1918 Stutz Series S

In 1898, Harry Clayton Stutz designed and built his first vehicle using a two-horsepower farm stationary engine and parts from old farm machinery. He built another vehicle in 1900, this time with an engine of his own design. This was followed by several other vehicles built for friends and neighbors. Around this time, he established his own machine shop, trading under the name The Stutz Manufacturing Company. Stutz would work in several different areas of the motorcar-related industry and was very successful in designing and patenting a transaxle incorporating a gearbox and final drive in a single casing. After working in many aspects of the motor industry, Stutz decided to build his own car. In just five weeks, it was brought to the 1911 Indianapolis 500, where it finished 11th despite numerous stops for fresh tires, prompting its creator to establish the Ideal Motor Car Company to manufacture the 'Car That Made Good In A Day.'

The early Stutz automobiles were closely based on the Indianapolis car and used proprietary Wisconsin engines and Stutz's own rear three-speed transaxle. The 6.4-liter four-cylinder Wisconsin engine had a twin-camshaft 'T-Head' design, with inlet valves on one side of the block and exhausts on the other. This engine was used until 1917, when Stutz began to manufacture its own power plants. A 60 horsepower six-cylinder engine had also been in the Stutz range since 1912, and the Bearcat model was available on both chassis. The Bearcat was a stripped-down, bare essentials vehicle that offered little in the way of weather protection or comfort. In 1912 Stutz won 25 out of 30 competitions entered, thanks to the Bearcat.

Although the Bearcat was produced in relatively small numbers, it gave the company a disproportionately high-profile reputation. It would be a fixture in the Stutz range until the end of the 1924 season when the installation of Frederick E Moskovics as company president marked a change of emphasis - switching the luxury end of the market.

The 1918 Stutz Bearcat was powered by a four-cylinder, sixteen-valve engine with dual ignition displacing six litres. Its stylish and minimal coachwork had step-over sides and long flowing wings, which were later copied by many other manufacturers.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019