Vehicle Description
Chassis No. DV-SB-1361
Engine No. DV33068
More than most any other American luxury automaker of its era,
Stutz kept abreast of goings-on in European design and competition,
and was likely well-aware of certain supercharged products coming
out of Germany. Thus the creation for the DV-32 of the Super
Bearcat, which was, as one historian wryly commentated, "the Stutz
SSJ," as like that immortal supercharged Duesenberg of much renown,
it was built on a severely shortened frame, truncated to 116
inches. The result was an extremely close-coupled two-passenger
automobile, with sporting lines unusual for a car of this era and
not proportions not all that dissimilar from the period's
Indianapolis racers. As the Super name indicates, it was intended
to be the ultimate evolution of the high-performance Stutz, and,
with the company's production soon to end, so it was.
Like most of Weymann's other offerings on the Stutz chassis, the
style was produced with both traditional metal-paneled bodywork and
with Weymann's signature fabric body, featuring outer panels of
synthetic leather, as had been used on the Stutzes that competed at
Le Mans in 1929. Only two fabric-paneled Super Bearcats are known
to survive, one of which is that offered here.
Dr. Atwoods's Super Bearcat
Serial number DV-SB-1361's first known caretaker was the early
enthusiast Joe Streeter of Claremore, Oklahoma. A colorful gent
active in local politics and civic organizations, Mr. Streeter was
the proprietor of the Roadside Emporium, just off Route 66, a vast
collection of American memorabilia described in a 1957 newspaper
article as including "merry-go-round ponies, a stuffed moose ten
feet tall, a butter churn meant to be powered by a dog on a
treadmill, a lady dummy dressed in yellow high-button shoes, a
stuffed eagle right in the middle of a swoop, and an iron strong
box from a Deadwood stage coach." And, presumably, a very special
Stutz, which, according to a photocopy of a registration in the
file, he purchased in 1954.
By 1974, Mr. Streeter had sold his Super Bearcat to the famed
Harrah's Automobile Collection; while the earliest paperwork in the
file is dated that year, given the car's relatively early HAC
equipment number, 299, it is very likely to have been purchased
much earlier. In its era, Harrah's was the world's largest,
numbering some 1,100 automobiles by the time its acquisitions
halted following Bill Harrah's death in 1978. Several significant
Stutzes were part of the collection, including one of the
aforementioned 1929 Le Mans entrants and multiple DV-32s; in fact,
at one point the collection included two Super Bearcats! The
partial Harrah's Restoration Manual in the history file indicates
that this car as-acquired was in largely original condition and
intact save for the correct bumpers. Much research was prepared in
view of a future restoration but unfortunately, this never took
place under Harrah's auspices.
In September 1984, the Stutz was sold, still in original condition,
at the first of the Harrah's dispersal auctions to Dr. Barbara
Atwood of Rockford, Illinois. A highly skilled and respected
clinical counselor at Cornell and the University of Illinois, Dr.
Atwood was also a prominent philanthropist who operated a local
shelter and animal hospital and also worked to conserve local
prairies and forests. Her avocation was the collecting of fine
American Full Classic automobiles, which she commissioned to be
meticulously restored and enjoyed exhibiting all over the country.
She was a very driven woman with a passion for excellence,
reflected in the high standards of her restorations and the awards
that they won at all the most prestigious concours d'elegance.
Today she is widely considered to have been the pre-eminent female
automobile collector and enthusiast of her era.
The Stutz was restored for Dr. Atwood in the hands of her local
Rockford restorer, John Sanders, who expertly rebuilt the Weymann
coachwork, in the correct livery of Special Bearcat Green, proven
by original fabric samples remaining in the car's file, as well as
the car's mechanical components. Upon its completion it was shown
extensively in Antique Automobile Club of America, eventually
receiving Grand National First Prize and, in 1988, the prestigious
President's Cup. The following year, 1989, it was shown at the
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and was a class award-winner.
Dr. Atwood's collecting activities slowed in the early 1990s but
her collection remained intact within her impressive private museum
in Rockford until her passing in 2008. The following year the
collection was sold, and the Stutz purchased by Ugo Isgro of
Treviso, Italy. With the car having remained largely static since
1989, the new owner undertook a full engine rebuild, with new
pistons and valves, and an overhauling of the brakes, as well as
the fitment of new tires.
In 2011, the Stutz became part of the Academy of Art University's
automobile collection, and has remained there since as a favorite
of the Stephens Family, students, and visitors. Testament to the
outstanding quality of the workmanship - as Dr. Atwood expected -
the restoration has held up remarkably well over the last three
decades, with the fabric bodywork still in excellent condition and
the paint on the fenders in fine shape. Even the engine compartment
is clean and properly detailed, and the interior is magnificent,
with rich blond wood trim and leather upholstery that shows only
light stretching. Devoid of the extraneous accessories popular on
so many other restorations of the 1980s, the body features
possesses few visual distractions, giving it the proper muscular
appearance one should expect in a Super Bearcat.
This is an outstanding example of the final Stutz, at its brawniest
and sportiest - a DV-32 that truly has the magic aura of the Brass
Era Bearcats of old.
Addendum & Administrative Notes
Please note that this lot is titled by its engine number.
