Vehicle Description
In December 1963, Esquire published one of the most influential
articles in the history of the magazine. In the article, four
remarkable designs were presented by Virgil Exner, Chrysler's
charismatic ex-vice president of design. Exner was no
run-of-the-mill Detroit car stylist. His 1957 designs had saved
Chrysler from extinction. In association with Ghia, Exner had also
been the originator of a number of fantastic Chrysler show cars in
the 1950s, including two which made it into very limited
production, namely Eugene Casaroll's Dual-Ghia and later the Ghia
L6.4. Now, Exner wanted to demonstrate what a number of famous
marques that had fallen by the wayside could be offering for 1964,
".....assuming either that each manufacturer had pursued a policy
of refinement and modernization of his cars' identifying
characteristics, or that each had decided to resume business after
a thirty year lapse....what we are trying to do is capture the
spirit of the older car design and body type in a modern package."
In this short text, what we know today as retro-styling was born.
The designs exerted a massive influence, and without them, it is
doubtful that the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado would have been styled as
it was, or that the wildly successful Lincoln Continental MK III
would have seen the light of day. �Today, we see retro styling in
cars from most major manufacturers, such as the Mini, the Fiat 500
and many more. Exner's supremely elegant 1963 designs quickly
became known as his Revival Cars. There was a revived Mercer
Raceabout, a Duesenberg Sport Phaeton, a Packard Twin Six, and a
Stutz Super Bearcat. Shortly thereafter, Exner added a modern-day
proposal for a Jordan Playboy, a Pierce Silver Arrow and a Bugatti
Roadster. While all of these designs fed the dreams of young boys
in the 1960s because they were made as model kits by Renwal, it was
more difficult to get the cars built in real life. In 1965, the
beautiful Mercer Raceabout design was built by the Carrozzeria
Sibona-Basano as a one-off on an AC Cobra chassis for the American
Copper Development Association. Used extensively to promote the use
of copper trim on automobiles, it became a very famous car. Virgil
Exner had purchased the very last Bugatti 101 chassis made by the
factory. Also in 1965, Exner had the chassis shortened by Ghia who
then built the Bugatti Revival design for his personal use. In
1966, a revised Exner Duesenberg design was built by Ghia on an
Imperial platform in a failed attempt to revive the marque that
involved the participation of August Duesenberg himself. Today, all
of these unique cars survive in prominent collections. The only one
of all these designs to go into production was the Stutz. After the
aborted attempt to revive Duesenberg, Exner was keen on seeing at
least one of his Revival Cars on the roads. In 1968, he contacted
James D. O'Donnell, a prominent New York businessman and investment
banker. The idea was to find Wall Street money to finance a venture
to manufacture a Revival Car using American engineering combined
with the superior artistry of Italian coachbuilders. O'Donnell
became personally fascinated with the project. He had fond memories
of driving in a classic Stutz and decided to use that brand as he
believed the name was now in the public domain. The model was to be
called the Blackhawk. It was agreed that Virgil Exner would be
responsible for the design, while O'Donnell provided financing and
management. Exner reworked his 1963 design, and a meeting was set
up with John Z. DeLorean who was head of the Pontiac division at
the time. In short order, DeLorean agreed to supply a Pontiac Grand
Prix platform in order to build a prototype. At the meeting, O'
Donnell said "If this car is so good why don't you make it?", to
which DeLorean replied, "O'Donnell, while you make the prototype of
this car, I will make one million Pontiacs". O'Donnell managed to
raise $ 1,200,000. According to him, "....a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix
was delivered to a sophisticated, high tech model making shop in
Detroit, Michigan. There, Mr. Exner fashioned a clay model of the
new Stutz.....When finished, the clay model had the exact look of
the car to be made..... When Mr. Exner was satisfied with the final
clay model, "skins" or plastic forms were made over the clay model.
The process of making the skins destroyed the clay model, so it no
longer exists. In the Italian factory, the skins were used to make
a wooden mannequin over which steel body parts would be hammered
into the body. The body parts would be placed in a large fixture
where a Grand Prix chassis awaited the welding process. The
mannequin was finally completed in July 1969. The prototype cost
$300,000.00 in 1969 dollars." The Stutz Blackhawk prototype was
completed in December 1969 and flown to New York City where it made
its debut at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on January 20, 1970. It was
a hit with the American and international press. The first
"production" cars were then manufactured by the Carrozzeria Padane
towards the end of 1970 as 1971 models. At the time, the
Carrozzeria Padane was manufacturing the Maserati Mistral, Bora,
and Indy models under contract for Maserati. Interestingly, the
Series I Stutz Blackhawk therefore contains many Maserati parts,
including door handles, instruments and switches. Other items taken
from the parts bins by the artisans at Padane included lights and
fixtures used on Innocenti, Alfa Romeo and the Lancia Stratos. The
entire Pontiac Grand Prix body and interior was thrown away, and
hardly anything was used from the donor car, except the chassis and
mechanicals. The Series I Blackhawk body was constructed
painstakingly and entirely by hand, and fitted with a luxurious
leather and wood interior. It was therefore true to Exner's
original design in every way, and a direct descendant of the Mercer
Cobra and Exner's own Bugatti 101 Roadster. The very first car sold
by the new Stutz company was bought by Elvis Presley, and the Stutz
quickly became the darling of the Hollywood set, just like the
Dual-Ghia and the Gia L.6.4 that preceded it: Dean Martin, Dick
Martin, Lucille Ball, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Debbie Reynolds were
among the early buyers. Frank Sinatra reputedly never bought one,
as he was angry that Elvis got the first car. But it was not to
last. The Series I Blackhawk retailed at a huge $ 22,500 in 1971,
enough to buy about four Lincoln MK IIIs. Yet Stutz was losing
about $ 10,000 per completed car. No wonder. Buying a Pontiac,
shipping it to Italy, throwing half the car away, building a brand
new body by hand, and then shipping the new completed car back to
the US was perhaps best described as a business plan straight out
of Dr. Seuss. After a mere 25 Series I cars had been built, it was
decided to cut some losses or the newly founded Stutz company would
go under. There was also the problem of the impending 5 mph bumper
requirement, something which Exner's design had not taken into
account. Making a virtue of necessity, it was decided to use the
complete Pontiac Grand Prix substructure, glass and bumpers,
including the instrument panel and other interior fixtures. This
meant a one-piece windshield instead of the split screen on the
original, and hanging new sheet metal on the existing structure and
greenhouse as opposed to building a completely new body from
scratch. Production was moved to the Carrozzeria Saturn, the price
was jacked up to $ 46,000, and while the following cars remained
luxurious, they completely lost the fantastic classic proportions,
exquisite detailing and the delicate hand-built feel of the Series
I cars. It was a sound business decision, Series II production
speeded up, and profits were made. Unfortunately, as the cars
changed they became known as an ost...for more information please
contact the seller.
