Blackhwak versus Black Hawk

[James B.]

Can someone tell me why I find that the Blackhawk by Stutz which was a separate brand much like when Chrysler made Imperial a separate entity... some times I see it spelled Black Hawk when I understand that the one spelled with two words was still part of the Stutz line of cars and cost more. Which spelling for which car is correct? And why would they make two different series with basically the same name?

Edited February 16, 2013 by James B. (see edit history)

[James B.]

Hey, no takers here? Not much activity on this particular forum?

[JohnBoyle]

Please be patient...I don't come here daily.

As I understand it...

The Stutz Black Hawks were Speedsters, sport and performance models of the 1927 Seris AA and 1928 Series BB.

The Balckhawk (one word) was a companion line launched in eary 1929. In the 20's, many successful makes has lower priced models to expand their product line. This was before the deprerssion, but even in the healthy 20s, firms were looking to expand sales and market penetration. As a guess, I'd suggest that the R&D for cars was getting expensive so firms were looking to spead out those costs among more units.

Some of the best knons companions were Willys' Whippet, Studebaker's Erskine, and the best known of all, Cadillac's LeSalle. In one interesting footnot, Pontiac began as a companion to Oakland, but managed to outlive the senior car.

The Blackhawk was some 30% cheaper than the concurrent Stutz Series M. Two engines were available...a six (based on the Stutz eight) and a lower priced 8 cylinder car powered by a less expensive Cntinental engine.

The car officially disappeared in 1932.

Edited February 20, 2013 by JohnBoyle (see edit history)

[James B.]

This only confuses because I have since found several examples of the actual 1929 cars and the front badge that runs between the headlight across the radiator shows BLACK-HAWK MADE BY STUTZ. the word Blackhawk is hyphenated on the actual car so, did the company even know what it wanted to do? Brochures are not consistent nor ads for these cars.

[JohnBoyle]

The trademark drawing for the hubcap design says (in two lines) Black Hawk. In The Splendid Stutz, there are closeups of the badge on the headlamp bar and sill plates read Black Hawk (two words, no hyphen).

The book, written by members of, and published by the Stutz Club, and is considered the authoritative source, uses "Blackhawks".

In conclusion, Stutz was never connsistant...it even called the Bearcat the Bear-Cat.

Edited February 20, 2013 by JohnBoyle (see edit history)

[James B.]

The trademark drawing for the hubcap design says (in two lines) Black Hawk. The badge on the headlamp bar and sill plates read Black Hawk (two words, no hyphen).

The Spendid Stutz, written by members of, and published by the Stutrz Club, and is considered the authoritative source, uses "Blackhawks".

In conclusion, Stutz was never connsistant...it even called the Bearcat the Bear-Cat.

Odd... but here is one example from an actual 1929 Black-Hawk aka Blackhawk. This isn't the only headlight bar badge that is like this so know it isn't unique to this particular car. Only giving an example here. Note the hyphen.

[Layden B]

John,

If you think Bearcat and Bear-Cat and Bear Cat is inconsistent then look at the 1917 parts catalog which calls it Speedster!