Stutz Blackhawk History

The Stutz Motor Car of America was founded in August 1968 by New York banker James O'Donnell, who hired retired Chrysler design chief Virgil Exner to style a flamboyant neoclassic coupe reviving the Stutz name. The Blackhawk debuted at the Waldorf Astoria in January 1970 and entered production in 1971, built on a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis (with a 455 V8) but rebodied entirely by hand in Italy — early cars at Officine Padane in Modena (Series I, distinguished by a split windshield), later at Carrozzeria Saturn near Turin — each car taking well over 1,000 man-hours and many coats of hand-rubbed lacquer.

It was one of the most expensive American cars of its time: $22,500 in 1971, rising considerably as production continued. Elvis Presley purchased the very first Blackhawk on October 9, 1970 for $26,500, and went on to own several; he is known to have driven one on the night before his death in 1977. Other owners included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Evel Knievel, Johnny Cash, and Muhammad Ali — the Shah of Iran reportedly collected twelve.

By 1976 approximately 205 Blackhawks had been sold; by 1980 around 350. Production ran through 1987 with approximately 500–600 Blackhawk coupes built — distinct from the roughly 617 figure sometimes cited for all revival-era Stutz models combined.