'28 Blackhawk Cabrolet found in barn!

[Guest]

What's it worth?

1928 Stutz Blackhawk Cabrolet inline 6. Rumbleseat & golfclub door.

Original condition, stored in heated garage for 40+ years (by second owner)

Original paint (& pinstripe), interior (probably useable after some conditioning), owners manual & papers, tire pump, etc.

Small wrinkle in one rear fender. Wirewheels heavily rusted, but refinishable. Fabric top o.k., but doubtful it would hold up (wood frame around base appears to be rotted) to use. Engine & mechanicals are unknown. Probably frozen.

Car would be an excellent candidate for freshining & to be left in "unrestored" condition.

Overall a pretty impressive barn find. I've seen much, much worse!

[pughs]

Can you post a picture?

[Shawn Miller]

I would think it is worth quite a lot if restored. Of course it will cost quite a lot to restore it! It is a rare car. Only about 400 Stutz are known to exist (maybe 401 now! HA!). the Blackhawk was a more moderately priced model, having a 6 cylinder instead of an 8, I beleive.

While many of us like original cars more than perfectly restored ones, unrestored cars werent bringing much money. Recently that has begun to change a bit, but, what it is worth historically is immeasurable. Congrats on finding it!

Shawn Miller

[franklinman]

Hello, Congratulations on a neat find! As a professional restorer, and as a collector/hobbyist, I would strongly urge you to give serious consideration to not restoring this car. I am often approached with this situation, and the potential client is often surprised by my response. To start with, the only way you will significantly increase the car's value would be to do a complete, authentic, top quality restoration. Incidentally, the cost(s) to do this would far exceed the potential value of the finished car, so that's one issue to deal with. Next, if the car has significant original paint and upholstery and it's in the condition you state, it's probably not too far fetched to believe that it could be returned to serviceable/roadable condition without disturbing it's cosmetics. That would certainly be much less expensive, and the result would be a car that will offer you a great deal of "fun time". Finally, from the historical aspect, good original cars of this age, and older, are becoming increasingly scarce, and the few true originals that are left are our only tangible connection to automotive history. Comparitively speaking, original cars are now the rarity in our hobby. When we begin a restoration, the first thing we search for in our documentation process is an original car. The knowledge to be gained by inspecting and documenting these cars is invaluable. We have gone to auctions simply to buy the discarded components from other's restorations, to give you some idea as to how much we value authenticity. Thankfully, others in our hobby are now coming around in their appreciation of unrestored, original cars, in part thanks to the AACA's HPOF class. Some years ago I sold my 1920 Stutz, Series H, 7-pass. Touring, with less that 20,000 orig. miles. It was a truly magnificent original car. I believed that the new owner wanted the car to use for touring and felt he would preserve it as is. About a year later I was sent a photo of the "restored" car. While the restoration was nice, and it certainly looked flashy in it's new red color, it just didn't have the appeal it did when it wore it's original dark green paint and it's almost perfect brown spanish grain leather interior, at least to me. I'm not in a position to criticize the new owner. He paid the price for the car, and it's anyone's right to do as they please with their own property. But, a car can only be original once, and once you change/restore it, it's never the same again. The loss to our history can never be reclaimed. It's your choice, and a properly restored car is a thing to be appreciated, but maybe this will give you something more to consider before making a committment one way or the other. A final thought; if you really do want a restored car, you might consider selling this one to someone that would enjoy it as is, and locating a completed car. I will almost certainly be less expensive that restoring this one, unless you are able to do almost all of the work yourself. Good luck with your Stutz.

[samsonized]

if you decide to sell it i have been looking for a stutz for quite some time. i have several auburns but would really like to have a stutz