After making his fortune from TV manufacturing, Earl Muntz decided to enter the automobile industry. To get things started quickly he purchased the rights to the Kurtis Sports and renamed it the Muntz Jet. The first 28 cars were built by Kurtis and featured aluminum bodies and Cadillac engines. Could this Jet be one of those early cars? It is rough, but it most definitely deserves to be saved. Find it here on eBay with a starting bid of $59,999.
After bringing production in house, Earl lengthen the wheelbase, added a rear seat, and swapped the engine out for a Lincoln unit. It was bigger and heavier, but still managed to be the quickest production car at the time. Those steel bodied cars are desirable, but the early Kurtis built cars are even better. This project has been on the market for a while now, but hopefully someone with very deep pockets will step up and have mercy on this Muntz.
The upside
– It’s scarce (394 made), a convertible, different, and attractive
– Some were owned by famous personalities. Earl ‘Madman’ Nuntz was a great promoter, and knew that getting famous bums in his seats would be good.
The Downside
– So many unique parts means that most restos are difficult and expensive
– People who have driven them say they are nice to ride in but are no sportscar
– Opening bid of about $60K for a #5 condition car that’s valued at $55K to $75K in #2 condition means you can’t get there from here without going deeply underwater
Yep, it’s going to take more money than brains to get this one back on the road.
D’uh…that’s Earl Muntz, with an Mmmm
The same car was offered on Ebay in February of this year with a $10,000 lower starting bid and no reserve, which attracted exactly zero bids.
I will repeat what was said about the last one a great quote from another contributor I think it went something like this, handles like a battle ship & stops like a barge, old Muntz ‘s car never did anything for me.
This car is just east of me a few miles. Been for sale for a while. Seller has another Muntz and he can’t remember how he opened the trunk on this one. Didn’t change the text from the last ad. Good luck with this one.
Take the ‘t’ out of the name and a ‘0’ off the end of the price and I might be interested ;)
Hey if it don’t sell for 50. Try 60