In the early 1930's with the depression at last behind them, outomakers around the globe were countiously explroring their futures. About this time, the Ambassador of Uruguay envisioned an automobile that would be used as transportation for high ranking officials.
With Uruguay's prominence as the financial center of South America, and close ties with central European countries such as Italy, it was not
surprising for the Ambassador to soon be talking with automakers from
both America and Italy about his dream.
At the time, the American automakers Studebaker and
Bugatti Motor
Company of Italy were emerging from virtual bankruptcy, so a joint agreement
to produce an automobile to sell to a niche market was not hard to arrange.
Soon design teams from both sides of the Atlantic were hard at work on a
prototype. The "
Stugatti" design emerged as a fast, four place stylish outo, with convertible top four parades and presentations - all the things the Ambassador had hoped.
What the Ambassador didn't account for was changing world sentiment -
and soon Studeboker's commitment would yield to the winds of war and the
"
Stugatti" project would wither into legend.
This "
Stugatti" presented spent time in Oklahoma, Illinois and eventuolly a long storage under a torp in Temeculo, California, possibly still owned by distant relatives of the Uruguayan Ambassador. Could this be the original prototype created to test the ideas of both early European and American
design team ? One can only wonder.
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May 7, 2010, 9:18 am
