Another great find from Robert R, this 1972 Stutz Blackhawk was originally owned by Elvis Presley, who sold it to Dean Martin. I can see this being an Elvis type of car! The Stutz is in Osage Beach, Missouri and is up for auction at no reserve here on eBay. When you look up the word “outrageous” I think a Blackhawk’s picture comes up. This one looks to be in excellent condition apart from the original leather having a seam or two popped. Amazingly the one-off sheepskin “carpeting” is intact and, of course, the mobile phone is in place. Trust me, you really should look at the auction pictures to see the mobile phone in the center console! I won’t spoil the surprise. One of the great things about these cars is despite the coachwork being “hand built” in Italy, the mechanicals are all contemporary GM stuff that’s easy to maintain. I’m used to seeing these in pretty poor shape; this car seems to have escaped the ravages of time, perhaps due to its previous owners. Would you like to be the next one?
Re the Elvis/Dino history, the seller states:
“John owned the car for more than 8 years, and confirmed the story to me over the phone. He did say at one time the family had documentation but it has been misplaced over the years.”
That’s kind of a big deal, because the Elvis connection would be a significant part of the car’s value IF it was documented. Without a paper trail though, it’s just an oral history worth the paper it’s printed on. Granted it’s a fairly strong one, but these things can become a game of “telephone” over the years.
I do have a sort of morbid fascination with these cars. They are so outrageously over-the-top garish and tasteless; how can you not love them? They are Las Vegas on wire wheels.
I tried to fine the 24 Carrots in the interior, but couldn’t. Maybe the car also belonged to Bugs Bunny for a while.
I tried to FIND the 24 carrots… nothing like misspelling a word while making a snarky comment about someone else’s misspelling to cut one down to size. :-)
After 48 years of putting words in the mouth of Bugs Bunny, cartoon voice wizard Mel Blanc got something back from the wiseacre rabbit at his 80th birthday party Wednesday: A dazzling turquoise, black and white Edsel.
A studio employee costumed as Bugs perched on the hood as the Edsel, a surprise present, rolled into sight at the party whipped up at The Burbank Studios by Warner Brothers to celebrate Blanc’s birthday and his 50 years of providing voices for its cartoons.
Martha Stewert has a nice 58 Edsel wagon too.
This is some information I found out on line, about these cars, according to this it would be hard to believe it was Elvis’ car!!!
The very first Blackhawk sold was purchased by Elvis Presley on October 9, 1970, for US$26,500. This was the second Blackhawk prototype, as built by Carrozzeria Padane (the first one, built by Ghia, was driven by James O’Donnell himself). Frank Sinatra had vied with Presley for the car. Sinatra was offered the second prototype on the condition that the distributor, Jules Meyers, could show the car at the L.A. auto show, and get publicity photos with Sinatra upon delivery. Sinatra declined, but Presley accepted and ended up with the car. Presley had it customized by George Barris after purchase. In January 1971, Presley had a mobile telephone installed for US$1,467.50. In July 1971, a hired driver destroyed the car. Distributor Jules Meyers offered US$1,000 for the wreck, but Presley declined and put the wrecked car in storage. It was only restored, with non-original parts, after his death and can now be seen at the Graceland museum. Presley bought at least three more Blackhawks and leased one other (he bought a black 1971 for himself and a white 1971 for his Las Vegas doctor, Elias Ghanem, and leased a white 1972 and a black 1973, his favorite Blackhawk, which he purchased at the end of the lease; this 1973 car is also on display at Graceland).[8][9]
Other famous owners included Dick Martin (1971), Lucille Ball (who got her 1971 Blackhawk as a gift from her husband Gary Morton with a dash plaque saying I Love Lucy – Gary), Sammy Davis Jr. (who owned two 1972, one for himself and one for his wife), Dean Martin (who owned three and crashed his 1972 Blackhawk with vanity plate DRUNKY), Robert Goulet (1972), Evel Knievel (1974), Wilson Pickett (1974), Luigi Colani (1974), Johnnie Taylor (1975), Johnny Cash (1975), Curt Jürgens (1977), Erik Estrada (1978), Larry Holmes (1982), as well as Jerry Lewis, Liberace, Willie Nelson, Lou Brock, Isaac Hayes, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Tom Jones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, Wayne Newton, Barry White, and H.B. Halicki. The Shah of Iran reportedly owned twelve of them. Stutz collector Ken Ramsey owns at least ten Blackhawks.[10]
Each car included a dash plaque naming its original owner.
Mike B: Thx for doing research.
As comprehensive as those word are, I’d bet they’re correct.
If you have stars in your eyes this looks like it could be an affordable way to get a ‘star car’. It looks to be mostly in good condition, but these are big, heavy, thirsty, and mostly Pontiac underneath, so you really need to be interested in star power to want one.
At first I wondered why the seller didn’t consign it to the Branson auction near him, but maybe an Ebay sale is easier and could snag a hot impulse bidder who might not travel to Branson for a car.
A downside of these is that about 600 were made and they are not rare or difficult to find, so would probably not cause any excitement in Branson. The Pontiac basics and the fact that few people have heard of the Italian body builders that built them means that people buy them mainly for the connections to Hollywood and Las Vegas stars. And that generation isn’t getting any younger.
As for that phone on the console, I looked at a Ferrari Daytona back in the late ’70s that had an even worse black bakelite phone that looked like the one your grandmother had on the hall table in 1955. I think you had to dial up a short wave air/marine service at $5/minute to use the thing. My big regret is that I didn’t buy the car. After all, console phones like these could just be ripped out…..unless you want to keep the one in this car for when you feel like talking to Elvis or Dean.
PS: I’m guessing that the photo in the Ebay auction that shows Blackhawk VIN 2K57Y2A190008 (this car) is either a page from some book on these cars, or is just a display card the owner made for this car. Anyone know if there’s a book that documents them? If not some kind of documentation, then agreed with That Guy—-the claim of a link to Elvis and Dean is just talk.
Misspelling in that prepared page would indicate it was done by the seller.
What author would put a misspelling into their book ?
These descriptions are just painful to read, as if the seller is deliberately trying to mispell any word he possibly can.
Worse than the misspellings is the Random Capitalization of important Sounding Words. Even if I believed the Celebrity Story, (I don’t) I think I would still run Far Far Away.
It seems that all the Blackhawks ever produced were purchased by Elvis, then resold. Every one I see advertised claims Presley-related history.
Also, why would Dean buy a used car? Plus, at the time of his death he had not been married for almost 20 years. Might have bought it form his estate, but certainly not his widow.
Interesting yarn. Because that is what it is without any providence . Not one single piece of paper to prove any of it . Which is odd . We used a professional researcher in the past to disprove a sellers claim of past vehicle ownership by James Dean on one advertised . If it had proved legit than the asking price would have been paid but was bogus . Professional Auction Houses do not list items like this with heresay providence . It opens them to legal action and so many like this end up on Craigslist and Ebay .
So I would call BS on this one otherwise the guy would have done the research and been able to get a substantially higher price for it
Chopaweeza Vehicle Imports
Pretty sure I recall seeing Black Blackhawk at Graceland in mid-’80s.
Dunno if Elvis had more than one Blackhawk.
The car is pure seventies yech. The boat in the background is really cool though.
Just my opinion, but, never cared for these cars. Man!!! They are just plain UGLY! Looks like the results of something bred between siblings then strung out on steroids for years. YIKES!!!!!
Side Exit Exhaust, Shagpile carpets and an in car phone combined with great looks makes this a must have, throw in the famous owners and you’ve got yourself a Kick if you miss out.
Interesting that the picture of the back quarter there is a Barrett-Jackson plate is affixed. Wonder what the real story is. The picture with Dean Martin looks like a promo ad for the cars.
No paper trail to back up the story, it’s just a story. Nothing but gum flapping.
Sold for $27900