Antique & Classic Cars Blog

[An earlier post on this car got lost due to a technical glitch.]

On a visit to Bo Vescio’s shop last year, I spied a Muntz Jet mostly torn down with a fresh coat of white paint. The engine and interior were out, trim off. It was just a freshly sprayed body on a rolling chassis. They’re rare cars.  The Muntz Registry puts total production at about 200, while Sports Car Market’s analysis projects from the somewhat erratic chassis numbering a figure closer to twice that. The book I had as a kid listed a figure between those two.

I’ve seen Muntz Jets in car books for 30 years. The story is interesting–TV manufacturer turns auto manufacturer with a car based on a Frank Kurtis design that Muntz charges 1.5 times the price of a Cadillac for. Yet the black and white hand drawings in The American Sports Car, a book my mother got me when I was in about 9th grade, didn’t do the car justice.

Fully restored in three dimensions, the Muntz Jet is a delightful, playful car to behold. TV hustler, Earl “Madman” Muntz, went out of his way to make the car unique by his own efforts and buyers’. He would go to great lengths to give customers the colors, fabrics, look and feel they wanted. (He called it a “sports car,” but with its massive Lincoln flathead V-8 and automatic-only gearbox, it wouldn’t fit our modern conceptions of that term.) Early engines were OHV Cadillac V-8s.

Style and flair ooze from the car. Muntz’s symbol was a pirate figure in red long johns–bold and unembarrassed–set into the steering and road wheels. The split vee-shaped windshield evokes a speedboat, while the bevy of Stewart Warner gauges has an aeronautic feel.  There is even a cooler–for sodas, iced tea, lemonade…–under the arm rests in the back seat. Faux alligator upholstery and top add a Hollywood feel showman Muntz, married 7 times, came to project.

This is an American dreamboat born of inspiration and innovation. What a cool car to restore and treasure  to honor the many visionaries who threw a hat into the car-maker’s ring.

Values are in the $50,000-$100,000 range, with the most unusual (i.e., celebrity owned or customized) models bringing highest dollars.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 11:52 am and is filed under Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.