1915 Stutz 'Weightman Special'

Presented here is the unique Stutz “Weightman Special,” a car which owes its very existence to one of America’s more colorful characters of the teen-era, William Walker Weightman III. Great-grandson and an heir to the Weightman chemical manufacturing fortune, his share of that $30,000,000 estate in 1904 was more than $800,000. Ultimately, it proved to be a poisoned chalice, his lifestyle earning him the nickname “Wild Bill” and landing him in jail for bigamy.

As an inheritor during the incubational period of American automobile racing, it was unsurprising that this errant playboy would be drawn to the world of speed and thrills.

Automobile historians note that Weightman initially approached Stutz to acquire one of their White Squadron cars, but was unsuccessful. Undeterred, they built him his own specifically tailored car, utilizing a short-wheelbase lightweight Stutz HCS frame and using one of the three Wisconsin B-16 engines. Featuring four valves per cylinder and configured as an overhead side-valve with rockers, commissioned by Stutz, these engines were a virtual copy of the Delage Type Y that had powered the winner of the 1914 Indianapolis 500. It produced approximately 100 hp at 3,000 rpm.

The resulting Weightman Special was clothed in an elongated torpedo body and made its competition debut at Sheepshead Bay in 1916. Curiously, Weightman entrusted its racing to D. Brailey Gish, a Haynes-Apperson salesman who must have convinced Wild Bill of his skills behind the wheel. On most outings, Gish and the Special were outclassed by the Delages, Duesenbergs, and Peugeots, driven by many of the luminaries of the day. However, at the Thanksgiving Day races held at Benning Race Track in 1916, Gish proved his mettle, winning the day in two heats and a 15-mile race. To Weightman, this was a world-class victory.

Weightman’s interest in the Stutz soon began to fade, due in part to Eddie Rickenbacker’s simultaneous campaign in his Duesenberg racer on the West Coast. By 1917, Weightman had grown tired of the car and sold it on.

The Stutz’s life story was largely lost in the mists of time until owner David Cammarano, who acquired the car in 1986, retraced its steps precisely. He discovered that Weightman’s special racer had remained under the radar of historians for decades, despite having resided in two of the more significant American collections of all time.

Cammarano’s research revealed that Weightman sold the Stutz to noted racer Eddie Hearne, who in turn passed it to Lindley Bothwell in the mid-1930s.

Bothwell campaigned the Stutz in a number of early historic races on the West Coast, and nearly 30 years later – by now painted red with a large “3” on its side – it became part of the lineup of cars featured in a prominent 1963 Sports Illustrated article. Circa 1970, Bothwell sold the car to William F. Harrah, in whose ownership it remained until the dispersal sale of his collection in 1986. At the sale, it was described very basically as a “1915 Stutz Race Car...Model not located…has been modified with streamlined body... engine is a 1914 Delage.”

The car’s next caretakers were David Cammarano and his son, who attended the famed 1986 Harrah auction in Reno in search of a worthy project to restore and vintage race. In the Cammaranos, the Stutz found just the enthusiasm and focus that it needed. Through meticulous research, correspondence with historians including Joseph Freeman, and the discovery of numerous period photographs, the remarkable history of this individual racer became clear.

The Stutz remained largely as originally built 70 years earlier, complete with its Wisconsin B-16 power unit. During restoration, the car only showed evidence of modest “battle scars” and was not known to have suffered a major incident. As a result, its key components and the majority of its bodywork, except for the tail, were retained. From 1986 to 2000, the Cammaranos actively raced and enjoyed the Stutz before selling it to collector Bill Evans of San Diego, California, from whom the Price Museum of Speed acquired the car in 2007.

Over the past 110 years, from its fascinating creator to its succession of prominent collectors and racers, the Weightman Special has developed a character all its own. Beautifully refinished and displaying the light patina accrued over the past three decades, this lightweight racer – powered by its early overhead four-valve-per-cylinder engine – is described as incredibly fast and enormously rewarding to drive.

Widely regarded as one of the best-preserved American racing cars of its era, this storied Stutz Special is deserving of a future custodian keen to continue its extraordinary legacy.