STUTZ BEARCAT – year 1912

Manufacturer: Ideal Motor Car, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

The name of this famous American brand is inextricably linked with sports successes, achieved on the Indianapolis track. The company was founded in 1911 r. under the name of the Ideal Motor Car. Its founder, Harry D. Stutz, became famous for the first race of "500 miles of Indianapolis”, in which he competed in his sports car, still equipped with a 4-cylinder Wisconsin engine, with displacement 5000 cm3.

W 1912 r. business, already under the new name Stutz, launched the Bearcat model, which became the most popular American racing car of the time. It had a water-cooled 4-cylinder displacement engine 6396 cm3, he was developing power 44,1 kW (60 KM) by 1500 RPM. It was a typical racing model, of course, without the body in the full sense of the word, only with a long mask, two anatomical seats and a round windshield, so-called. monocle wind-shield, serving only the driver. The rear part of the car consisted of a huge cylindrical fuel tank and two spare tires. A novelty was the combination of a 3-speed gearbox with a differential at the rear axle in the system, which is now starting to be used again under the name 'transaxle”. The model shown in the picture cost money in its time 2000 dollars. Nowadays, many times more expensive, located along with 22 other Stutz models at the Harraha collection in Reno, Newadz.

An interesting model was the Bearcat with a more powerful 6-cylinder engine, which competed with another race car - Race-about, by the Męrcer company.

The great advertising hit of the Stutz brand was w 1926 r. so-called. safe Stutz, already equipped with hydraulic brakes on all wheels. Inline, 8-a cylinder engine with a camshaft in the cylinder head developed power 67,7 kW (92 KM) by 3200 RPM. Other interesting things are the central lubrication of the chassis and the safety glass on the windshield. When buying a car, the company insured the crew for one year.

In the 1930s, the company ceased to exist after unsuccessful attempts to launch a luxury DV car (Dual Valve).