1929 Stearns-Knight Touring in Amelia Island, Florida

Chassis No. J11926
Engine No. H1159

Cleveland, Ohio's F.B. Stearns Company staked its reputation on refinement and the Knight double-sleeve-valve engine, which it championed for quietness and durability at the very top of the luxury market. Period sales literature even boasted that the Stearns-Knight engine "improves with use... The patented Knight sleeve valve engine is the only motor-mechanism known that, to a limit never yet reached, grows better, sweeter, more thoroughly satisfactory with every mile!"

By the late 1920s, the line culminated in the J8-90, a 385-cu-in sleeve-valve straight-eight on a massive, partially boxed chassis. Marque research indicates that just 388 J8-90s were produced across 1928-29, with only about 11 complete cars known today, which seldom appear for public sale.

Long held in Southern California, chassis J11926 later passed through the hands of noted Knight devotees Richard Hamilton, Ken Lane, and Peter Woyen and Mark Young. By the time of Lane and Woyen's ownership, the Stearns's original Sedan coachwork was beyond repair, so a restoration was undertaken to recreate this Seven-Passenger Touring, a catalog body style for the J8-90 no longer surviving in its original form.

The project reached completion with cinematographer and Stearns-Knight authority Al Giddings, who had the Touring body recreated from original Stearns factory drawings. Because Sedan and Touring shared the same 145-inch wheelbase, original sheet metal from the beltline down was reportedly retained with a modified original cowl. Giddings rebuilt the engine and transmission, while enlisting Knight specialists Patterson Barnes and Art Aseltine to contribute their expertise, Patrick Kelso and David DeJon to restore the chassis and body, and Kevin VanLaarhoven to render the current two-tone red and black finish.

The comprehensive restoration to National Prize-winning standards included a black Stayfast canvas top, sumptuous black leather upholstery, wood-grained door trim and steering wheel, square-weave carpeting, mahogany running boards, and jump seats for seven-passenger seating. Further period-correct equipment included chrome-spoke Buffalo wire wheels with locking hubs and Firestone Deluxe Champion 6.5 by 20-inch tires, Trippe driving lights, dual horns and taillights, wind wings, a trunk rack, vacuum wiper, chrome Biflex bumpers, a stone guard, a radio, and a cigar lighter-all rendered to exacting period specifications that remain fresh today.

The finished car became an AACA National Award nominee, collected prizes nationwide, and was shown at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, before joining the current caretaker in 2018. Under current ownership, the Stearns was proudly presented at the 2019 Hilton Head Concours d'Elegance, 2019 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, and the 2021 Gasparilla Concours d'Elegance. As an authentic J8-90 and a recognized CCCA Full Classic, chassis J11926 is a compelling candidate for touring, CARavans, and concours display.