1912 Stutz Bearcat

The Stutz Bearcat was an American luxury high-performance sports car made by the Stutz Motor Company. An evolution of the company’s 1911 roadster, the Bearcat name lasted from 1914 through 1939.
The original Bearcat was based on the company’s competitive 1911 Indy car and featured a powerful 361 in³ (5.9 L) “T-head” straight-4 engine. Output was 50 hp (37 kW), and the transmission was placed in the rear as in a modern transaxle. A later I6 version of the T-head engine produced 80 hp (60 kW).
engine.The car’s “underslung” design was unusual for the time, and its low weight, balance, and power made it an excellent racer. For example, in The original Bearcat lasted from 1914 through 1917. It used a 6388 cc I41912, Stutz Bearcats won 25 of the 30 auto races they were entered in. But the Bearcat was sparse, with no doors and a tiny “monocle” windscreen in front of the driver.
The Bearcat was also the car used in Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker’s record coast-to-coast drive, inspiration for the later Cannonball Run outlaw race and film spinoffs. Baker drove his Bearcat from California to New York in eleven days, seven hours, and fifteen minutes, shattering the previous record.
Owning a Stutz Bearcat became a famous status symbol for the very wealthy of the era.