After testing his first design at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, Harry Stutz envisioned the Bearcat to be a racing car with fenders and running lights. Despite suffering from tire trouble throughout the race, the new Stutz managed a respectable 11th Place finish with an average speed of 68 mph. It was a remarkable performance from a car just weeks off the drawing board. The ensuing publicity launched the Stutz name, and Harry Stutz capitalized on the Indy results by advertising the slogan “The Car That Made Good in a Day.” Indeed it had, and this would mark the beginning of many impressive performances on the racetracks of America and Europe.

Stutz improved its finishing position in the 1913 Indianapolis 500 to 3rd Place. The company’s famous “White Squadron” of racing cars roared from victory to victory in 1915, capturing wins at Elgin, Point Loma, and Sheepshead Bay, while also finishing 3rd, 4th, and 7th at the 1915 Indianapolis 500.

Building on its reputation for speed, Stutz debuted the Bearcat in 1912. A strippeddown, two-seat sports car, the Bearcat’s intent was clear. Stutz sales literature of the period boasted the Bearcat was “designed to meet the requirements of the customer desiring a car built along the general lines of a racing car and with a slightly higher gear ratio than our regular torpedo roadster.” The Bearcat could be specified with either four- or six-cylinder engines, the six being a 426 cid T-head inline six-cylinder, which was built by the Wisconsin Motor Manufacturing Company.

While the earliest provenance of this 1914 Stutz is not known, it was delivered new as a six-cylinder Touring Car, and discovered in the 1950s by the late David Uihlein, a collector in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After many years of ownership, Mr. Uihlein converted the Stutz from a long-wheelbase Touring Car specification into its present short-wheelbase Bearcat form. The work, which included fabricating coachwork to resemble a Bearcat and shortening the frame, was believed to have been carried out by expert Stutz restorer Paul Freehill, who performed many restorations for David Uihlein. The wheelbase now measures 120", which was correct for the E-Series Bearcat, according to The Splendid Stutz. The book also notes that the six-cylinder Bearcat produced more horsepower than its four-cylinder counterpart. This unique restoration earned the Stutz an AACA National First Prize in 1982. The Stutz remained in Mr. Uihlein's possession for the next 21 years. In 2003, the Stutz passed into the possession of a noted private collector in the Northeast, who later sold the car to Urban Hirsch of Beverly Hills, California, in 2004.

This Stutz is the only known example to sport the 426 cid Wisconsin T-head inline six-cylinder engine in this form. It presents an exciting opportunity for the collector in search of an open, early sports car which provides ample and smooth power. Resplendent in vermillion red paint over buckets seats trimmed in tan leather, this Stutz is sure to be a thrill on any manner of VMCCA and HCCA tours.