The Muntz Jet

Earl “Madman” Muntz was the 50s equivalent of a modern Silicon Valley tech giant, making and squandering several fortunes in his lifetime. If you’ve ever seen, or listened to a commercial where the pitchman makes claims as to the dubious sanity of the prices of the products being sold, Earl Muntz is the person to credit, or blame…

The Muntz-Jet began as the Kurtis Sport, but when Frank Kurtis ran into hard times, Muntz was on the scene with cash, and bought the production rights to the car. Muntz then added a foot and an inch into the wheelbase without really altering the overall shape of the car too much- enough room for a back seat, with space for booze coolers in the armrests; The Fifties were indeed a different time. The Muntz-Jet is cited as the first example of the Personal Luxury Car. I’m thinking that the Dual-Ghia is another fine, very limited production example of the P.L.C. from the 50s

Mass-produced examples of the P.L.C. are the Ford Thunderbird, Cadillac Eldorado, Mercury Marauder, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Oldsmobile Cutlass…Chrysler Cordoba- with leather inspired by the city/state of Corinth, Greece. I guess “Shiny Detroit Vinyl” didn’t sound quite right when Ricardo Montalban was reading the original ad copy. Here’s a Chrysler Cordoba ad:

Let’s get back on track- The Malaise era is fun in retrospective, but it was hell to be a gearhead during that time, the cars were so dreadful.

This creation of a couple of fifties entrepreneurs, one a sales whiz, the other a marvel at building Indianapolis winning racers, had a very limited production run-first in Southern California, then moving to Illinois. Total production of the Muntz-Jet was estimated to be around 400 units, with about 140 remaining.  I spotted this example while I was on my way to a service call in the Land Park area of Sacramento. I was headed East on Broadway, while the Muntz-Jet was headed West, toward Front Street and the California Automobile Museum.

After the call was complete, I headed over to the museum, where the car, in its brilliant pink paint, a color that I believe was called “Orchid” stood out- not only because of its hue, but for its line, a long, low, flowing shape that you’d see echoed  in the upscale American cars that followed.

If you thought the exterior was outrageous, get a load of the interior:

The Muntz-Jet is rare enough that even fairly knowledgeable gearheads have no clue that it existed. I happened upon a mention of the car while reading about the Allard and its American counterpart, the above mentioned and linked Kurtis Sport. It was a stroke of luck to be certain, but not surprising. Sacramento is one of those places that no one expects to have a sizeable trove of rare and unique machines, but it does, so to see a Muntz here is surprising only for a moment. I really hope to see it again- I’d love to get a few more shots and maybe talk with the owner.