Stutz IV Porte

Stutz
IV Porte
Production period:	1979-1981
Class :	Luxury
Body versions:	limousine
Engines:	engines : 5.0-7.5 liters

The Stutz IV Porte  is a four-door luxury sedan in retro style , the former US automakers Stutz Motor Car of America from 1979 to 1981, produced by in small numbers. The car was developed in parallel to the similarly designed coupe Stutz Blackhawk III and used as this large-scale technology of General Motors . It was sold mainly in the US and the Middle East .

Stutz was an Indianapolis- based sports and luxury vehicle manufacturer, which existed from 1898 to 1938. The company belonging to the "legendary American thoroughbred blood brands of the prewar period" competed intermittently with Duesenberg . After the end of the Second World War, the idea arose to revive the brand. It was due to the American automotive designer Virgil Exner . Exner had designed numerous models of the Chrysler Group in the 1950s , some of which were stylistically progressive (see, for example, the Forward Look from 1955). Deviating from this, he gave the 1961 vintage of Chrysler's luxury brandImperial some from his point of view classic design elements. Among them were free-standing headlights and stylized fenders. Exner left the Chrysler Group in 1961 and has since worked as a freelance designer. Here he pursued the idea to adapt features of classic automotive design to contemporary vehicles. Under the name Revival Cars he designed some classically inspired car bodies, which he assigned to various brands of the pre-war period. Among them were Bugatti , Duesenberg, Mercer , Packard and Pierce-Arrow. The ideas mostly did not go beyond the stage of drawings.Exceptions were the Bugatti design, the Carrozzeria Ghia realized in 1965 on a chassis of the Type 101 , and the design for a four-door Duesenberg sedan, which originated in 1966 as Duesenberg Model D in a single piece. 1968, Exner convinced the New Yorkbanker James O'Donnell (born March 26, 1914, † January 12, 1997) of the viability of his revival carConcept. O'Donnell founded in 1968 the company Stutz Motor Car of America, which should market a designed by Exner with classic styling coupe. In order to keep the technical and economic effort low, the company relied on high-volume technology from General Motors; the body was made by hand in Italy. Series production began in 1970. The model was called Blackhawk ; this term was used by the company Stutz in the 1920s. The first series was from 1970 to 1971 (Blackhawk I), the second (Blackhawk II) in 1972. 1973, the third series was launched; it was produced with minor changes until 1979.

The focus of production was on two-door coupes. In addition, individual vehicles were converted at the customer's request from the factory or from external companies into convertibles. After Stutz had built a sedan with the name Duplex Sedan as a single piece in 1971 , the series production of a four-door sedan was prepared from 1977, which should be offered in parallel to the two-door coupe. The production began in early 1979 and lasted until 1981. Initially, it was planned to sell the car under the name Diplomatic Sedan; Shortly before the market launch, however, the management decided to use the name IV Porte. She recalled the Maserati Quattroporte, a luxury sports sedan, which since 1979 in a third edition was also available and was also delivered to the US.

Technically, the Stutz IV Porte, like the Blackhawk III, was based on components from General Motors. Unlike in the case of Blackhawk the art, however, did not originate from the Pontiac Grand Prix , but from Pontiac Bonneville , a full-size sedan, the on current, introduced in 1977 and slightly shortened compared to its predecessors B platform of General Motors built. Stutz took over the complete chassis from the Bonneville. The suspension, the suspension and the brakes were not modified, and the wheelbase was maintained. The same applied to the basic structure of the body, the front and rear windows and the electrical system.

The Blackhawk III was initially powered by a 7.5-liter eight-cylinder engine from General Motors, which was not available in this form as standard in the Pontiac Bonneville. Engine performance varied from year to year depending on US emissions regulations. In the model year 1979, it was given as 200 hp. For the model year 1981, Stutz to a 5.0-liter eight-cylinder engine, which has now been available in the updated fourth version of the Blackhawk. The engine made about 145 hp.

In 1973, Virgil Exner had died shortly after he had established the shape of the Blackhawk III coupe. The body of the IV Porte was designed from 1977 by Paolo Martin , a former employee Pininfarinas , who worked from 1972 as a freelance designer in Turin . Martin took over the essential style features of Exner's designs, but adapted them in the dimensions of the changed technical base. The most striking design features of the IV Porte were:

• Curved chrome trim on the sides of the car, mimicking the lines of free-standing fenders
• indicated, but not functional footboards below the doors
• a long, exposed bonnet
• a large radiator grille protruding over the bumper line, into which the lines of the bonnet flowed
• free-standing headlights, which were made possible by recesses left and right of the radiator grille
• imitated Sidepipes , so exhaust pipes, which emerged behind the front tires from the fenders and under the doors ran backwards and
• a freely visible spare wheel, which was partly embedded in the trunk.

A special feature was a steeply sloping rear. However, the trunk finish was higher than the Blackhawk III. Unlike the coupe, the taillights were not mounted below the bumper, but above.The interior was high-quality: British Connolly leather, hand-knotted rugs and Italian burl. The surround of the instruments and the switches and levers were covered with gold leaf.The IV Porte was built in Italy. Stutz received basic vehicles from General Motors, which were delivered by ship and truck to Cavallermaggiore in Italy. There, O'Donnell entertained the Carrozzeria Saturn . About ten Italian plumbers hand-crafted the new body parts and adapted them to the basic vehicles released from their standard body. The interior was made in Italy, finally, there was also the paint, which consisted of up to 20 layers of paint.

From 1979 to 1981 created about 50 IV Porte sedans. One of the first customers was the American country singer Kenny Rogers .In 1981, the selling price of the Stutz IV Porte was $ 79,500. A Pontiac Bonneville, the base vehicle, cost $ 7,543 in the same year, and a Cadillac Fleetwood was offered for $ 13,791. 

Stutz Victoria 

For model year 1982, the IV Porte was replaced by the model Victoria. The Victoria was technically equivalent to its predecessor, but had been extended in the wheelbase by 10 centimeters. He was stretched by a spacer between the (unchanged) rear doors and the rear axle. The thus enlarged interior allowed the passengers an increased legroom. Unlike the IV Porte the Victoria was delivered regularly without Sidepipes. The bumpers were initially chrome, in later models they were - at least on request - painted in body color.

The Victoria was produced until 1986. In the last two years served instead of the now discontinued Pontiac Bonneville nearly identical limousines of the type Oldsmobile Delta 88 as a technology donor. In total, about 20 Victoria sedans were produced in five years.

In addition to the Victoria Stutz offered since 1980 with the Diplomatica and the Royale two more, additionally extended representation sedans, which were mainly supplied to Arab or African rulers. Outwardly they resembled the IV Porte / Victoria, but were based on Cadillac vehicles .