1950 Muntz Jet
Earl "Madman" Muntz was a former big scale used car dealer who turned to manufacturing TV sets in the post-World War II bonanza years. But he had seen a custom 1941 Buick Frank Kurtis had built; he wanted to buy it in 1949. Instead he ended up buying Kurtis' fledgling sports car, the KURTIS 500, lock, stock, and barrel. Kurits, who was literally up to his neck in race-car building (his cars won Indy six consecutive times from 1950 through 1956), and he was worried about competition from the Jaguar XK120, which was cheaper, had dual overhead cams and the European mystique. Muntz moved the production to Evansville, Indiana, streched the car out about a foot, enlarged the passenger compartment for four passengers, and installed Lincoln or Cadillac V8 engines. Production ceased in the mid-50's and Muntz reportedly said he lost money on every car sold. This particular car was number 13 of 26 high performance versions made in Glendale, California, and has aluminum body panels and a Cadillac engine. Click here to see original pictures of this car coming off the production line at the factory.