All 13 cars were brand new – each sporting a right-hand-drive steering wheel. The fleet’s crown jewel was, without question a Lincoln custom-designed for Chiang Kai-shek, the long-serving leader of the Republic of China. Earl Muntz purchased the lot, with plans to export them overseas. It was gamble, to be sure, and the Second World War, now raging across Europe, stopped it dead in its tracks.
The disaster nearly ruined the young entrepreneur, who had only recently relocated to Southern California on hearing that cars commanded far higher prices than in his native Illinois. The gamble might have sent him back to the Midwest with his tail between legs, had the event not caught the attention of local papers.
Reports of Muntz’s miscalculation drummed up enough interest to move the entire baker’s dozen, all without ever leaving the shipping crates that failed to carry them overseas. It was an important lesson in the power of promotion and enough success to motivate him to double down, shuttering the dealership in Illinois and opening a second location in his adopted home of Los Angeles. This time, the Great War proved a boon to his business, as many Americans sold off their vehicles at rock bottom prices, amid gas rationing restrictions.
A self-taught electrical engineer who grew up fixing radios for his father’s business, Muntz rose to national prominence manufacturing and selling his own television sets. His method of reducing components to an absolute bare minimum as a cost-cutting practice inspired the term “Muntzing,” and by 1949, Muntz TV, Inc. was manufacturing 5,000 units a year. Three years later, the company generated $55 million in sales.
While Muntz likely didn’t coin “TV” as has been suggested, he at least deserves credit for helping popularize the abbreviation found in his company’s name. It was a linguistic form of Muntzing he liked enough to bestow on his only daughter. Tee Vee Muntz was born in 1952, the latest in a series of publicity stunts that earned the self-stylized showman the nickname, “Mad Man.” His then-wife, swing singer Joan Barton, thought better of the stunt and rechristened Tee Vee a far more socially acceptable Teena.
"I buy 'em retail, sell 'em wholesale. More fun that way!" he said in one ad spot, while claiming in another, "I wanna give them away, but Mrs. Muntz won't let me. She's crazy.”
Earlier that same decade, Muntz made his biggest gamble to date. The Muntz Jet debuted on the September 1951 cover of Popular Science, parked behind a Jaguar and MG, with “New Sports Cars” framing the shot in big, bold letters.
But the Jet wasn’t new, exactly. Three years prior, race car designer Frank Kurtis introduced the world to the Kurtis Kraft Sport. The two-seat sports car landed with a thud, selling a mere three-dozen units in its first five years, leading Kurtis to offload the manufacturing license on Muntz, who was quick to rename the car after himself.
The namesake of Muntzing went all out on the luxury car, extending its body by more than a foot to make room for an additional two seats. Between them, he added a liquor cabinet an ice chest. The Ford V8 engine was swapped for a more powerful Cadillac model capable of hitting up to 125 miles an hour. The interiors were covered with alligator skin or Spanish leatherette and the cars were painted eye-popping shades like pink, purple and yellow.
Celebrities like Mickey Rooney and Grace Kelly were quick to buy one, despite (or because of) its eye-popping price tag. But few others were. Muntz told the press that 394 cars were produced, but the actual number was likely half of that. Each cost an estimated $6,500 to make, causing the car’s creator lose around $1,000 for every one he did manage to sell.
The Muntz Motor Company closed up shop in 1954, while his television business navigated its own struggles. Muntz TV, too, would be out of business by the end of the decade.
Once again, the businessman moved on, creating the 4-track tape – a popular portable audio format also known as the Muntz-Stereo-Pak.
Sources:
Dig That Crazy Man http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,806735,00.html
An L.A. legend you’ve never seen or heard https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-16-me-then16-story.html
The Muntz Jet Was the Best American Car of Its Time https://jalopnik.com/the-muntz-jet-was-the-best-american-car-of-its-time-1828772283