We’re resuming our coverage of Stutz today and picking up in the mid-70s. As the reborn brand’s personal luxury Blackhawk appealed to the rich and famous across the country, Stutz attempted to keep the car fresh through modifications viewing every two years. In addition to the marketing appeal of a next-generation Blackhawk, management was also able to cut costs: split windshields became one-piece, and bespoke doors were replaced with those of a Pontiac Grand Prix.
All the while, the Blackhawk’s price continued to rise and doubled by the end of its first decade. It was from afar the most expensive American car on sale. We are back in 1977, as Stutz continued Blackhawk modifications after the unique convertible version named d’Italia was scrapped.
The Blackhawk entered its fifth generation form in 1977. With minor visual revisions, the Blackhawk would see another three model years before being substantially revamped. Note, due to the interesting the way Stutz cars were labeled, Stutz began adding “VI” badging to the Blackhawk as early as 1975. The badging remained in place until 1979.
These badges were on the door panel next to the gold Blackhawk script and were one of the only ways to distinguish this later Blackhawk from its predecessors. Other interior materials were only slightly changed, with things like an updated shifter and modernized Cadillac dual-zone climate control over previous examples.
On the outside, a small VI badge appeared in the grille, although from any distance it looked like a square. The factory wire wheel design changed slightly and adopted a deeper dish style instead of the flush threads earlier in the race. Changes were minor and mixed in model years after about 1973, so it’s hard to tell the years apart without close inspection.
As mentioned last time, it looks like the Blackhawk was assembled with all the trim available at the body shops in Turin, Italy that week. Little cared whether it matched the current “next generation” Blackhawk.
A notable change for 1977 was a completely revised engine lineup, as late ’70s emissions regulations choked power and slowly killed the big-block V8. The entry-level Blackhawk engine in 1977 was Ford’s 302 cu in (4.9 liter) Windsor V8, which was used from 1966 to 2001 in products like the Ford Torino and Explorer. Next in displacement was the Pontiac 350 V8 (5.7 L), taken from the contemporary Grand Prix. Ford also supplied a 351 Windsor (5.8 L) to Stutz, not to be confused with Ford’s 351 Cleveland V8.
Growing to 400 cubic inches, the Blackhawk could be had with the Trans Am’s Pontiac T/A 6.6. Two more 400-plus engines joined the line in 1977, the 425 Cadillac V8 (7.0 L) of its larger large sedans and Ford’s huge 460 V8 (7.5 L) used in the E-series vans between 1975 and 1996.
Back then, the Blackhawk was a mix and match: late-’60s platform, ’60s and ’70s GM interior materials and Malay-era engines. But that was soon coming to an end. The personal luxury coupe (and North American cars in general) saw a major downsizing between 1977 and 1980, and Stutz could no longer produce the 1969 G-body Blackhawk.
As last mentioned, Stutz employed famed designer Paolo Martin to draw a new, slightly more modern Blackhawk in 1976. It had less overhang and cleaner, straighter proportions overall. The company stuck with those sketches, knowing full well that the end was near for the original Blackhawk. Its last G-body release was in 1979, but not before Stutz made the baffling decision to introduce a new model on a dead platform.
It is true, the idea of the convertible in Stutz continued to percolate after the cancellation of the failure of Italia. After the roofless roadster was sold to Evel Knievel, work continued in the background. New safety regulations stipulated that convertibles had to have a roll bar, and company founder James O’Donnell was insistent that the Stutz designers realize.
So in 1979 a second car was added to the Stutz lineup, the Bearcat. It was a resurrection of the sports car nameplate from the company’s early life. No one bought a new Bearcat after 1933, during the DV-32 engine years just before the company’s first bankruptcy.
Essentially, the Bearcat was the d’Italia but modified to comply with rolling regulations. And although it was considered a separate model from the Blackhawk, it wore the exact same body except for the roof. As seen in the only public relations photo of the 1979 Bearcat available on the internet, the Blackhawk’s roof was replaced with a thin strip of Targa, wrapped in canvas and adorned with Bearcat script. The rest of the roof folded behind the rear seats and was covered by a snap-on tonneau.
There is no further information on the number of 1979 Bearcats, but it is suggested that the demand for one that year was, like the d’Italia, $100,000 ($423,292 adj.) . Undoubtedly, only a small handful were produced, as Stutz prepared to take its two-door bread-and-butter offering to a new platform. Time for a sidebar in Pontiac.
Downsizing in the late 70s hit the Grand Prix hard, as the personal luxury coupe moved to the smaller A-body platform for 1978. This platform would later be renamed G (to new) from 1982, because GM liked to confuse people with its platforms. . The 1978 Grand Prix’s new 108-inch wheelbase was a far cry from the 118 inches Stutz was used to.
So, Stutz had to increase in size and opt for the B-body. From 1980, the Blackhawk was based on the Pontiac Bonneville. The Bonneville entered its sixth generation in 1977, as GM launched its full-size downsizing effort to huge success. The B-body Bonneville had a 116-inch wheelbase, not far off the Grand Prix chassis Italian craftsmen had used since 1971.
The Blackhawk must have been a little shorter in its new guise, as the nearly 228-inch body gave way to something closer to the Bonneville’s 214 inches. In 1977, Bonneville had an overall width of 76.4 inches. There are no measurements posted for the 1980 Blackhawk, so we’ll have to rely on the Bonneville measurements here for a general idea. The B-body platform served as a decent replacement for the long-deceased Grand Prix G.
With its new platform, the Blackhawk was forced to get a bit more formal. Just look at the late ’60s Grand Prix alongside a 1977 two-door Bonneville to see why. The Bonneville was straight, boxy, and much more of a two-door sedan than a sportier, more relaxed fastback or hardtop. The glass was straighter in all directions and the roof cut sharply towards the trunk.
The people of Stutz couldn’t do much with this starting point. The Blackhawk retained as much of its former glory as it could, but the changes imposed by a modern platform were obvious. Virgil Exner died long before (in 1973), so there was no guide from the coupe’s creator either. We’ll come back to that next time and look at the styling, interior and mechanics of the new Blackhawk.
[Images: Stutz, YouTube, GM]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC catches and all things truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Related
zimonewszimonews Trans