Duesenberg Sets Endurance Test Record

As part of a larger 18,000-mile endurance test of the Duesenberg Straight 8 spanning three weeks, the Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Company planned to simulate a cross-country trip. Using the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the fully equipped Duesenberg Straight 8 was driven 3,155 miles, approximately the distance from New York City to Los Angeles, with an average speed of 62.63 miles per hour in late April 1923. The speed was computed without deducting the time consumed in three stops for tire changes during which the engine continued to run. The motor ran two days, two hours and 45 minutes without stopping. 
 
The company had a crew of twelve men to do the driving with two men in the car at a time. Interestingly, the transfer of oil, gas and water was done while the car was in motion. A modified Duesenberg chassis equipped with a large tank, a boom and a hose would pull alongside. A man in the back seat would take the handle from a second man standing in the modified chassis and refill the car similar to how military planes are refilled. The transfer would be made while the car was going between fifty and sixty miles per hour. .
 
The first stop for tires was at 1500 miles when it was noticed that two of the four tires were worn down to the cords. The car had already set a new endurance record covering 1500 miles with an average speed of 61.3 miles per hour. The scorers figured that the car’s distance would have been ten miles west of Kansas City.  Not terribly long after the second tire change, the car punctured a tire necessitating a third tire change.
 
Overnight, the speed of the car slowed when six hours of rain fell on the track. To make up the differential, the car's speed increased to about 75 miles per hour. After concluding the test, the car was driven several additional times around the track. The endurance run was verified by three officials from the American Automobile Association.
 
The Duesenberg Straight 8, also known as the A Model, had cutting-edge engineering with an overhead straight eight cam engine and introduced hydraulic 4-wheel brakes. Despite their superior engineering, the Model A over five years had about 600 sales. The lack of sales success was because the car had a high factory price which did not include the coachwork which was custom made.
 
A month after its record-breaking endurance run, Fred Duesenberg drove the Straight 8 as the pace car for the 1923 Indianapolis 500.
 
At the time of the test, Duesenberg stockholder Peter Pfisterer was seeking the appointment of a receiver for the company. Pfisterer alleged that the company was insolvent and that the officers had mismanaged the company. At the time of his complaint, Pfisterer owned three shares of Duesenberg stock. The suit was dismissed after Pfiesterer admitted on the witness stand that his allegations were based upon a confidential source. The court was not provided with any substantiated information.
 
While the suit was dismissed, there was reason to believe that the company was mismanaged. Fred and Augie Duesenberg, who did the engineering on the car, had licensed the name to a group of investors led by Newton Van Zandt and Luther Rankin. When the Straight 8 was unveiled in New York City in 1920, the company did not have a sales organization. In 1921, Van Zandt resigned from Duesenberg after being charged with fraud at ReVere Motor in Logansport, Indiana, where he was the president. B. A. Worthington, a member of the board, assumed the leadership of the company in 1922. While Worthington had been involved in the construction of the company’s Indianapolis plant, his experience was in running the C, I & W Railroad. A year later, leadership was transferred to Rankin. In January 1924, the company was forced into receivership by Acme Works, Inc. While Acme was owed $2,639 by Duesenberg, it claimed that the creditor pool was owed in excess of $150,000. In October 1926, the company was sold to E. L. Cord, president of the Auburn Automobile Company.
 
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