Stutz Motor Company

Stutz Motor Company. An American manufacturer of luxury and performance automobiles, founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1911 by pioneering automotive engineer Harry C. Stutz. The company rapidly gained fame for its durable, high-performance vehicles, epitomized by the legendary Stutz Bearcat, which became an icon of the Roaring Twenties and the preferred car of many celebrities and bootleggers. Despite financial struggles during the Great Depression, the company's legacy endures through its engineering innovations and its storied success in competitive motorsport, particularly at the Indianapolis 500.

History

The company was founded in 1911 by Harry C. Stutz, a former engineer for the American Motor Car Company. Its establishment followed the immediate success of the first car bearing his name, which completed the Indianapolis 500 that same year without a pit stop, earning the slogan "the car that made good in a day." Early financial backing came from investors like Henry F. Campbell. The firm prospered throughout the 1910s and 1920s, becoming a publicly traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange and moving into a large new plant designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Following the death of Harry C. Stutz in 1930 and the onset of the Great Depression, control of the struggling company was assumed by financier Charles M. Schwab. Despite efforts to revive its fortunes with dramatic new bodywork from designer Virgil Exner, the company ceased automobile production in 1939.

Products and models

The company's most famous early model was the Stutz Bearcat, a stark, high-performance roadster that competed directly with the Mercer Raceabout and the Auburn Speedster. Other significant models from the pre-World War I era included the Stutz Bulldog. In the 1920s, the product line expanded under chief engineer Charles E. Greuter to include more refined luxury cars like the Stutz Vertical Eight and the Stutz Safety Car, which featured advanced hydraulic brakes. The final series of cars in the 1930s included the sophisticated Stutz DV-32, powered by a dual overhead camshaft straight-eight engine and often clothed in custom coachwork by firms like LeBaron and Rollston.

Engineering and innovations

The company was renowned for its engineering integrity and several industry-leading innovations. Harry C. Stutz's initial design centered on a robust transaxle that combined the gearbox and rear axle, a concept also used by Mercer. Under Charles E. Greuter, the firm introduced one of America's first production overhead camshaft engines. Its commitment to safety was demonstrated in the mid-1920s with the Stutz Safety Car, which featured hydraulic brakes on all four wheels years before they became an industry standard, a chassis with a low center of gravity, and a windshield of non-shattering glass. The Stutz DV-32 engine of 1931 was a technical masterpiece with four valves per cylinder and dual overhead camshafts.

Motorsport and racing

Motorsport success was fundamental to the brand's identity from its inception. The very first car entered the 1911 Indianapolis 500, finishing an impressive 11th and spawning its famous slogan. The company returned to the Indianapolis 500 with factory teams, achieving victory with driver Howdy Wilcox in the 1919 Indianapolis 500. It also competed in endurance events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where a Stutz Model BB famously dueled with a Bentley in the 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing a close second. This racing pedigree was directly marketed and was embodied in the sporting Stutz Bearcat.

Corporate affairs and legacy

After its founding, the company was incorporated in New York with substantial capital. Following the death of Harry C. Stutz, the firm entered a steep decline exacerbated by the Great Depression. Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel attempted a reorganization, but the luxury car market had collapsed. The final corporate entity was dissolved in 1939. The brand's legacy is that of a quintessential American luxury performance marque, a symbol of the Jazz Age immortalized in literature by authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald. The name was later revived for a separate venture producing the Stutz Blackhawk in the 1970s. Numerous original cars are preserved in collections like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and the National Automobile Museum.

Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Category:Companies established in 1911 Category:Companies disestablished in 1939