He Drives A Duesenberg

The Wall Street Journal magazine recently had an article featuring a special Boat Tail Rolls Royce. Three lucky customers are working with Rolls designers to create their one-of-a-kind luxury auto in Roll’s Coachbuild program. One customer has chosen to have a custom refrigerator in the truck instead of a luggage storage area or an engine. The customer pushes a button on the key fob and the trunk opens into two compartments. Then, two trays rise up and tilt at a 15-degree angle for easy access to food and beverage kept at the perfect temperature. It would be perfect for tailgating or steeplechase events.
 
The article caused me to think about the Duesenberg automobile. Duesenberg was America’s answer to the Bugatti, Mercedes, or Rolls Royce with superior engineering. It was started by August (Augie) and Frederick (Fred) Duesenberg to make high performance engines and they participated in some of the early automobile races. In 1919, a special 16-cylinder Duesenberg engine installed in a racing vehicle went the then unheard of 158 mph on the sands of Daytona Beach.
 
They introduced their first luxury passenger car, the Model A, in November 1920 at the Sixteenth Automobile Salon at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. Fred Duesenberg had to bribe a hotel employee to let the car into the hotel. The Model A wasn’t particularly stylish but it could go 85 mph. It was the first production car to have four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a straight-eight engine. The car was priced at the princely sum of $6,500 while a Ford Model T sold for $300.
 
In 1921, a Duesenberg won the French Grand Prix at LeMans with Jimmy Murphy at the wheel. The next closest car was a Ballot driven by Ralph De Palma which finished nearly 15 minutes later. Murphy won the Indianapolis 500 with the car in 1922, however, a Miller engine was used for the race. This car is part of the collection at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
 
After eight unsuccessful attempts to win the Indianapolis 500, the Duesenbergs introduced a supercharger for the 1924 Indianapolis 500 and won the race with L. L. Corum and Joe Boyer as pilots with an average speed of 98 mph.  They repeated the victory in 1925 with Peter De Paolo at the wheel with an average speed of 101 mph. In a Duesenberg owned by Bill White, George Souders won the race in 1927 by eight laps. It was not the fastest car on the track. That was a Miller piloted by Frank Lockhart which exited the race on lap 121 after a connecting rod failure. Souders was the first driver to complete all 500 miles without aid from either a relief driver or a riding mechanic.  It was the last time a Duesenberg would win the race.
 
While the company was winning automobile races, the company experienced financial difficulties and was sold to E. L. Cord. and became a subsidiary of Auburn automobile. Cord wisely kept the Duesenberg brothers on the payroll.  In December 1928, the Model J was introduced to the public.  This car had 265 horsepower which was twice as powerful as the then strongest engine (Chrysler). It powered a car at 117 miles per hour on a long straightaway. With a base price of $8,500 FOB in Indianapolis for the chassis and engine, the car with a custom body would cost about $130,000 today. The Duesenbergs tested each chassis/engine combination at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before being sent to the coachbuilder. The car featured an aluminum dash board with a 150 mph speedometer, a tachometer, a water temperature gauge, a brake pressure gauge, an ammeter, and a gasoline gauge. The car even self-lubricated the chassis every 75 miles.
 
The customer then worked with a different coachbuilder for the body design giving each customer a one-of-a-kind car. When the cost of the body work was included, the cost of buying a Duesenberg was in the range of $17,000 or even up to $25,000. The bodies were opulent. They used the finest woods, fabrics and leathers and included radios, bars and vanity cases. About half of the Duesenbergs had bodies designed by Gordon Buehrig.
 
From 1929 until 1936, 470 Duesenberg chassis and 480 engines were built. Their advertisements were aimed at their clientele with the tagline “He drives a Duesenberg.” There was one with a lady in the advertisement and it said, “She drives a Duesenberg.” The advertisements did not feature the car but instead pointed to a lifestyle such as a yachtsman at the helm of his schooner.
 
The cars were bought by Hollywood stars such as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Greta Garbo, tap dancer phenomenon Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and leaders in the world of business such as William Randolph Hearst, and the Mars (candy) and Wrigley (chewing gum) families. Duesenbergs were also sold overseas. Purchasers included the Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII of England) and other royalty including King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Alfonso XIII of Spain.
 
The company and its parent, Auburn, were dissolved in 1937.
 
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