Our Cars--"1914" Stutz Bearcat replica
Submitted by John Boyle
I am the owner of one of the replica 1914 Stutz Bearcats built for the 1971 TV series Bearcats! by custom car builder George Barris.
I bought the car in 1998 and spent two years restoring it while I was living in Abilene, Texas. I had never owned a unique (that's a good word for a Barris car) car before so I went into the restoration with blind faith and a lot of luck. Luckily, I had just finished helping a friend restore my 1977 Jeep CJ-5 Levi's Edition Renegade, so I was much less a "babe in the woods"automotively speaking than I would have been a couple of years before.
We did all the work locally, with the exception of some brass refinishing and overhauling the brass radiator, which I sent to a specialist who restores high-dollar brass cars in California. I was the general contractor and, with my friend Charlie's help, put the car back together. Mechanically, it was sound--the Ford drivetrain really paid off. I changed the generator to a GM “one-wire” alternator, and had the master cylinder and carb rebuilt. I was able to walk into an auto parts store with a wheel cylinder and walk out 45 minutes later with a new set--try that with a real Bearcat! By comparison, I have a friend in the Stutz Club whose '18 Bearcat was off the road for two years while he sourced a starter. No such troubles with mine. (Knock wood.) The body is all metal and required only a repaint. I had new upholstery done and a new instrument panel made with new old-fashioned looking dials. The new wood wheels took a wheelwright in Oklahoma a year to fashion out of solid hickory. They came out great.
I drive it a lot. Since moving to my country spread here in Washington, I drive it every weekend, probably a couple of hundred miles a year. I’m writing a piece for an English car magazine about it and I got to thinking that I probably have the most driven Barris car in the world. I’ve taken it to a few shows and many people remember the series. I also get “fan mail” based on items I’ve written that show up on the Internet. Most weekends, I take it to lunch and people enjoy seeing it. Since I live in the county, I take it along the Little Spokane River and up to the orchards. It is fun.
Since moving here, I found a top ranked custom car builder to maintain it (his customs were the high priced cars at the Barrett-Jackson auctions in 2005-6). He’s since retired, but his son has taken over the business and has really sorted out the car with some improvements to the brakes and steering. Since the chassis was custom made to look like a Bearcat, at its heart, it’s made of the same parts as many a 60’s custom hot rod. Anyway, he’s been able to sort out the things that Charlie and I didn’t know to do when we restored the car.
Only after restoring the car did I find someone on eBay who had original 16mm film prints of the series. I convinced (and paid him) to transfer them to VHS (he also sold a few sets to friends). Anyway, I (and some other people) have transferred those VHS to DVD by using home recorders. The quality is far from BluRay, but not bad. I was pleased to see the show again, and while it wasn’t exactly as I remembered it, I was far better than I really expected it to be.
It was odd to see the car on TV. In some scenes, I’d freeze frame it to check out a point on the car, then to walk into the garage and confirm it … like wood knots in the trunk seen in one episode when they get a weapon out of it. Also, I wince when I see them drive it off road and through a cactus patch. Then I remember, “It’s okay; I’ve already replaced those tires”.
I saw the second TV car at a B-J auction in 2003. Another friend
wanted to buy it but he couldn’t afford it, so it went home with its
owner. But lately, his mechanic has been in touch with me inquiring
about parts, so it might come on the market again. At the time of the
auction, that car was unrestored, though it looked
fair from a distance. Therefore, mine is the only restored Bearcats! car.
In addition to the two replica cars sold to Filmways for use in the series, George Barris made and kept a third car for himself, to take to car shows. It differed from the two TV cars in having more brightwork and faux machine guns mounted front and rear. While never seen on TV, the car did achieve some fame, appearing on one of a set of Barris “Star Cars” trading cards, a Barris souvenir postcard, and an appearance in a 1977 TV Guide photo showing Barris with a collection his TV vehicles. That photo was reprinted in a late '90s article on Barris published in Hot Rod Magazine.
An acquaintance of mine bought the Barris display car. He since sold it (at a huge profit) to a guy who stripped it of all Barris bits to make it look a bit more authentic (and probably ruined the value of the car in the process).
I stumbled across Powderkeg [(the pilot film for Bearcats!)] on TV a couple of times. It’s pretty good, I love Fernando Lamas
chewing the scenery as the Mexican bandit. The car used in that film, a
genuine '14 Bearcat, was owned by a member of the Stutz Club and he
sent me a current photo of it when he read the story of my car and its
restoration in the club magazine.
Powderkeg was written, produced and directed by Douglas Heyes. He was also listed as creator and executive producer of Bearcats! I’ve since been in contact with his son (a Hollywood writer) and sent him some of the memorabilia I’ve found that mentions his late dad’s work on the series. I’ve even found original scripts on eBay. On Thursday, he sent an e-mail asking for my address, he found something in his dad’s files that he thought I’d like and it’s in the mail. I can hardly wait to see what it is.
Again, I appreciate your interest in the series and bringing it to people’s attention. It’s a fun show that deserves to be remembered.
PS. I’ve attached a recent photo of it taken at a show, and a shot from two years ago of the Bearcat and a friend’s original 1918 Curtiss Jenny.
The publicity photo of Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole with one of their automotive co-stars (the 1914 Bearcat used in Powderkeg) came from the Bearcats! page at The Complete Rod Taylor Site.
That Car Guy on November 13, 2008 at 07:00 PM
The Munster Koach, Batmobile, Monkeemobile, and a Bearcat! Wow, great company! What a treat it would be to get George Barris to sign your car. I hope you can collect lots of memorabilia from the show... you truly have a collector's piece on your hands!
That Car Guy on November 13, 2008 at 07:07 PM
P.S. Your car looks good in the photo, but click on it and blow it up... the pic then looks 10 times better!
Darrencardinal on November 13, 2008 at 08:41 PM
This looks like the car that Mr. Burns from the Simpsons would drive.
Excellent!
meccano on November 14, 2008 at 04:50 PM
OK, forgive me, but why is it RHD?
John on November 14, 2008 at 09:16 PM
"....why is it RHD?"
Many early American cars were RHD.
I don't know why...or more to the point why America and Canada adopted LHD as opposed to the UK which is RHD.
Early Fords, and many other makes were RHD.
According to the Stutz history published by The Stutz Club, Stutz was the last "significant" U.S. car comapny to switch, late in the 1922 model year.
I was imnpressed that Barris took the effort to make his TV cars RHD. I'm sure not many viewers would have noticed if he hadn't.
DAVE SMITH on December 05, 2008 at 01:11 PM
I have a friend Ernie Tuff who also has one that Barris made. he is in the process of fine tuning it. Dave
John Boyle on December 08, 2008 at 07:25 PM
I know Ernie, he bought the car Barris made...and kept for car shows..see paragraph nine. I sold him some Bearcats! VHS tapes and helped with parts. He bought it from a friend in Texas who bought the car after seeing mine.
I haven't heard from him for awhile and hope the project is going well. Please say "hi" to him for me!
Michael Hamm on June 08, 2009 at 02:20 PM
When we built the Thomas Flyer and German Protos for The Greatest Auto Race on earth film (the doc on the 1908 NY to Paris auto Race), we remembered two picture cars as reference. One was the Leslie Special and the other was the Stutz which you own. We too had difficulty making the wooden artillery spoked wheels (which needed to adapt to modern GM discs for safety), the RHD setup, the metal bending, and of course the power supply. In all, they turned out great. We recently donated all of the cars to the Reynolds Museum in Alberta where they will be displayed. I am glad that picture cars still live on! Cheers. Michael. www.thegreatestautorace.com
Wayne McCormick on June 11, 2009 at 05:26 PM
Hi John,
Your Stutz was a big hit when you drove it (and I got to ride along) in an Abilene parade several years ago.
I enjoyed the article.
Best,
Wayne
Conan on February 08, 2011 at 07:17 AM
So, if I had a mint condition 1914 stutz bearcat hood ornament and was willing to part with it where would I sell it at?