In 1905 Harry Stutz embarked upon a new venture to build an automobile of his own design.

The automobile that would bear his name – and along the way make it immortal – was still in the future but Harry had lofty ambitions even in 1905, showing them by naming the automobile he designed, and the company that would build it, "American". It was one of many automobile and related companies bearing the American name, but Harry Stutz's American Motor Car Company of Indianapolis was one of the few that actually built an automobile. In fact, some 45,000 were turned out from 1906 through 1914.

He was still under thirty when the American Motor Car Company was formed but Stutz had as much experience in automobile design and engine manufacturing as anyone in America at the time. His combination of mechanical design savvy, production manufacturing background and sales experience was probably unmatched by anyone in the American automobile industry.

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