1929 Duesenberg Model J dual-cowl phaeton. Photo courtesy
Glenmoor Gathering, via HemmingsDaily.
Today is Fred S. Duesenberg's birthday. People forget this now, but Indianapolis, Indiana, was a center of automobile manufacture in the early years of cars. Cord and Duesenberg were based there, among others (Cord owned Duesenberg). There's a reason the Indy 500 is America's best-known auto race.
The Duesenberg Model J marked the high point of automotive craftsmanship in the U.S.—it's all been downhill ever since. Duesenbergs are given their own category at the Concours at Pebble Beach so they don't run away with every prize. Only Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce are similarly singled out among European marques.
An automotive writer in the 1970s estimated that even to build a true replica of a Model J at that time would cost $250,000. It would probably be ten times that much today. The most expensive American car ever sold at auction is a Ford Racing GT40, but Duesenbergs account for three other spots in the top ten, including #2. (Number six is the Batmobile!)
Etching of Fred Duesenberg, from a ceremonial resolution passed by the Board of Directors of the company on the occasion of his death
Fred, who was born in Germany, died after crashing one of his Duesenbergs, driving very fast.
Mike
ADDENDUM: Today is also Alfred Eisenstaedt's birthday. His reputation has been gradually slipping, but he was once considered the premier LIFE magazine photographer as well as the quintessential Leica photographer. It's a real shame that there's no great Eisie book in print right now, but Viking's Witness to Our Time
...And Dave Brubeck's birthday as well. This is a superlative box set
Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Richard: "What a Duesy!"
Mike replies: Right you are Richard. The expression "what a doozy!" or "that's a doozy!", meaning something extraordinary or outstanding, derives from the Duesenberg.
There's beauty under the hood as well. Those cars are masterpieces.
Posted by: Jim Allen | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 01:27 PM
There's a beauty of a Model J in the Reynolds Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The thing is that over the decades it's been worked over so many times, no one is quite sure what it actually looked like when new. Apparently this is not uncommon for Duesenbergs.
Posted by: Brian Small | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 01:44 PM
My high school friend's dad restored Duesenbergs in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. These were some of the most beautiful cars around. Too bad the depression put them out of business
Chris
Posted by: Chris Beloin | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 03:01 PM
Replacing the Miata?
Posted by: Michael Purcell | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 04:33 PM
Ah, Brubeck. Saw him in a performance of the Commandments in Bryn Mawr, PA, in 2007, with the choral group, Singing City. Afterwards, as a surprise treat for the audience, he and his group reset the position of the instruments, and swung into some free-flowing jazz. I admit, I had no idea where the music was going, and could not grasp any thread that felt familiar. (I guess that I'm not a "true" jazz listener.) Them somehow, there came a familiar chord, then in a little while a few more, and before long, "Take Five!" Sure, it may have become cliche, but the audience applauded.
Posted by: MikeR | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 08:46 PM
Eisenstaedt isn't the only great 20th Century photographer whose reputation is slipping. Edward Weston is another.
Posted by: Bill Mitchell | Saturday, 06 December 2014 at 10:12 PM
Some pics from the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Indiana I took back in 2005. Great cars!
http://www.philaphoto.com/imageLibrary/thumbnails.php?album=904
Posted by: Phil Aynsley | Sunday, 07 December 2014 at 04:27 AM
Now I'm just being an art nerd, but the illustration looks more like a lithograph or drawing, not an etching.
Posted by: Jim Meeks | Sunday, 07 December 2014 at 11:55 AM
The real pinnacle of Duesenbergs is the SSJ, a supercharged SJ, only a few were made, it is faster and better looking than the J.
[Naw, I like the J's better. More different body styles (all bespoke of course). Never did like hoity-toity rare limited super-deluxe models e.g. gold-plated Leicas. --Mike]
Posted by: Ed | Sunday, 07 December 2014 at 06:20 PM
My love of photography, art and design all come from seeing this and others such as Cord's and Auburns. My father had no mechanical aptitude but had a voracious love of cars. Every year he would go the the Ford, GM, Rambler, Chevy and other dealers and grab all the literature he could. He would then send it of to friends in England for brochures for Jaguar, Vauxhall, TVR and Bently etc. I saw at an early age how beautiful these automobiles were. He would take us to all the local Concourse shows where he would talk about all the body designers and enlighten us at to where art and motoring coalesced.
Posted by: Steve Mason | Sunday, 07 December 2014 at 07:12 PM
"The Duesenberg Model J marked the high point of automotive craftsmanship in the U.S."
I'm sure that's true for some value of "craftsmanship". It's a gorgeous piece of art.
But as a card-carrying Philistine, I see cars as tools for transportation rather than pieces of art and evaluate them using that metric. With priors, I'd take the mechanical engineering of nearly any decent-quality vehicle built in the last 20 years instead.
Heresy, I'm sure. 8-)
Posted by: Doug Sundseth | Monday, 08 December 2014 at 10:09 AM
Dear Mike,
Gotta say, the Duesenberg is the only car I've ever actually liked. I'm not a car fancier-- they're utlitarian tools for me. I don't bond to them nor fall in love (or even mild lust) with them.
'Cept for the D. That car tugs at my heartstrings.
pax / Ctein
Posted by: ctein | Wednesday, 10 December 2014 at 01:42 AM