The Story of Stutz, Stop and Go Fast (Part XV)

Last time in our Stutz story, the company finally realized its dream of a true convertible, the Bearcat II. CEO James O’Donnell’s original product dream, the Bearcat II went on sale in 1987. Although the company’s fate was pretty much sealed by this time, Stutz had its heyday of models around the start. 80s. Spoilers: Machine guns were involved.

There were at least a handful of people who were excited about the prospect of the Bearcat II, despite its F-body origins. The new car was to take Stutz in a new product direction, away from the heavy personal luxury and grand touring roots that have carried Stutz since the brand’s revival in 1970.

Although the new convertible spared no amount of leather or wood trim in its luxury mission, the Bearcat II was practically a superleggera in other places. You would expect this text to lean towards specially formed fiberglass at this point, but no! The body of the II was made of what is called diamond fiber.

Diamond Fiber was apparently a brand name on an early version of what you would call carbon fiber in The Current Year. Considering its materials, the Bearcat II claimed its body to be corrosion and dent resistant. Perhaps the high-tech composite material was chosen to support the price Stutz had in mind for his new offering: The Bearcat II fetched $125,000 in 1987 ($328,570 adj.). For reference, the most expensive 1987 Trans Am GTA was asking for $16,373 ($43,037 adj.).

Given the astronomical price and fading neoclassical appeal, the Bearcat II was understandably a slow seller. The convertible continued for years as the (perhaps) only product at Stutz and was manufactured continuously but in very small numbers. Production persisted here and there until 1995, by which time a total of 13 Bearcat IIs had been manufactured. The II’s most notable owner was the car-buying Sultan of Brunei, who bought two to sit in his collection along with custom Bentley coupes and a Rolls-Royce SUV.

As mentioned in today’s header, by the time the Bearcat II went on sale, the Stutz brand was about to end. James O’Donnell (b. 1914) was in his final years in the 1980s. His final year as CEO of Stutz was in 1988, shortly after the Bearcat II went on sale. O’Donnell took advantage of his retirement by immediately returning to school at Eckerd College. He graduated in 1991 and received his undergraduate degree at the age of 78. He died on December 1, 1997 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The management of Stutz fell into the hands of others for a few years, until O’Donnell sold Stutz to shareholder Warren Liu in 1990. Liu (1945-) was a California real estate developer who long-term interest in Stutz. He retains ownership of the inactive Stutz name to this day. But our story does not end there.

A decade before his retirement, O’Donnell saw his mark through the most robust model portfolio in its history. In addition to the previously covered Blackhawk and Bearcat, Stutz made a sedan called Duplex, IV-Porte or Victoria (depending on the year). Two versions of the Duplex existed – Diplomatica and Royale – both limousines of different lengths. And finally, Stutz even got into the luxury SUV game with the Defender, Gazelle, Bear and Bear derivative called Royal Guard. Let’s talk about SUVs first.

In 1984, during a lull in the company’s product, O’Donnell decided there was a market for a large, luxury SUV with that unique, high-quality Stutz touch. And not just a pedestrian SUV, but rather a armored a. As usual, Stutz turned to his permanent vehicular police, General Motors.

The selected donor truck was the C/K Chevrolet Suburban. The Suburban was in the middle of its seventh generation in 1984; a very long model tenure which lasted from 1973 to 1991. Few changes in regards to appearance during all these years as Suburban persisted with its very rectangular profile. Improvements such as rear CVC have appeared over time, as have auto-locking front hubs and new trim here and there. The most notable change for 1984 was the absence of asbestos from the rear brakes. Upgrade!

Stutz didn’t go all neoclassic with its first SUV version as you might expect. In fact, from an exterior perspective, only the badges on the fenders and the oval Stutz logo on the grille gave its identity. Stutz’s Suburban modifications focused on installing armor and a unique roof feature: Stutz drilled a large hole in the middle of the Suburban’s roof and installed an armored panel to keep rain out. walk in.

But it was not only a panoramic roof opening, rather it was the cutout for the machine gun placed in the second row. Mounted on a hydraulic hinge between the front seats, the machine gun rested on a raised platform between the middle row captain’s seats. The gun was raised into position after the roof was manually opened. One of you will undoubtedly know what kind of weapon is depicted here. Buyers were eager to take advantage of the machine gun, and it was offered as standard equipment on the new Defender.

The name of the new car was surprising given Land Rover’s long-standing association with this model. The Defender was marketed primarily in Middle Eastern countries, where it was suggested that it could be used for military or head of state purposes. Apparently Stutz found buyers for his Defender, but for some unknown reason he almost immediately changed the name of the model to Gazelle.

But a fixed roof and a machine-gun-equipped Gazelle were a bit limiting for armored clientele in the early 80s. And if a more open-air experience was desired, for a parade to celebrate the end of a coup, maybe ? Well, Stutz thought about this situation. Presentation of the bear.

The Ours was a convertible version of the Gazelle. Unlike the Gazelle, the Ours did not hesitate to adopt a neoclassical version. Stutz replaced Chevrolet’s flat grille with a two-section chrome grille, much like an exaggerated version of what was on the Blackhawk. They reshaped the hood, so the Suburban’s power bulge cut inward and met at the corners of the grille. The Suburban’s stacked headlights were fully chromed, as was GM’s standard bumper. Stutz also added large black rubbing stripes to the front, which mirrored the back of the bear.

The Bear’s bumper had extra end caps, so the chrome wrapped around the rear fender for a sedan look. The fenders themselves were edited from the smooth square arches of the Suburban: they extended out from the body and were more rounded than on the Suburban. Stutz added a thick strip of black trim to the Suburban’s character line to make it stand out from its donor vehicle. In the rear, the Suburban’s tailgate was replaced with a large trunk lid. The Bear was a giant convertible sedan.

Other notable trim items included a large removable side step for his personal armed guards, as well as chrome dog dish wheel covers that bore the Stutz emblem. Stutz removed the Suburban’s roof and installed a large canvas one instead, tucked under a hard tonneau cover. Not a true convertible (understandable given the length), the Bear had a targa bar at the B-pillar. Beneath the dangerously large canvas roof, the interior was leather-upholstered and upgraded to Stutz-level luxury.

With the top up, the Bear looked like some sort of overgrown, homemade convertible, as you’d expect in the Brazilian market. With the long trunk lid, the Bear hid its suburban roots very well from a rear perspective. The unique bear found a following as 46 examples were produced throughout the 1980s. It was popular in Saudi Arabia where it served as a Royal Guard transport, and its model name was changed to Royal Guard for this use. It was also purchased by King Hassan of Morocco (1929-1999).

Stutz built a few more versions of the Bear for Saudi Arabia, including a very formal fixed-roof version in powder blue. Rather than leaving the Suburban’s roof intact to make a Bear Wagon, Stutz had to design a new roof to accommodate the Bear’s trunk.

Stutz also made an armored six-door funeral sedan from the Bear, which included revised chrome wheel covers and added formality via a padded vinyl roof and lower chrome trim. In this guise, the bear almost looked like a giant Russian Cadillac Fleetwood.

It is not known how long Stutz built the bear, but it was surely for several years if 46 copies were made. One wonders how many are left today and where they were sold, but this information is almost impossible to find. Next time we’ll move on to the mix of sedans and limos.

[Images: Stutz]

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