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The prototype is perhaps the most historic and important Stutz, though Elvis' first Blackhawk would perhaps exceed its value if his estate were ever to part with it. Elvis bought Stutz #2 from California Stutz distributor Jules Meyers. There are a number of stories about how Elvis acquired the car, most focusing on how he beat Frank Sinatra to dealership and paid for the car with cash.


According to Sonny West (one of the Memphis Mafia) the Stutz was brought to Elvis' Hollywood home for a test drive. He didn't care to wait for one to be custom built and instead wanted to buy the second prototype immediately. Meyers would be left without a demo but as Elvis assured him, "Do you think you will sell more cars, when you drive it, or when the people see me driving it around???"


The Stutz was the only car Elvis would drive himself and the only the car he would cruise around in alone. Elvis perhaps did more for Stutz than any marketing executive or advertising campaign could ever have done. In all, he purchased five Blackhawks giving two away. Stutz # 2 and his matching black and red 73 model have pride of place in the Graceland auto museum. The gift shop even sells commemorative plates, coffee mugs and post cards featuring the king's Stutz.


Elvis' name is permanently linked to the revived Stutz Company, press releases often referred to him as one of their famous customers. Elvis who hadn't endorsed a product since a Southern Fried Donuts commercial in 1954 posed for publicity photos with Stutz cars on more than one occasion. In fact the last photo ever taken of Elvis shows him driving through the gates of Graceland behind the wheel of his latest Blackhawk.
Initially selling for $22,000 the Stutz quickly became one of the most expensive cars in the world with a Blackhawk selling in $60-70,000 range by the mid seventies. A Royale limousine would set you back $200,000.

In August 1970, Elvis Presley bought the first production car.
The car was shown in a TV-Show at which Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were guests, and both of them wanted to buy the car. The dealer wanted to sell the car to the first of one of them who could pay with cash.
Elvis was first, and Frank Sinatra never bought one...