Say hey! You can purchase Stutz Blackhawk from Baseball Great Willie Mays

• Put on your Elvis sunglasses, because here comes a spike in 1970s car excess.
• This Stutz was owned by MLB Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays for almost 50 years.
• The styling is not for the faint of heart.

On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley drove through the gates of Graceland for the last time. He waved to the paparazzi, wearing large gold sunglasses, even though it was 12:28 p.m., and a photographer took one last photo, the last photo ever taken of the man they called the King. And what kind of car did the king drive? A Stutz Blackhawk.

Here it is a 1977 copy for sale on Bring a Trailer (what, like Car and driveris part of Hearst Autos). This particular car not only catered to rock ‘n’ roll royalty, but was also the personal ride of Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays for many years. Mays was a 24-time All-Star and unlike Elvis, his lifestyle was so healthy that he lived to the venerable age of 93. When he died in 2024, he still owned this car, which was sold by his estate. It now only has 17,000 kilometers on it.

Stutz is an American brand with a rich history, founded in 1911 in Indianapolis and an immediate competitor in the Indy 500. The early cars were the epitome of Brass Era motoring, but the brand did not survive the Depression and went bankrupt in 1937.

This particular Stutz comes from the company’s neoclassical reboot, which began in the late 1960s. The styling was done by former Chrysler design boss Virgil Exner, famous for his vinified creations of the 1950s. The question posed here was clear: how much styling can a car have? Answer: everything, all styling.

Of course, 1970s Elvis loved these types of cars. It’s so gloriously over-the-top that it should come with sequined jumpsuit trim. Instead, you get sumptuous leather seats and lambswool carpets, woodgrain accents and gilded finishes, and a fur-lined trunk. It’s so indulgent that some kind of eye protection is probably in order.

Underneath all this opulence lies the rather prosaic chassis of a Pontiac Grand Prix. The engine is a hulking 403 cubic-inch GM V-8 that produces less horsepower than a current Honda Civic, putting power to the ground through a three-speed automatic transmission that’s slushier than early spring Detroit. Don’t expect Mays-style sprints.

However, expect to attract a lot of attention. The Stutz Blackhawk was the vehicle of choice for the most notable celebrities in the 1970s and is not for the shy and withdrawn types. Certainly not in this metallic aqua paint.

So if you want to flex like a ’70s rock star or a professional athlete, this is your ride. Take it easy with the fried peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwiches.

The auction ends on January 21.

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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. He grew up on British cars, came of age in the golden age of Japanese sports compact performance, and started writing about cars and people in 2008. His special interest is in the intersection between man and machine, whether it concerns the racing career of Walter Cronkite or the half-century-long obsession of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to constantly buy Hot Wheels.