Im so glad he mentioned Dunham Coachbuilders, they are legendary as far as some of the work theyve done for tv and movies. Totally under-recognized over the years but there are some car guys who appreciate their history👍👍
These are BEAUTIFUL cars!!!! But I have to admit I am saddened too. The purist in me wishes these were preserved as original. Especially the Ford Customline. And the Olds. Dennis you have an AWESOME job!
Mohammed Ali bought 2 Stutz Bearcats that were on display at Dick Gidron Cadillac on Fordham Road in the Bronx around 1973-74. The dealership was across the street from Fordham University in the Bronx. Gidron would frequent my friends restaurant where ( incidentally) Joe Pesci worked in. I had a business directly across the street from them. I remember one of the Stutz was dark brown which was a popular color back then. If I remember correctly they were 35K each and a new Coupe De Ville was $5500. So one Stutz equaled 5 Caddies.. Dick Gidron, look him up. Very interesting story. He ended up going bankrupt but the story is worth the quick read. Thanks for the vid!
I'm still sticking with the first time I was told about the Stutz of this body style it started off as a Pontiac Grand Prix and it had the Pontiac 455 engine too. I can't see where this Stutz would be built on a Firebird format. I could be wrong but I don't think so. Thank's for sharing this, Dennis, I really enjoyed it.
Those similar looking Excaliber conversions used 80s firebirds with a notch back hatch back and some were mercury cougars....they kinda looked like a 30s mercedes benz crossed with a kit car LOL!
beautiful modifications and Craftsmanship on the CustomOldsmobile 1949 I like the astute cars too because they are so over the top ! I remember seeing one for the first time at a car show with my Dad
I LOVE this car, the artwork and the care is amazing, you don't see any blemishes and you don't see where the base car meets the finish if you know what I mean. The Olds I also feel in love with, both made me envious of a different time and place. I am from Detriot and I am a mechanic, these cars really get my heart beating. After this coronavirus ends, I really want to tour the United States in my 2011 Cadillac and chase these beautiful car shows.
The title is is misleading so just to correct it that Stuzs car wasn't Elvis Priestley's car but a car similar to one that he bought ( a prototype) before his death in 1977.
Elvis actual stutz looks wildly different than this. The 2 prototypes which Elvis got one had a different larger rear window than production. This is a nearly a Targa top and more resembles a pimpmobile like several shown in the James bond film live and let die. In Elvis actual car the floor coverings were made of Australian lambs wool. Twenty four karat gold plates the bezels and moldings. Only the finest European leather covered the seats, and was used on the dash. The dash also consisted of beautiful English burl. The Stutz went through a six week long process with twenty-two coats of individually hand rubbed lacquer paint.
This is a modified Bearcat II, customized by the famous Dunham shop (inventor of the "Superfly" style pimpmobile), who was an acquaintance of mine in Boonton NJ. Elvis never had a Bearcat. All of his were Blackhawks (meaning coupe, not convertible). This car is a 1987 and based on the Firebird. Elvis' cars were based on the Grand Prix of the 70's
@@alejandrocastellanos1208 cool! 👍😎 is it just me, or does anyone else feel there is a resemblance in the Blackhawk, and the Chevy Monte Carlo/ Pontiac LeMans of the same era?
No doubt you are trying to be funny,but it clearly states that "Elvis bought the prototype". No effort to claim he ever owned that particular example. When all else fails,read the instructions. When not paying attention to the dialogue,do not put words in people's mouths.
@@paulmanson253 How far up your ass is that stick? Perhaps if it was told that the production ran from 1975 - 1990 there would be no need of attention to the timeframe. If you don't like being treated like an ass, pull out that stick and don't treat others that way.
that stuz is definitely crazy over the top love the vouge wire tire and rims its a little to gaudy cluterd with too much chrome for me the big giant round headlights are just like superflys eldorado from the 70s movie gotta be a monster gas guzzler !
In our Church in Australia in the 60s it became a bit of a thing to purchase an American car. A bit of a competition thing amongst the blokes. Seems the more metal, lights and doodads the better.
The "S.l.a.b. culture" (what it's call in Texas) came from Les Dunham. Especially from his Superfly Pimptype vehicles of the 70s and 60s. Plus, lowriders also adopted the extra chrome/trend stuff that began from Les Dunham in the late 70s and forward. When that chrome extra stuff trickled-forward in the 80s and forward.
My father worked on Elvis's cars back in the 70s. I moved to Hollywood to live with him in `73 and just a few days after I got there we went to Elvis's home in Beverly Hills to drop off a Mercedes that his body guard, Sonny, had dropped off for us to work on and I got to see Elvis's Stutz there the first time. It was black and didn't have all the blocky looking chrome stuff on the front end the one in the video does. I worked on it a few times later at George Barris's shop before Elvis passed away. All I did was detail it, and I never did get to meet Elvis, but I did get to know Sonny a bit. So, I was kind of disappointed to see they didn't really have Elvis's Stutz in this video. For what it's worth, those Stutz Backhawks were a customized Pontiac Grand Prix, not a completely custom hand built metal body. They had a shit ton of lead in them too, which was considered low quality work by the guys I learned from. They were highly regarded by some of the rich folks in Beverly Hills though because they did stand out on the streets with those gaudy fake roadster pipes, huge headlights, and shiny grill sticking out. Personally, I thought they were silly looking, but I also ended up building a lot silly custom cars over the years and the Stutz wasn't close to worst of them and it was unique for the times. But don't be fooled by it. It's a gussied up Pontiac Grand Prix, and those were pretty shitty cars. Most of them rusted away long before they got old.
@@jailbird1133 Thank you for the info! I wasn't aware of that. Aside from the Stutz, there were some beautiful and impressive custom cars at that gathering. I built my last full metal custom around 1993 and haven't done a lick of custom metal work since. At that time no one seemed to value that work. The guy who I was building the car for fired me when I got to the "finishing" part of the job, tying up all the little details. He accused me of "padding my hours". After he fired me he spent the next two years looking for a shop to finish the car. He told them he didn't want any bondo on it. He finally came back to me and apologized and asked me to finish it. Told me "I'll pay you whatever you want". He told me hauled that car (a 280Z) to shops in five States and they all told him they couldn't do it. I didn't care anymore. I was over it by then. When I was learning how to do metal work there were "metal men", "fiberglassers" and "bondo men". All the real metal men I learned from were good at all three of those skills, but no fiberglasser or bondo man could do metal finishing work. As a kid I mixed gallons of bondo at a time for the guys building cars there. Joe Bailon, who was a really nice guy, was affectionately called "Joe Bondo" by the car builders I grew up working with. One of the show cars he built, "The Snake Pit", had several cases of bondo smeared on it to finish off the metal work :D My father, Jim Stephenson, was consider to be the best of the custom metal men in California at the time. Dennis Braid was also a very good metal man, but I never saw him build a part that didn't need a coat of bondo to finish it off. Aside from myself, my father was the only other car builder I ever saw that didn't use bondo. We used primer, and not a lot of that when we were done fabricating a part. Custom metal work seems to be more in demand nowadays and it's good to see it's appreciated once again, but I really don't miss it at all. One of the toughest things about working for George Barris was hearing him tell his clients "I did this", and "I did that" to build a car and never, ever, pointing to the guys in the shop and giving them credit. George never built a real car in his life. His brother, Sam, built a lot of great custom cars, but he was a hack too. Those old customs he built weren't nicknamed "lead sleds" for nothing. They literally had 100s of pounds of lead in them. And it was breathing lead dust that killed him. He was dead years before I got started. Steel dust won't kill you. It just turns to rust and adds some iron to your blood. Back then I was the only guy working in that field that always wore dust masks or a respirator. I knew custom car painters who didn't use respirators. I wouldn't even go into a paint booth without one. I used to get razzed about that by most everyone I worked with.
@@TheOzarkExplorer I polished aluminum on aircraft for 10 years. It was fun. My older brother did body work for Starbirds sons at a body shop they owned in fact I used to own an S10 they had built. My brother had bought it from them and gave it to me. I gave it to my younger brother, who totaled it.......
@@jailbird1133 Wow! Darryl Starbird was a great car builder. His shop was between our home in Sylmar and Barris's shop in No. Hollywood and we'd pass it on the way there. I went to his shop a couple times. It was a lot bigger than our or Barris's, and pretty sweet. Both Starbird and my father got contracts to build Evel Knievel custom cars for a tour he did back around 1976. Darryl built a "Wheelie Dragster" and we built a "Stunt & Crash Car" that looked like the "Ideal Toy Stunt & Crash Car". They were both just ridicules cars. The one we built had a button the driver could push to blow the hood off and the wheelie car had lead weights way in the back so you barely had to tap the gas to make it do a wheelie. Starbird's car was a lot prettier than the one we built though. Ours looked exactly like the ideal toy, which looked a lot like an AMC Gremlin, and that's what we used to make it. We bought a beater used Gremlin and cut it up and reshaped the body, then made a cheap one off fiberglass mold of the body, then cut the steel body off, made a tube frame to attach the glass body to and used pneumatic powered pistons to "blow" the hood off. :D I don't know about the car Starbird made, but I just found out a couple months ago that the one we made is now in an "Evel Knievel Museum" in Topeka Kansas. I gave them some background on the car. Evel spent a bit of time at both of our shops and was a pleasure to work with. We ended up buying a Daytona Ferrari he owned that a friend of his smacked up a bit. We repaired and sold it. Breaks my heart to hear about the custom S10 you had. Anything the Starbirds made is really special now. At least you can razz your brother about that from time to time. That's a screw up that sticks forever and just keeps getting worse. :D
@@jailbird1133 btw, I never did work much with aluminum. I would have loved to, but my father specialized in steel and I got pretty good with it pretty fast working with him and stayed busy for years doing that. I'd still like to spend time learning working with it, but I don't have any tools and lot's of other things to keep up with. This guy has made some great "how to " videos and built some really awesome aluminum bodied cars: th-cam.com/channels/vDlcjivNGDfluG7C0FsXag.html
Those wanting some history behind the Stutz should search out the cars that looked familiar to me as a kid in 64 or 65 as part of the 1/25 th scale model kit cars in the Renwal Revival series of cars. I think designed by Virgil Exner then inspired the later Stutz at least. A modern take , for 64, also on the Deusenberg , Mercer Race about. Jordan Playboy. Packard and Bugatti. Similar styling ideas as the Stutz. Some articles and illustrations on line for those who search.
The modern Stutz was a product of famed auto designer , Virgil Exner . The father of Chrysler's tailfinned " forward look " Exner was always trying to recreate the classic touring cars of the 30 s .,
These guys are really havin fun. The way they come up with these ideas and bring them to life is awesome. I wish I had more time. That chop is hilarious, too. I dont know how he fits in there, lol. Nit sure where Macungie, Pa is, but looks like a fun spot to be.
My top pick of a car is of course the Chevrolet but I’m actually a car lover...whether it’s the first one ever built or the second to the lady built I love them...my family doesn’t exactly see why i have stance about cars..I love all cars but that bowtie Justin the best to me...
That's how our older street brothers who were making money was riding back in the day. Pops schooled me onto those Stutz too. I believe they were take a Cadillac Eldorado and put that "El capalaro" kit on it if I'm not mistaken.
..this Stutz is a little more custom, but I always thought they still looked a little too much like a Grand Prix for their prestige and price point, especially in the windshield/A-pillar, door/side window and hood area...nothing wrong with a Grand Prix, but not on a $200,000(today's dollars) car...also, I always felt Exner gave them a little too much '62 Dodge/Plymouth look with the sculpting.....
What the Elvis car🙄, well I don't know about that but the first person I ever seen with this vehicle right here that you called the Elvis car was Ron O'Neal, aka Superfly, and he had a black one all decked out
The car in the movie Superfly was the 1971-72' Cadillac Eldorado. Another vehicle that was built and customized by Dunham Coach in Boonton, New Jersey.
ONE CAR ON CLASSIC CAR HAVE BIG HEADLIGHT ON THE FRONT AND THE TIRES HAVE WHITEWALLS WAS SO COOL ON THE ROAD AND THE OTHER CARS ON CLASSIC CAR RUN ON STEAM AND GAS AND DIESEL LIKE THE LITTLE TRUCK HAVE BIG WHEELS IN THE BACK AND I LIKE CLASSIC CARS ALL THE TIME AND IT WAS A COOL CARS ON THE ROAD
Yikes! Fact check: The Stutz Blackhawk used a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis/engine and the bodies were not made of fiberglass- all hand-made metal. Granted, this particular car has been customized so much it hardly looks like how it came out when new. Given the customizing was done by the same guy that did the cars for Live and Let Die, it has more in common with the Corvorado. No accounting for taste!
With all due respect to customizers(George Barris, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth etc.) what he did to that '49 Oldsmobile ought to be a crime. If he would have just left it stock and still put all that work into it, it would LOOK like a custom by today's standards!
You know, Elvis was a phenomenal singer, but the man had absolutely _execrable_ taste. He consistently favored the most garish, most overdone, most extreme ostentation in his decor, and clearly that extends to vehicles. This this looks like a '70s pimp-mobile, dialed up to eleven.
I odn't think carbon fiber was being used in 84. I was in engineering school, and it was just being talked about as cutting edge material of the future, even more expensive thanit is now. I thought ti was only available to researchers. They were still trying ot figure out how to make the stuff in quantity.
9:10 Ford never had a V6 because when they had V4s, Chrysler went to a V6 and Ford skipped over the V6 to go to the V8 in 1932, something that Ford's engineers thought would be impossible at the time.
Im so glad he mentioned Dunham Coachbuilders, they are legendary as far as some of the work theyve done for tv and movies. Totally under-recognized over the years but there are some car guys who appreciate their history👍👍
These are BEAUTIFUL cars!!!! But I have to admit I am saddened too. The purist in me wishes these were preserved as original. Especially the Ford Customline. And the Olds. Dennis you have an AWESOME job!
The craftmanship and attention to detail on those cars is unbelievable. True afictionados!
Mohammed Ali bought 2 Stutz Bearcats that were on display at Dick Gidron Cadillac on Fordham Road in the Bronx around 1973-74. The dealership was across the street from Fordham University in the Bronx. Gidron would frequent my friends restaurant where ( incidentally) Joe Pesci worked in. I had a business directly across the street from them. I remember one of the Stutz was dark brown which was a popular color back then. If I remember correctly they were 35K each and a new Coupe De Ville was $5500. So one Stutz equaled 5 Caddies.. Dick Gidron, look him up. Very interesting story. He ended up going bankrupt but the story is worth the quick read. Thanks for the vid!
I'm still sticking with the first time I was told about the Stutz of this body style it started off as a Pontiac Grand Prix and it had the Pontiac 455 engine too. I can't see where this Stutz would be built on a Firebird format. I could be wrong but I don't think so. Thank's for sharing this, Dennis, I really enjoyed it.
Yeah they were built on GP platform not Firebird.
Those similar looking Excaliber conversions used 80s firebirds with a notch back hatch back and some were mercury cougars....they kinda looked like a 30s mercedes benz crossed with a kit car LOL!
Very beautiful amazing looking cars beautiful amazing colours
That 84 Stutz is sick. I absolutely love it 😎💯
I love that car . I wish had the money to find one . One day I hope to make it possible
i would dress up as a pimp and drive it to a 80's disco party.
Thats Dunham chrome style , hispanic design in florida. This channel was so wrong
That's a great show, along with Das Awkscht Fescht show that runs the weekend prior to this one. Early August.
beautiful modifications and Craftsmanship on the CustomOldsmobile 1949 I like the astute cars too because they are so over the top ! I remember seeing one for the first time at a car show with my Dad
I agree!
Gotta respect that guy who built the 49 Olds. He's like the Michelangelo of sheet metal and fabrication.
No; I'm impressed by this, the weird Elvis Presley box sedan.
love the early 90s intro music.
Honor a Elvis Car an absolute "Beauty" BUT your "moustache" is out of this world Sir.👌👏👏👍
These guys are so innovative. What a fantastic show and presenter. Some folk have serious skills.
I appreciate the love that the wagons frequently get on here on MyClassicCarTV. That '54 Ranch Wagon is slicker than grease!!! Chopped with style!
I LOVE this car, the artwork and the care is amazing, you don't see any blemishes and you don't see where the base car meets the finish if you know what I mean.
The Olds I also feel in love with, both made me envious of a different time and place. I am from Detriot and I am a mechanic, these cars really get my heart beating. After this coronavirus ends, I really want to tour the United States in my 2011 Cadillac and chase these beautiful car shows.
The title is is misleading so just to correct it that Stuzs car wasn't Elvis Priestley's car but a car similar to one that he bought ( a prototype) before his death in 1977.
Tnx for pointing it out
Elvis had a 71 and a 73.
Elvis actual stutz looks wildly different than this. The 2 prototypes which Elvis got one had a different larger rear window than production. This is a nearly a Targa top and more resembles a pimpmobile like several shown in the James bond film live and let die. In Elvis actual car the floor coverings were made of Australian lambs wool. Twenty four karat gold plates the bezels and moldings. Only the finest European leather covered the seats, and was used on the dash. The dash also consisted of beautiful English burl. The Stutz went through a six week long process with twenty-two coats of individually hand rubbed lacquer paint.
This is a modified Bearcat II, customized by the famous Dunham shop (inventor of the "Superfly" style pimpmobile), who was an acquaintance of mine in Boonton NJ. Elvis never had a Bearcat. All of his were Blackhawks (meaning coupe, not convertible). This car is a 1987 and based on the Firebird. Elvis' cars were based on the Grand Prix of the 70's
have I died? because I think this is heaven !!!!!!!!!!
❤ the Stutz Blackhawk! I remember as a kid that Hot Wheels made one.
I had one, it had rubber wheels!
@@alejandrocastellanos1208 cool! 👍😎 is it just me, or does anyone else feel there is a resemblance in the Blackhawk, and the Chevy Monte Carlo/ Pontiac LeMans of the same era?
Stutz is stunning
DENS WE LOVE YOUR VIDEOS ........ FROM BAGHDAD IRAQ
One thing about cars is it doesn’t matter where you are in the world it’s one of the few things people can come together on.
Elvis Presley has style
8:52 yellow car on the left was at my local car show in California. it's a 51 chevy deluxe.
I love the motor on the 49 olds , beautiful car
I agree!
That sage Olds takes the cup in my opinion.
amazing to think that elvis bought a 1984 stutz 7 years after he died
"THE KING" will never die.........................Thank you Very much, Ladies and Gentlemen......................
A small detail. Perhaps he bought it after the aliens brought him back to earth.
MIB
No doubt you are trying to be funny,but it clearly states that "Elvis bought the prototype". No effort to claim he ever owned that particular example.
When all else fails,read the instructions. When not paying attention to the dialogue,do not put words in people's mouths.
Actually the header does say, "Bizarre Elvis Presley car". That part was clickbait,and dishonest.
@@paulmanson253 How far up your ass is that stick? Perhaps if it was told that the production ran from 1975 - 1990 there would be no need of attention to the timeframe.
If you don't like being treated like an ass, pull out that stick and don't treat others that way.
I love me some old cars
Love the Stutz, and all the rest.
There ain't nothin better than Elvis car.
I’m glad that’s a matter of opinion, because I totally disagree lol
that stuz is definitely crazy over the top love the vouge wire tire and rims its a little to gaudy cluterd with too much chrome for me the big giant round headlights are just like superflys eldorado from the 70s movie gotta be a monster gas guzzler !
That chopped, customized, and lowered American car is awesome.
Pimped out Pontiac, with an Elvis stank on it, prime for pimpin'
Hi Dennis, I just wanted to say "I Love Your Channel" 😊
Thanks!
I went to the Dealer with my Dad when we picked up his Brand New 1968 Plymouth Fury III - Priceless
In our Church in Australia in the 60s it became a bit of a thing to purchase an American car. A bit of a competition thing amongst the blokes. Seems the more metal, lights and doodads the better.
Dennis is without question ... Tops in his trade.
Amazing v nice
That olds was amazing
I love the 49 Olds puuuurrrrfect
The "S.l.a.b. culture" (what it's call in Texas) came from Les Dunham. Especially from his Superfly Pimptype vehicles of the 70s and 60s.
Plus, lowriders also adopted the extra chrome/trend stuff that began from Les Dunham in the late 70s and forward. When that chrome extra stuff trickled-forward in the 80s and forward.
SUPER!!!!!!!
I am just stunned by the talents of average American car guys. Nothing average about their talent though. 🧨
Video very nice! Fantastic and beautiful cars and some exotic models. Congratulations for the video.
My father worked on Elvis's cars back in the 70s. I moved to Hollywood to live with him in `73 and just a few days after I got there we went to Elvis's home in Beverly Hills to drop off a Mercedes that his body guard, Sonny, had dropped off for us to work on and I got to see Elvis's Stutz there the first time. It was black and didn't have all the blocky looking chrome stuff on the front end the one in the video does. I worked on it a few times later at George Barris's shop before Elvis passed away. All I did was detail it, and I never did get to meet Elvis, but I did get to know Sonny a bit.
So, I was kind of disappointed to see they didn't really have Elvis's Stutz in this video. For what it's worth, those Stutz Backhawks were a customized Pontiac Grand Prix, not a completely custom hand built metal body. They had a shit ton of lead in them too, which was considered low quality work by the guys I learned from. They were highly regarded by some of the rich folks in Beverly Hills though because they did stand out on the streets with those gaudy fake roadster pipes, huge headlights, and shiny grill sticking out. Personally, I thought they were silly looking, but I also ended up building a lot silly custom cars over the years and the Stutz wasn't close to worst of them and it was unique for the times.
But don't be fooled by it. It's a gussied up Pontiac Grand Prix, and those were pretty shitty cars. Most of them rusted away long before they got old.
The later ones were built on other GM chassis.
@@jailbird1133 Thank you for the info! I wasn't aware of that. Aside from the Stutz, there were some beautiful and impressive custom cars at that gathering. I built my last full metal custom around 1993 and haven't done a lick of custom metal work since. At that time no one seemed to value that work. The guy who I was building the car for fired me when I got to the "finishing" part of the job, tying up all the little details. He accused me of "padding my hours". After he fired me he spent the next two years looking for a shop to finish the car. He told them he didn't want any bondo on it. He finally came back to me and apologized and asked me to finish it. Told me "I'll pay you whatever you want". He told me hauled that car (a 280Z) to shops in five States and they all told him they couldn't do it. I didn't care anymore. I was over it by then.
When I was learning how to do metal work there were "metal men", "fiberglassers" and "bondo men". All the real metal men I learned from were good at all three of those skills, but no fiberglasser or bondo man could do metal finishing work. As a kid I mixed gallons of bondo at a time for the guys building cars there. Joe Bailon, who was a really nice guy, was affectionately called "Joe Bondo" by the car builders I grew up working with. One of the show cars he built, "The Snake Pit", had several cases of bondo smeared on it to finish off the metal work :D
My father, Jim Stephenson, was consider to be the best of the custom metal men in California at the time. Dennis Braid was also a very good metal man, but I never saw him build a part that didn't need a coat of bondo to finish it off. Aside from myself, my father was the only other car builder I ever saw that didn't use bondo. We used primer, and not a lot of that when we were done fabricating a part.
Custom metal work seems to be more in demand nowadays and it's good to see it's appreciated once again, but I really don't miss it at all. One of the toughest things about working for George Barris was hearing him tell his clients "I did this", and "I did that" to build a car and never, ever, pointing to the guys in the shop and giving them credit. George never built a real car in his life. His brother, Sam, built a lot of great custom cars, but he was a hack too. Those old customs he built weren't nicknamed "lead sleds" for nothing. They literally had 100s of pounds of lead in them. And it was breathing lead dust that killed him. He was dead years before I got started. Steel dust won't kill you. It just turns to rust and adds some iron to your blood. Back then I was the only guy working in that field that always wore dust masks or a respirator. I knew custom car painters who didn't use respirators. I wouldn't even go into a paint booth without one. I used to get razzed about that by most everyone I worked with.
@@TheOzarkExplorer I polished aluminum on aircraft for 10 years. It was fun. My older brother did body work for Starbirds sons at a body shop they owned in fact I used to own an S10 they had built. My brother had bought it from them and gave it to me. I gave it to my younger brother, who totaled it.......
@@jailbird1133 Wow! Darryl Starbird was a great car builder. His shop was between our home in Sylmar and Barris's shop in No. Hollywood and we'd pass it on the way there. I went to his shop a couple times. It was a lot bigger than our or Barris's, and pretty sweet.
Both Starbird and my father got contracts to build Evel Knievel custom cars for a tour he did back around 1976. Darryl built a "Wheelie Dragster" and we built a "Stunt & Crash Car" that looked like the "Ideal Toy Stunt & Crash Car".
They were both just ridicules cars. The one we built had a button the driver could push to blow the hood off and the wheelie car had lead weights way in the back so you barely had to tap the gas to make it do a wheelie. Starbird's car was a lot prettier than the one we built though.
Ours looked exactly like the ideal toy, which looked a lot like an AMC Gremlin, and that's what we used to make it. We bought a beater used Gremlin and cut it up and reshaped the body, then made a cheap one off fiberglass mold of the body, then cut the steel body off, made a tube frame to attach the glass body to and used pneumatic powered pistons to "blow" the hood off. :D
I don't know about the car Starbird made, but I just found out a couple months ago that the one we made is now in an "Evel Knievel Museum" in Topeka Kansas. I gave them some background on the car.
Evel spent a bit of time at both of our shops and was a pleasure to work with. We ended up buying a Daytona Ferrari he owned that a friend of his smacked up a bit. We repaired and sold it.
Breaks my heart to hear about the custom S10 you had. Anything the Starbirds made is really special now. At least you can razz your brother about that from time to time. That's a screw up that sticks forever and just keeps getting worse. :D
@@jailbird1133 btw, I never did work much with aluminum. I would have loved to, but my father specialized in steel and I got pretty good with it pretty fast working with him and stayed busy for years doing that.
I'd still like to spend time learning working with it, but I don't have any tools and lot's of other things to keep up with.
This guy has made some great "how to " videos and built some really awesome aluminum bodied cars:
th-cam.com/channels/vDlcjivNGDfluG7C0FsXag.html
Those wanting some history behind the Stutz should search out the cars that looked familiar to me as a kid in 64 or 65 as part of the 1/25 th scale model kit cars in the Renwal Revival series of cars. I think designed by Virgil Exner then inspired the later Stutz at least.
A modern take , for 64, also on the Deusenberg , Mercer Race about. Jordan Playboy. Packard and Bugatti. Similar styling ideas as the Stutz.
Some articles and illustrations on line for those who search.
Your vintage car collection showcasing is asuming to me..
Awesome
The modern Stutz was a product of famed auto designer , Virgil Exner . The father of Chrysler's tailfinned " forward look " Exner was always trying to recreate the classic touring cars of the 30 s .,
Evil Knievel had one back in 78
@@LVVMCMLV I did not know that. I guess I am not surprised. I recall the Stutz wasn't cheap, and Evil Knivel knew how to blow some money.
Yes, oh yes! Wow that's beautiful!
Elvis Presley was not a star. ELVIS IS THE WHOLE DAMN GALAXY
These guys are really havin fun. The way they come up with these ideas and bring them to life is awesome. I wish I had more time. That chop is hilarious, too. I dont know how he fits in there, lol. Nit sure where Macungie, Pa is, but looks like a fun spot to be.
Great man
Great work
Dennis you're a welcome change from all the Corona Virus crap all over TV! Thanks for the entertainment.
My pleasure. Stay well!
5:00 As Tina Turner quoted in her book, "I didn't know you could spend $70,000 at Woolworth's."
Stutz Blackhawck 77 or 78 based on a grand prix body
My top pick of a car is of course the Chevrolet but I’m actually a car lover...whether it’s the first one ever built or the second to the lady built I love them...my family doesn’t exactly see why i have stance about cars..I love all cars but that bowtie Justin the best to me...
5:14 I think Barry White had a 1980's Stutz
Those cars are mad ill bro
That's one big beautiful machine it looks like it weighs just as much as a Ford f-550 or 650 work grade truck
There's a car in my town that was designed for Elvis. It has silver dollars all over it huge bumpers and rifles and revolvers all over it
i fell in love at stutz cars immediately
The Stuts that Elvis has. Comes from a 73 Grand Prix. That's what they start with is a Pontiac. 🇺🇸
You meet the sharpest dressers at the car shows🤣😂🤣
Magnifique
That car isn’t “bizarre”; that’s a STUTZ, man. Sly Stone also earned one.
That's how our older street brothers who were making money was riding back in the day. Pops schooled me onto those Stutz too. I believe they were take a Cadillac Eldorado and put that "El capalaro" kit on it if I'm not mistaken.
@@draines9237 grand prix base to make stutz
Elvis’s Stutz is in a museum in the netherlands. Louwman’s museum.
If I drove that Stutz, I would feel like a Putz.
I bought a Stutz Blackhawk...from Hot Wheels!! Gunmetal grey. It might have been '84. Sweetest little car I ever owned...
..this Stutz is a little more custom, but I always thought they still looked a little too much like a Grand Prix for their prestige and price point, especially in the windshield/A-pillar, door/side window and hood area...nothing wrong with a Grand Prix, but not on a $200,000(today's dollars) car...also, I always felt Exner gave them a little too much '62 Dodge/Plymouth look with the sculpting.....
That stutz is awesome, but it's compulsory to wear a white fur coat and a zebra skin Stetson when driving it!
Amazing work, the definition of DIY and recycling in action. Tell me again how a hybrid is better?
I wish i was born in America. So many car guys and meets over 1500cars wtf 😳😳😳😳
7:31 love that ford roadster but for all that super hard work i would not have put a wimpy v6 out of a 83 t-bird with so many better ideas available.
Actually, I thought it was a pretty cool, and definitely unique, choice.
5:12 Elvis car
I believe Elvis had the first PRODUCTION Stutz, not the prototype. His was #2.
The sage green Studebaker I believe is one of my favorites
The Stutz was not built on a Firebird chassis. They were built on Grand Prix chassis.
What the Elvis car🙄, well I don't know about that but the first person I ever seen with this vehicle right here that you called the Elvis car was Ron O'Neal, aka Superfly, and he had a black one all decked out
The car in the movie Superfly was the 1971-72' Cadillac Eldorado. Another vehicle that was built and customized by Dunham Coach in Boonton, New Jersey.
That does look like the Stutz in the Elivs museum, though Elvis' isn't as garish. To each their own, right? Elivs had taste.
I didn't know that in the US people drive such funny cars.
Some do.
Plymouth Fury.....amazing.
I liked the Fury, mainly because I had a 67 in highschool. Though it had the 318, it was a cool car. Wish I had it now.
Keren ya mobil mobilnya.... coba di Indonesia ada. Wihh pasti mantaps
'56 Nomad gets my vote.
overload i would never get out of that place
Ugliest creation called a car I have ever seen in 70+ years of car love!👎
i thnk it awsome
ONE CAR ON CLASSIC CAR HAVE BIG HEADLIGHT ON THE FRONT AND THE TIRES HAVE WHITEWALLS WAS SO COOL ON THE ROAD AND THE OTHER CARS ON CLASSIC CAR RUN ON STEAM AND GAS AND DIESEL LIKE THE LITTLE TRUCK HAVE BIG WHEELS IN THE BACK AND I LIKE CLASSIC CARS ALL THE TIME AND IT WAS A COOL CARS ON THE ROAD
やっぱりアメ車はいいですね！無駄にでかい ボディでかいエンジン最高です。やはりエンジンはv8が最高だと思います。
Yikes! Fact check: The Stutz Blackhawk used a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis/engine and the bodies were not made of fiberglass- all hand-made metal. Granted, this particular car has been customized so much it hardly looks like how it came out when new. Given the customizing was done by the same guy that did the cars for Live and Let Die, it has more in common with the Corvorado. No accounting for taste!
YOUR EXACTLY RIGHT CAUSE I HAVE A REAL STUTZ I DONT KNOW WHAT THIS GUY HAS.
With all due respect to customizers(George Barris, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth etc.) what he did to that '49 Oldsmobile ought to be a crime. If he would have just left it stock and still put all that work into it, it would LOOK like a custom by today's standards!
Only trouble is when we pass away the young will never keep this going
Makes a good reason for actually driving your classic car and adding miles to it
instead of just looking at it and saving it for ....
Pretty sure that white Cadillac is the pimp mobile from 007 Live and Let Die
Actually it's a "Covorado". It's a C3 Corvette Chassis fitted with body panels from a 1972-71' Cadillac Eldorado
A very strange looking car, but man is it awesome! It has its own beauty (ugly, but amazingly beautiful, if that makes sense)?
You know, Elvis was a phenomenal singer, but the man had absolutely _execrable_ taste. He consistently favored the most garish, most overdone, most extreme ostentation in his decor, and clearly that extends to vehicles. This this looks like a '70s pimp-mobile, dialed up to eleven.
Elvis got that from Memphis Pimps, that’s common styling among the community in the 70’s.
Dennis- Love your channel and watch it often. I gotta know though... how long does it take to get your stash up & running? : )
I odn't think carbon fiber was being used in 84. I was in engineering school, and it was just being talked about as cutting edge material of the future, even more expensive thanit is now. I thought ti was only available to researchers. They were still trying ot figure out how to make the stuff in quantity.
Woah woah woo
Rev it up!
9:10 Ford never had a V6 because when they had V4s, Chrysler went to a V6 and Ford skipped over the V6 to go to the V8 in 1932, something that Ford's engineers thought would be impossible at the time.
The facial hair you have is beyond to admired .well done
If the Stutz was good enough for Elvis.
Splendide modèle