1929 Stearns-Knight J-8-90 Touring

The Stearns Knight had its origins in 1898 as the F.B. Stearns Co. They used conventional poppet valve engines until 1911, when they adopted the Knight sleeve valve engine, and the name changed to Stearns-Knight. Instead of poppet valves, sleeve valve engines used sliding sleeves in the bores with ports cut into them. These ports lined up to open into the cylinders for the intake and exhaust gases and had the advantage of being quieter than poppet valves and eliminated the need for periodically grinding valves. However, they had the disadvantages of higher oil consumption, greater cost, and difficulty cranking the engine in cold weather.

In 1925 Stearns Knight was purchased by Willys Overland who also produced the Willys Knight using a Knight sleeve valve engine. The Model J was the top-of-the-line designed to compete in the luxury car market selling in the $5,000 to $6,000 range. It had a 145-inch wheelbase and its 8-cylinder, 385 cubic-inch sleeve valve engine produced 120 horsepower. It was made for only two years, and only 123 were made in 1928 and 265 in 1929. Only 11 are known to exist today, making it among the rarest of all classic cars. It is estimated that only 12 were made with touring bodies and no originals are known to exist today.

It resided for many years in Southern California, later passing through the care of Richard Hamilton, Ken Lane, Peter Woyen, and Mark Young. By the time the car had entered the ownership of Woyen and Young, J-8-90 had deteriorated for many years, and its original sedan bodywork was beyond saving. A decision was made to restore the Stearns as a seven-passenger touring, a factory body style of which no original examples have survived.

The restoration project came to fruition under the ownership of Al Giddings. This touring car was created from a surviving parts car sedan using Stearns factory specs, drawings and photographs and required 5,000 hours of restoration over two years. Due to the similarities between Stearns' sedan and touring bodies, original sheet metal from the beltline down could be used, with a modified original cowl.

This car is now an antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) National Award nominee, among many other prizes won all over the country, and has been exhibited at the AACA Museum here in Hershey.