We return to our long-running Stutz historic protection at the moment, with a number of of the percentages and ends autos that have been by no means the headliners of Stutz’s model portfolio. During the Seventies and Eighties, the Blackhawk and targa roof Bearcat funded another enjoyable concepts that occupied the ideas of firm CEO James O’Donnell.
In our final entry, we lined what was maybe the strangest providing of the latter Stutz entity, a C/Ok period Suburban that hid a mounted machine gun in its inside. The armored SUV was subsequently become a gun-free dictatorial parade sedan with targa roof, and a trunk. The be-trunked Suburban additionally donated its form to an upright common sedan and six-door funeral transport.
And whereas the Stutz Suburban takes have been supposed for international heads of state for safety and coup d’etat functions, the Stutz sedans have been directed on the firm’s extra conventional American buyer: Someone who feared no peasant rebellion however did get pleasure from flashy styling and heaps of class. Introducing the Duplex.
Named like an reasonably priced housing selection, this explicit huge and opulent Stutz acknowledged its approximate perform in its title with a reference to the 2 lounging lodging entrance and rear. And just like the Bearcat that took so lengthy to understand (and even longer for the true convertible Bearcat II), the four-door Duplex was one of many preliminary aspirations of O’Donnell.
An early tackle the Duplex concept was proven in one of many earliest Stutz brochures, a black and white image of a giant sedan from a rear 3/4 perspective. It had an fascinating title printed above it: Ministeriale. The black four-door was a modification of a 1969 Cadillac, the Fleetwood Brougham. The donor automotive retained most of its unique form, with some further fender sculpting that ran alongside the character line and behind the wheel.
It was accompanied alongside the aspect by the addition of extra fender sculpting that began simply earlier than the rear wheel and wrapped across the wheel arch. Said arch misplaced its fender skirt for Stutz obligation. Stutz did probably the most transformation to the Cadillac by way of the corporate’s additional thick roof remedy, utilized so as to add additional C-pillar heft and ritual and to shrink the rear window.
At the decrease corners of the rear window, fake baggage straps have been affixed to the trunk. They continued down the lengthy trunk lid earlier than they terminated simply wanting the bumper. The trunk lid itself was raised significantly from the donor Cadillac, with the intention to make the Duplex appear like a unique automotive and to hide the Cadillac’s tail fins.
The trunk took on a close to bustleback profile with an outlined crease at its rear edge, and a steep rake on the trunk lid headed all the way down to the bumper. Inset into the middle of the trunk lid was a big Stutz emblem. It’s a bit exhausting to inform from the grainy {photograph}, however it appears as if the Cadillac’s rear lamps remained unchanged.
Stutz contracted with coachbuilder Coggiola, so the Ministeriale was a reliable consideration for the corporate’s sedan providing. However, the Italian-made prototype superior past the preliminary phases. Before lengthy Stutz gave up on the Ministeriale and moved on to the Duplex design that was extra on-brand.
What’s fascinating is how the Stutz brochure offered two totally different sedans, however each labeled Ministeriale. One had a Cadillac rear, and one other clearly wore Blackhawk styling and a Pontiac rear. The latter pages of the brochure used the Duplex title for the sedan and ensured it was made out of a Fleetwood Brougham.
However, even within the earliest brochure and press images, the Duplex design was clearly a Pontiac by-product, not a Fleetwood. The inside seemed to be of Pontiac origin, although was not the identical because the Blackhawk. Most notably the Duplex used an angled shifter mounted on the middle stack. In the top, it’s unclear if Stutz used a Fleetwood chassis with Grand Prix inside components, or stretched the Grand Prix platform for its functions after which connected the Blackhawk physique panels. We’ll most likely by no means know.
The Duplex that resulted was an nearly equivalent styling copy of the Exner-designed Blackhawk, however with an extra set of doorways and an extended roof. Its inside was not as opulent because the Blackhawk and lacked a lot of the thick wooden door paneling and ruched or tufted leather-based seating. The automotive was painted a darkish reddish-brown for its publicity shoot, the place a woman in a fur coat and her driver have been hilariously superimposed onto the garden of a Tudor mansion. The Duplex completely appeared much less particular than the Blackhawk.
The design that turned the primary Duplex was constructed about the identical time because the Blackhawk idea (that was bought to Elvis). Both have been made by the identical coachbuilder in Italy – Carrozzeria Padane. Recall that Padane constructed solely the earliest Stutz automobiles circa 1970, and manufacturing transitioned to Carrozzeria Saturn by 1972. There are valuable few press images of the Duplex, however its early 1970 construct timeline is obvious via using doomed run-flat Firestone LXX tires, which we’ve lined beforehand.
Shortly after the Blackhawk debuted in 1970, Stutz was prepared with its four-door follow-up. The press launch proclaimed the Blackhawk was already common with superstar icons like Elvis and Dick Martin, even at its $24,500 ($189,451 adj.) ask. To complement such an illustrious possession group with a four-door automotive, the Duplex noticed an acceptable worth enhance.
It requested $32,500 ($251,312 adj.) in 1970, and the eye-watering determine was offered together with the brand new sedan on the New York International Auto Show. O’Donnell confirmed off his new sedan on April Fools Day, 1970. At the time, Stutz’s PR firm assured there was over $9 million ($69,594,285 adj.) of back-ordered autos, however the firm was rising manufacturing. History confirmed that determine was a little bit of an exaggeration as a result of $9 million would have meant 367 Blackhawks have been bought throughout the first couple of years. In reality, the corporate bought roughly 617 complete automobiles between 1970 and 1995.
After the Duplex was launched in New York, it didn’t show to be the moment hit that Stutz anticipated. The mannequin was shortly renamed a few instances and transitioned from Duplex to Limousine, and in 1973 modified its title to Duplex once more. 1974 was the final time Stutz supplied a Duplex. In its 4 or 5 years on supply, there have been both one or two examples of the Duplex constructed together with the launch automotive. As just one has ever surfaced on-line, that’s the amount we’ll assume is right. Let’s discuss a prison.
The aforementioned reddish-brown Duplex was chassis quantity 364856, and it discovered its means into the palms of a rich purchaser in Salt Lake City. The purchaser was George Norman Junior, a millionaire who invested in lots of issues. Unfortunately, one of many actions he invested in was embezzlement, and that’s how he ended up on the run as a federal fugitive. The Stutz fan deserted the Duplex at considered one of his houses and disappeared on March 13, 1973.
For the following 23 years, he evaded authorities, who have been after him for defrauding the Rocky Mountain Bank for $500,000 ($3,430,704 adj.). U.S. marshals caught him by chance at a motel in Tennessee, the place he had simply exited its restaurant along with his spouse as brokers parked. During his time on the run, he performed authorized enterprise in order to not arouse suspicion, and federal authorities believed he earned about $50 million legally between 1973 and November 1996 when he was captured. Agents steered he’d have gotten away scot-free if he simply fled the nation.
The Duplex was auctioned to pay again the individuals Norman robbed, and it moved to Florida. Its new Floridian proprietor painted it white and added wire wheels and a darkish blue inside. It was later painted black, and its uncommon Kelsey-Hayes wheels have been reattached.
Though the Duplex was an entire failure by any metric, the ever-perseverant O’Donnell was not ready to surrender on his sedan desires – he tried it once more on the finish of the Seventies. We’ll decide up there subsequent time.
[Images: Stutz]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the newest information, options, TTAC takes, and every part else that will get to the reality about automobiles first by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
Related
Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com