Asking $75,000.
Reasonable Offers Encouraged
Stutz was founded as the Ideal Motor Car Company in Indianapolis IN in 1911. Ideal entered a car in the Indianapoli s 500that year and placed 11th, earning it the slogan, "the car that made good in a day". The next year, the founder, Harry C Stutz , renamed the company Stutz Motor Company and began selling high-performance roadsters like the famous Stutz Bearcat. The Bearcat featured a brawny 4-cylinder T-head engine with four valves per cylinder, one of the earliest multi valve engines.
Stutz was forced to raise money to fund his automobile production, eventually selling the company in 1919 after a falling out with the company's major stockholders, Allen Ryan, who then went bankrupt. In 1922, three Stutz investors, one of whom was Charles Schwab, gained control of the company. The new owners brought in Freerick Moskowics, formerly of Daimler Benz, Marmon, and Franklin, in 1923. Moskowics quickly refocused the company as a developer of safety cars, a recurring theme in the auto industry. In the case of Stutz, the car featured safety glass, a low center of gravity for better handling, and a hill-holding transmission called "Noback". One notable advance was the 1931 DOHC 32-valve in-line 8 (designed by Fred Duesenberg), called the "DV32" (DV for 'dual valve'). This was during the so-called "cylinders race" of the early 1930s, when makers of expensive cars were rushing to produce multi-cylinder engines. While Stutz did not have the resources to design and tool a new engine, the DV32 did allow them to their cars with a larger number than any of its competitors, who were advertising 12- and 16-cylinder engines in their own cars.
In 1927, a Stutz set a world record for speed, averaging 68 mph for 24 hours. The following year, a 4.9 litre Stutz in the hands of by Robert Bloch and Edouard Brisson finished second at the 24 Hours of LeMans to the 4.5 litre Bentley of Rubin and Barnato, despite losing top gear 90 minutes from the flag, the best result for an American car until 1966. That same year, development engineer and racing driver Frank Lockhartused a pair of supercharged 91ci DOHC engines in his Stutz Black Hawk Special streamliner Land Speed Record car, while Stutz set another speed record at Daytona, reaching 106.53 mph in the hands of Gil Anderson. In 1929, three Stutzes, with bodies designed by Gordon Buehrig, built by Weymann's U.S. subsidiary, and powered by a 155 HP 322ci superchargred straight 8 ran at Le Mans, piloted by Edouard Brisson, George Eyston, and co-drivers Phillippe de Rothschild and Guy Bouriat; de Rothschild and Bouriat placed fifth after the other two cars fell out with split fuel tanks.
Production ended in 1935 after 35,000 cars had been manufactured. The former Indianapolis factory is today known as the Stutz Business Center and is home to more than eighty artists, sculptors, photographers, designers, architects, and craftsmen.
This extremely rare car is in original condition throughout. 1 of 2 '23 KLDH Tourings known to exist, both cars have different coachwork so are each unique. This car resided in the legendary AK Miller collection until that collection was sold by Christies in 1996. It is believed this is one of the last Stutz Mr. Miller purchased having come to him in the 50's from Tennessee. The car then passed to a Stutz collector in Florida who basically just stored the car until we purchased the car earlier this year. The car has been featured in Old Cars Weekly and the Stutz News since we purchased the car. Click here for the full story.
Featuring the legendary TwinCam T Head 4 with Twin Ignition, this car was the highest horsepower car produced in 1923, even more powerful than the Duesenberg! The Detachible Head 4 is a rugged and reliable motor and is the pinacle of Stutz engine development. These car are great driving cars, capable of highway speeds.
Since purchase we have installed correct tires, rebuilt the Starter, Rebuilt the entire fuel system including the Carburator and Vacuum Tank, Relining and rebuilding the Fuel Tank, Rebuilt the Brakes, , Serviced the cooling system, including all new hoses and clamps, installed a new battery, Rebuilt the ignition system, performed a valve job, dropped the Oil Pan and cleaned and serviced the Oil Pump. The car starts right up and runs very well. Only the generator remains to be rebuilt. This is an amazing car. All the wood is solid as a rock and it is original in every respect. It has every little bit, every nut and bolt that it came from the factory with. Even the lights and guages work. In a quandry about whether to restore the car or leave it the way it is we have decided to offer the car the way it is.
Should there be no serious interest we will most likely continue working on the car over the winter months and campaign it on the show circuit next year. This is a rare opportunity to get an important car that has never been messed with. It is as it left the factory. This would be a very easy restoration, or realistically is a perfect candidate for the Preservation Class just as it is.
