this one as that color was very nice looking.
This car compliments the interior design of El’s mansion. No taste but a lot of money.
Gauges in Italian?
Perfect for Sugarbear, a bit rough for only 28,000 miles.
the “count” Danny Coker has one of these, i bet even he would balk at this asking price …..
I don’t think Danny owns one, but he did do an episode where he finds and restores Barry White’s Stutz for his widow.
Here’s the story: https://www.hotcars.com/story-behind-how-danny-koker-found-barry-whites-1979-stutz-iv-porte/
oh yea, you are correct, I had forgotten about him looking for and finding that car…good catch
Yes – the Barry White car on Counting Cars is what popped to mind. In fact that might be the only time I ever heard of this Stutz…and I’m old!
Have a friend that has had a nicer one for sale for a long time, priced at $35,000.
Bob, MCK interested in discussing your friends car as i am in the market for one. please let me know how to contact him.
thanks
Sherwin
bob, the phone number did not work. went direct to VM which was full. did not take a text either. please have him contact me at 612-751-1313.
thanks
sure-1
I was able to reach him last night. I gave him your name and phone number. Good luck!
Some people are saying these were based on the Pontiac Grand Prix, which looking at that nose I would say is a good ecessment.
But I’ve always read that these cars were based on the Buick Riviera.
Either way, quite a novelty. This one looks good in this color. Never seen it on a Stutz before.
Nope, none were Riv based. All the early ones were GP. There are plenty of clues on the interior to confirm its ‘birth mom”.
I believe Dick Martin of Rowan & Martin fame had one of these new. Probably won the automotive “Fickle Finger of Fate” award.
Barf. Astoundingly grotesque then and now.
Why not Jwaltb. It’s every where else.
I have 2 different situations concerning the Stutz cars.
First was in the late 1970s when I worked for a Buick Dealer in Bethesda, MD. They were a Stutz dealership as well. The area was ripe with the Nuevo Riche who had lots of cash to buy cars like the Stutz. Our problem was none of the service department guys wanted to work on them, especially if it involved warranty work, as it was often based on the standard GM warranty times. We would order trim parts from the Carrozzaria Saturn, and there was a big chance the parts wouldn’t even fit! We had one case where the car needed a new center grille, and when the part came in, it wasn’t even chrome plated, it was unfinished bronze!
A decade later, while running my own restoration shop, I had a very wealthy client in the middle east [Bahrain] who asked if I could get him trim parts for one of the Saturn-built cars. I suggested the best thing he could do was to contact Saturn directly and send his wrecked car back to them. Once I explained why he should deal directly with Saturn [I explained all the trouble we had at the Buick dealership], he ended up shipping the car to Italy, where it took them several years to repair the car!
Most Americans think these were simply a modified GM 2-door passenger body shell, but the entire body assembly was hand made over wooden bucks. None of the exterior body panels are GM, only the inner wheel wells, cowl, and floor pans are GM. Yes, these were designed by Virgil Excess, and IMHO are cartoonish, but they are a truly coachbuilt automobile, just as a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith body was constructed by a coachbuilder like James Young or Hoopers. They are NOT a “kit car”.
Few people realize Stutz also offered a 2-door convertible & a 4-door sedan. At least one extended stretch limo [The Royal] was constructed on an order from the Saudi Royal family. I’m familiar with that limo, as I worked with the Washington DC embassy of Saudi Arabia on it’s delivery in secrecy, as I did for their order of a 1975 Cadillac stretch built by Ed Cole’s company [Ex GM executive].
To see how the Italian Stutz cars were constructed, check out photos of the Carrozzeria Saturn’s Stutz facility here: http://www.madle.org/esaturn.htm
@JWALTP
Weeeeeellllllll, not exactly. I think was paraphrasing a scene from Dirty Harry.
I slightly remember that scene. Haven’t seen Dirty Harry in decades
@TurnbuckleTim
Just because “it’s everywhere else” doesn’t mean you have perpetuate it.
I see the site has removed jwaltb’s previous comment. I don’t have a problem with it at all and I am not that type. Nothing surprises me these days. Thanks, Angel—–
in movies they use the other pimp car that was made and Danny has that one!. it had bigger lights and fur on inside of car that made it look pimpy unlike this car the fur looks class.
Caddy with the crystal chandelier is from “Escape From New York”.
Correct!
Another John Carpenter classic automobile.
Is this what the Imperial could have looked like had Virgil Exner not been fired by Chrysler in the early sixties?
Nope…missing a pedal.
Can’t look at it without the song “Diamond in the Back” playing in my head. Let’s just stop for a moment and imagine trying to restore one of these and needing ANY non mechanical part.
“….sunroof top, diggin’ the scene with the gangsta lean ooh hoo”
…painted With Shellac, stuck on with Elmer’s glue woo!
“Elvis Presley was the very first person to receive one.”
Even if this was that actual Stutz, it wouldn’t be worth that kind of money, considering the condition it’s in.
I love it, but am shocked at the pricing. “Just because it’s rare, doesn’t mean it’s valuable”.
Susan,
I’ve made the same basic comment over the last 60+ years:
“Sometimes a vehicle is rare because no one wanted it when new, and it can be said today the vehicle is still worth little because nobody wants it today!”
However there is one exception to the above rule: The original selling price. If the vehicle was so over priced when new, and few people could afford ownership, then those vehicles are often very collectable today because few people can afford ownership.
Sold one a 3 years ago for 16,500 and it was in better condition. That was then, interested to see the result.
have wanted one of these for a few years. can you tell what to look for and the +/- of owning one. this one looks too far gone for me, prefer better condition to start. my email is [email protected]
thanks in advance.
Elvis had two, or has two according to some.
And we all know his taste was a bit splashy.
The ask is nearing reality. A special car for a special person. Since most folks are fearful of public speaking, they would naturally be fearful of being seen in something like this that attracts attention. The same folks that won’t look you in the eye because of their low self esteem.
The thing that bothers me about this car, and many cars of the 70s, is the ridiculous front and rear overhang.
I measure cars against my 63 Rambler Ambassador, big trunk, plenty of interior space, and only 5’8″ long.
How long is this thing…. pffft.
The rest of it I could live with, if I wanted something ‘different’.
Make that 15’8″… doh
wheres ma money. pa-pa don’t take no mess. . . .