The Stutz IV-Porte was the four-door saloon of the Stutz Motor Car of America range in the late 1970s. Built on the General Motors B platform, it carried the protruding boot-lid spare wheel, the free-standing headlamps and the luxurious interior of Virgil Exner’s Blackhawk coupe. About fifty cars were made between 1979 and 1981.
Stutz IV-Porte at a glance
| Maker | Stutz Motor Car Company of America |
|---|---|
| Production | 1979–1981, about 50 cars |
| Chassis | GM B platform: Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile 88 Royale, Buick LeSabre |
| Price 1981 | $84,500 |
| Shared styling | trunk-lid spare wheel, free-standing headlamps, luxury interior |
| Predecessor | Duplex of 1972–1974, one or two built |
| Successor | Victoria from 1981, 10 in longer, about 20 built |
| Limousines | Diplomatica (1981–1985, seven built) and Royale (three built) |
| Notable owners | Kenny Rogers, Barry White |
| On screen | Night Shift, with Michael Keaton |
Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Stutz IV-Porte.
History of the Stutz IV-Porte
The Duplex and the first Stutz saloons
The saloon was not new to the revived Stutz company. A four-door prototype was built in 1970 by Carrozzeria Padane in Modena, and a sedan was offered in 1972 as the Limousine and in 1973 as the Duplex, at $32,500. The Duplex was a four-door version of the Blackhawk coupe and was discontinued in 1974 after only one or two had been built.
The IV-Porte (1979–1981)
The IV-Porte went into production in 1979 on the General Motors B platform shared by the Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile 88 Royale and Buick LeSabre. It kept the family’s signature details: the spare wheel protruding through the boot lid, free-standing headlamps and a very luxurious interior. About fifty cars were built. The 1981 IV-Porte cost $84,500, at a time when the Blackhawk coupe was the cheaper car in the range.
The car found famous owners. Kenny Rogers had a white 1980 IV-Porte, and Barry White owned a 1979 car, which was later found and restored for his widow on the television show Counting Cars. In the film Night Shift, Michael Keaton’s character appears to drive a 1981 IV-Porte sedan.
The Victoria and the limousines
In 1981 the IV-Porte was replaced by the Victoria, a sedan ten inches longer with more legroom and folding tables in the back, positioned as a limousine with a Stutz-provided driver service. The Victoria kept the protruding spare and the free-standing lamps but lost the side exhaust pipes; about twenty were built, many of them white cars sold to the House of Saud, which retired them within two or three years. A 1985 Victoria cost $99,500, and a well-maintained black car with red leather sold at Fort Lauderdale in March 2011 for $39,050.
The same family included two limousines. The Diplomatica of 1981–1985 was a standard-wheelbase car based on the Cadillac DeVille; seven were built, all but one for Saudi Arabia, and an armoured 1981 example was priced at $225,000. Three extended-wheelbase Royale limousines were designed by Paolo Martin, the last two using the Royale name after the Bugatti Royale; two went to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and one to Omar Bongo, the President of Gabon.
The Royale parade cars
The Royale was a 25-foot state limousine with a throne in the back that could be raised above a sliding roof and turned through 360 degrees, so that the occupant was in full view during a parade; the throne could be lowered and the roof closed automatically. An armoured 1981 Royale was listed at $285,000. The same armouring was offered on the Chevrolet Suburban-based Defender, Gazelle and Bear utility vehicles.
Design and features
- Trunk-lid spare: the family trademark carried over from the Blackhawk coupe.
- Free-standing headlamps: Exner-style lamps ahead of a chrome radiator shell.
- General Motors underpinnings: B-platform chassis and engines that could be serviced anywhere in America.
- Luxury interior: the gold trim, rare woods and leather of the coupe in a four-door body.
Stutz IV-Porte versions
- Duplex (1972–1974): the first four-door, one or two built.
- IV-Porte (1979–1981): the Bonneville-based sedan, about fifty built.
- Victoria (1981–1985): longer limousine-style sedan, about twenty built.
- Diplomatica (1981–1985): Cadillac-based standard-wheelbase limousine, seven built.
- Royale (1981–): three 25-foot state limousines with a raising throne.
The coupe of the same family is the Stutz Blackhawk, and the pre-war cars are described under the Stutz Vertical Eight. More cars are in the Stutz collection.
Video: 1979 STUTZ FOUR PORTE VERY RARE AUTO MOBILE FOR SALE
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Stutz IV-Porte, English Wikipedia: Duplex, IV-Porte, Victoria, Diplomatica and Royale
