Genuine Duezy.....Says it All!
1929 Duesenberg J Convertible Coupe' by Murphy. Winning Best in Show at Pebble Beach in 1981 it has been kept up at highest level since. At a time when its peers were producing under 200 horsepower, the Duesenberg Model J could summon a gargantuan 265 horsepower from its mighty 420 cubic-inch dual-overhead-cam straight-8 engine, attracting the era's elite with its power and performance. This example was custom-built for Chicago lawyer and newspaper magnate Colonel Robert McCormick.
Arguably America’s most sought-after automobile, the fabulous Duesenberg Model J enjoys a reputation like few others. A monument to the ambition of one man - Erret Lobban Cord - and the engineering brilliance of two others - Frederick and August Duesenberg - the Model J was revealed to a awe-struck public at the New York Automobile Salon in December 1928.
The story of the Duesenberg motor car had begun in Des Moines, Iowa in 1906 when the two brothers designed a twin-cylinder automobile to be known as the Mason after its backer, a local attorney. (Originally ‘Düsenberg’, the family had emigrated to the USA from Germany in the 1880s). The Mason soon proved an effective hill climb and race car, but the marque foundered after a disastrous change of ownership and in 1913 the Duesenbergs left to start their own company in St Paul, Minnesota.
The horizontal-valve, rocker-arm, four-cylinder engine designed for the Mason was carried on in a succession of highly successful Duesenberg board track racers, with the result that the brothers’ burgeoning reputation enabled them to secure backing for series production. Duesenberg Motors Corporation moved into a new factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 and almost immediately found itself manufacturing aero engines for the war effort rather than automobiles.
Production of the Duesenberg automobile would not commence until 1922, by which time the brothers were part of a new company, the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation, of Indianapolis. First shown in prototype form in 1920, the Model A appeared with a horizontal-valve, straight eight engine and hydraulic brakes, the latter a first for an American car. Production cars however, used an overhead-camshaft eight. Although highly successful in racing during the 1920s, the Duesenbergs fared less well in the market place and by 1927 fewer than 700 Model As had been built.
In the meantime, Auburn boss Errett Cord had acquired the company and instigated the programme that would result in one of the greatest automobiles in history. When launched at the 1929 New York Auto Show in December 1928, the Model J was the most powerful American car made, its twin-overhead-camshaft, 32-valve, straight eight engine producing a claimed 265bhp in un-supercharged form. The installed figure was undoubtedly less, but even so the Model J had better than 200 horsepower and a formidable performance despite its great size and weight - wheelbases were either 142½” or 153½” inches and production cars tipped the scales at 5,000lbs. At $8,500, the chassis price comfortably exceeded that of the most expensive custom-bodied Cadillac.
The Model J was endowed with outstanding performance: the top speed – achieved at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - was 116mph (187km/h) with 90mph (151km/h) reachable in second gear, making the new Duesenberg one of the fastest road cars of its day. And for those who found the standard model too slow there was the supercharged ‘SJ’, introduced in 1932 and endowed with 320bhp - more with the later ‘ram’s horn’ manifolding. Model J buyers ranged from movie stars to gangsters to politicians, with one-off custom-made bodies abounding. The finished cars were some of the largest, grandest, most beautiful and elegant ever made. Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Howard Hughes and the HRH Duke of Windsor were counted among their owners. Deusenberg’s advertising claimed that theirs was the best car in the world, and the Model J’s exceptional performance and extreme opulence fully backed that assertion.
Genuine Duezy.....Says it All!
1929 Duesenberg J Convertible Coupe' by Murphy. Winning Best in Show at Pebble Beach in 1981 it has been kept up at highest level since. At a time when its peers were producing under 200 horsepower, the Duesenberg Model J could summon a gargantuan 265 horsepower from its mighty 420 cubic-inch dual-overhead-cam straight-8 engine, attracting the era's elite with its power and performance. This example was custom-built for Chicago lawyer and newspaper magnate Colonel Robert McCormick.
Arguably America’s most sought-after automobile, the fabulous Duesenberg Model J enjoys a reputation like few others. A monument to the ambition of one man - Erret Lobban Cord - and the engineering brilliance of two others - Frederick and August Duesenberg - the Model J was revealed to a awe-struck public at the New York Automobile Salon in December 1928.
The story of the Duesenberg motor car had begun in Des Moines, Iowa in 1906 when the two brothers designed a twin-cylinder automobile to be known as the Mason after its backer, a local attorney. (Originally ‘Düsenberg’, the family had emigrated to the USA from Germany in the 1880s). The Mason soon proved an effective hill climb and race car, but the marque foundered after a disastrous change of ownership and in 1913 the Duesenbergs left to start their own company in St Paul, Minnesota.
The horizontal-valve, rocker-arm, four-cylinder engine designed for the Mason was carried on in a succession of highly successful Duesenberg board track racers, with the result that the brothers’ burgeoning reputation enabled them to secure backing for series production. Duesenberg Motors Corporation moved into a new factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 and almost immediately found itself manufacturing aero engines for the war effort rather than automobiles.
Production of the Duesenberg automobile would not commence until 1922, by which time the brothers were part of a new company, the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation, of Indianapolis. First shown in prototype form in 1920, the Model A appeared with a horizontal-valve, straight eight engine and hydraulic brakes, the latter a first for an American car. Production cars however, used an overhead-camshaft eight. Although highly successful in racing during the 1920s, the Duesenbergs fared less well in the market place and by 1927 fewer than 700 Model As had been built.
In the meantime, Auburn boss Errett Cord had acquired the company and instigated the programme that would result in one of the greatest automobiles in history. When launched at the 1929 New York Auto Show in December 1928, the Model J was the most powerful American car made, its twin-overhead-camshaft, 32-valve, straight eight engine producing a claimed 265bhp in un-supercharged form. The installed figure was undoubtedly less, but even so the Model J had better than 200 horsepower and a formidable performance despite its great size and weight - wheelbases were either 142½” or 153½” inches and production cars tipped the scales at 5,000lbs. At $8,500, the chassis price comfortably exceeded that of the most expensive custom-bodied Cadillac.
The Model J was endowed with outstanding performance: the top speed – achieved at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - was 116mph (187km/h) with 90mph (151km/h) reachable in second gear, making the new Duesenberg one of the fastest road cars of its day. And for those who found the standard model too slow there was the supercharged ‘SJ’, introduced in 1932 and endowed with 320bhp - more with the later ‘ram’s horn’ manifolding. Model J buyers ranged from movie stars to gangsters to politicians, with one-off custom-made bodies abounding. The finished cars were some of the largest, grandest, most beautiful and elegant ever made. Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Howard Hughes and the HRH Duke of Windsor were counted among their owners. Deusenberg’s advertising claimed that theirs was the best car in the world, and the Model J’s exceptional performance and extreme opulence fully backed that assertion.