The two seater 155 h.p. Bearcat had a factory guarantee of 100 m.p.h. and a price tag of 4,955 pounds. The engine reached its ultimate in design in 1931 with the introduction of the double overhead camshaft DV32 with four valves per cylinder, and was considered a must by all young university freshmen in America of the '30's.

The Stutz Bearcat 1931 is the third generation of this American sports car that was built from 1931 to 1934 in Indianapolis. Stutz started building cars in 1911 and the company built about 25,000 cars until the company closed down in 1934. The brand name and model, Stutz Bearcat, was used again in the 1970s and 1980s by another company.

The (Y14-3) 1931 Stutz Bearcat joined the range in 1974.

Variations/Rarities: When the two tone green version was introduced, it usually had a 1974 baseplate but models with a 1973 baseplate have been seen which are assumed to be pre production examples. This model can be found without the vertical bar at the left side end of the rear bumper but the majority had the vertical bar. It could have bright red or dark red seats. On the final version the body was painted a lighter metallic lime green with a dark green baseplate.
In 1979 came the red and cream version which can have a smooth top to the boat tail or it can have a cast in V which divided the two tone paint. It also had a modified front bumper where the plate that has the fixing rivet is thickened by approximately 5mm so the front bumper is 5mm higher than the bumpers found on previous issues and also the gap between the front bumper bars was filled in. The seats can be either bright red or black plastic and the grille insert black or dull red plastic.
The cream and red version is fairly common and there are no rare variations.
In 1981 the cream and green version was introduced which can be found with the usual 24 spoke chromed wheels or 12 spoke red plastic wheels. The grille insert can be red or black plastic. There were no rare variations here either.
1985 saw the release of the blue and grey version. The seats can be either light brown or light beige with either type being quite common so there are no rarities to look out for.
It was followed by the blue and cream version which featured extra silver trim which was released in 1990. It had either maroon or dark red seats and the steering wheel can be either light brown or olive green with both types having black spokes. The dashboard was trimmed in black. There are no known rare variations.

The Stutz Bearcat was re-issued in 1995 as part of the "Grand Marques" series. This model featured a bright red body & top panels with a gloss black chassis and silver detailing. It was coded by Matchbox Collectibles as YY014A/C.

Scale: 1:44

Glossy light green body, glossy dark green chassis

Cream body, bright red top panels, darker red chassis

Cream body, emerald green chassis

French blue body, battleship grey chassis

Dark blue body & top panels, cream side panels, dark blue chassis

Red, silver detailing (Matchbox Collectibles YY014A/C - Grand Marquis Series)

Yellow, silver detailing (Matchbox Collectibles DYM35179 - Cars Of The Rich & Infamous Collection) (Wanted)

Showing the smooth boat tail (left) and the later version with a cast 'V' ridge which was added to seperate the colours on bodies with two tone paint schemes

Rear bumper types (Millennium Edition of the Yesteryear Book)