At the hatchway of the New York Salon , on December 1 , 1928 , one car stood out above all the others that were on display . It was the unexampled Duesenberg . Keep read to learn more about 1928 - 1934 Duesenberg J - Series .

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The Duesenberg J-101 was the very first of the J - Series cars and the only model that had been completed by December of 1928 . And what a gorgeous motorcar to behold ! complete in silver and black , it was a treble - cowl phaeton , birth coachwork by LeBaron , The Leontyne Price was n’t intend , except to say that the bare figure sold for $ 8,500 . Figure at least $ 2,500 for a coachbuilt consistence and a emptor would have been looking at a price shred equivalent to 22 Model A Fords .

Left to his own devices , Fred Duesenberg would never have produced anything so pretentious . But financial problems had overtaken the Duesenberg Motor Company of Indianapolis , and mastery of the house had been acquired in 1926 by Errett Lobban Cord , president of the Auburn Automobile Company . Cord wisely left Fred Duesenberg and his crony , August , in charge – but he made it clear that he want the Duesenbergs to develop the " World ’s Greatest Motor Car . "

Fred Duesenberg had been build automobiles of his own pattern as betimes as 1906 , though in those years the name of his backer , Edward R. Mason , appeared on the radiator badge . He had gone on to build marine engines , and marvellously successful racing motorcar powered by a four - cylinder " walking beam " railway locomotive of his own design . Then , during World War I , Duesenberg twist to the production of aircraft locomotive engine and powerplants for artillery tractor unit .

And finally , in 1921 , the first Duesenberg rider auto appear , the Model A. A extremely advanced machine , it was power by America ’s first series - grow straight eight , a 259.6 - three-dimensional - column inch job feature an overhead camshaft and grass at 88 horsepower . This at a time when Cadillac advertised its fine V-8 at 60 bhp . speed as mellow as 85 miles an minute were possible for anyone reckless enough to drive at such a pace on the comparatively primitive road of the day . And to insure the gadget driver that the Duesenberg would stop as well as it would go , four - roulette wheel hydraulic brakes were fitted - another industriousness " first . "

But at $ 6,500 , that original Duesenberg was an expensive automobile , more than twice as costly as a Cadillac . Demand was never high , and by 1926 product was down to one or two auto a workweek . It was at that point that E.L. Cord entered the picture , and work start up on the growth of the mighty Model J.

Keep reading to ascertain about the mechanics behind the Duesenberg J.

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The Mechanics Behind the Duesenberg J

The Duesenberg J was an enormous automobile . Two wheelbase lengths were declare oneself : 142.5 and 153.5 column inch . And the car were laborious – the lightsome of them , the open styles on the shorter wheelbase , weighed close to 5,500 pounds . But under the cap was a fabulous 419.7 - cubic - in , treble - overhead - camshaft consecutive eight . Fitted with four valves per cylinder , it produced a head - boggling 265 horsepower and 374 pounds / foot torsion .

By equivalence , America ’s 2d most powerful production car in 1929 was the Pierce - Arrow , rate at 125 bhp . Duesenberg advertised that " with a standard touring body and with top and windshield up and fenders on , this car has attained 116 m.p.h . , while a maximum speed of 89 m.p.h . has been reached in second paraphernalia . "

The big engine , design by Fred Duesenberg and manufactured by Lycoming ( a Cord - owned party ) , was as smooth as it was powerful . The drop-off - forged crankshaft , cradled in five outsize independent bearings , was made of three-fold - heat - plow chrome nickel sword . It was counterweight , and statically and dynamically balanced . And then , just to be doubly cautious , there was a vibration muffler consisting of two magazine , each containing 16 ounces of hydrargyrum . Any vibrations that might be rig up in the shaft were damped out almost instantly by the campaign of the Hg in the cartridges .

Nobody talk about gas milage . Those who had to ask evidently could n’t afford a Duesenberg anyway . Fuel was fed to the big 1 - 1/2 - in Schebler carburetor by no few than four fuel pump , one of them mechanical , the others electric . Full pressure sensation lubrication was fulfil by agency of a geartrain - driven oil pump with a capacity of 22 gallons per mo . Meanwhile , an eight - Imperial gallon cooling system made sure there were no problem with overheating .

A hypoid axle , highly unusual in those day , helped make possible the fresh Duesenberg ’s low profile . Ross cam - and - lever tumbler steering was used , and under - girding the chassis was a frame stout enough to sustain a load car . As for the brakes , they were in all likelihood the best in the industry – hydraulics , of form , with Brobdingnagian 15 x 3 - inch drums .

Shortly after foundation time an adjustable vacuum booster , command from the flair , was supplied , making it potential for the driver to equalize the big Duesenberg ’s braking natural process to the conditions of the moment - anywhere from gentle , for glacial pavement , to very abrupt .

check about the production of the Duesenberg on the next pageboy .

Duesenberg Production

Bodies for the Duesenberg J were supplied by some of the country ’s leading coachbuilders : Murphy , Holbrook , Derham , LeBaron , Willoughby , and Weymann , to name but a few . Then as the Duesenberg ’s fame spreading , coachwork came from overseas . Fernandez et Darrin , Franay , Gurney Nutting , Saoutchik , and other top - ranking house were represented .

And then there were the LaGrande bodies , most of them phaetons and all of them gorgeous . The late Gordon Buehrig , Duesenberg ’s chief stylist from 1929 to 1933 , explain : " The LaGrande Phaeton was a mathematical product of the Depression , and it exemplifies the struggle [ Duesenberg frailty - president ] Harold Ames made to keep the Duesenberg companionship in clientele .

" The Union City Body Company of Union City , Indiana , who build up the consistency shells for the LaGrande tourer , was not a prestigiousness carriage builder . They had built some bodies for Auburn , but they also built bottom for picture field of operations and other non - automotive products . However , they could work up bodies and they had a humbled pay scale . Ames was able to buy phaeton body from them for less than he could from LeBaron or Derham .

" At the Duesenberg manufactory we had good trimmers and painters , equal in fact to those in the prestigiousness custom shops . Thus , the LaGrande bodies were purchased ' in the white , ' then decked trimmed and painted at Duesenberg . This arrangement had the extra advantage of keeping our own craftsmen busy .

" LaGrande , incidentally , was a name coin by Harold Ames to be a prestige body nameplate because Union City … was not a recognise carriage builder . The LaGrande name was also used later for all organic structure received at the factory ' in the white , ' which included unfinished bodies from Weymann , Walker , Brunn and others . While a LaGrande body plate was struck , it was not normally used , and these vehicles were usually delivered with no body plate append as they were referred to as Duesenberg ’s own coachbuilder . They are credited with produce twenty - one bodies , of which nineteen were LaGrande touring car . "

In fact , the LaGrande phaeton was basically Gordon Buehrig ’s adjustment of the LeBaron design that had appear on Duesenberg J-101 , though Buehrig comprise some of the features of the late Derham Tourster , a trunk he had in person design . The LaGrand rendering was suitable for use of goods and services on either the 142.5 - or 153.5 - inch human body , though most of them appeared on the myopic wheelbase .

On the next Thomas Nelson Page , discover out how Duesenberg fair during the Depression .

Dusenberg in the Depression

By 1931 , with the Carry Amelia Moore Nation locked in the grip of the worst Depression in history , the grocery for auto of the Duesenberg ’s bore – and price – had just about dry out up . Even those few mass who could still afford such an automobile were , more often than not , loth to show off their successfulness in the nerve of such far-flung poverty .

Still , there was a pocket-sized but firm clientele , many of whose penis came from the renown public . Over the years Gary Cooper owned two of them . So did Mae " get along Up and See Me Sometime " West , while chewing gum magnate Philip Wrigley owned five ! Harlem evangelist Father Divine had a vast Duesenberg " Throne Car , " built on a special wheel - substructure of 178 inch . Cardinal Mundelein , who must somehow have overlooked his vow of poorness , owned a Duesenberg . So did Howard Hughes , New York Mayor Jimmy Walker , playboy Tommy Manville , pharmaceutical tycoon Eli Lilly , publisher William Randolph Hearst , and Hearst ’s great - and - good - friend Marion Davies .

Duesenberg ’s response to its shrinking market place was twofold . First , the price of the human body was lift from $ 8,500 to $ 9,500 , presumably on the premise that the extra $ 1,000 would n’t mean a heavy bargain to anyone who could give such an expensive piece of equipage in the first place . And secondly , a supercharge interlingual rendition was under developing .

Introduced in May 1932 , the supercharged SJ series developed a neck - snap 320 HP . Priced at $ 11,750 in bare anatomy form , it was fit with flashy , chrome - plat external exhaust system pipes ( which were presently adopt by owners of non - blown Duesys , of class ) . The factory claimed that an SJ phaeton with the top down would do 104 mile an hour in second gear , 129 in top .

Tragically , however , just a month after the SJ ’s debut , Fred Duesenberg died of pneumonia , resulting from injuries suffer in an machine stroke in which he was driving an SJ . His chum , Augie , took over Fred ’s duties as principal technologist . before long afterwards , Gordon Buehrig left to conjoin Harley Earl ’s staff at General Motors , though he would return later to contrive the fabulous Auburn speedster of 1935 - 1936 and the Series 810/812 Cords of 1936 - 1937 .

But by that clock time E.L. Cord ’s automotive empire was crumble . Auburn packed it in following the 1936 time of year , and a yr later both Cord and Duesenberg were go . Well , almost gone – between 1938 and 1940 one final Duesenberg was assembled from remnant contribution .

A number of years ago , the late Ken Purdy write : " The fact that a whole new genesis still recognize his car as ' the finest thing on four wheels ' would please [ Fred Duesenberg ] , which is perhaps the best repository that he could have . "

Keep reading for specification on 1928 - 1934 Duesenberg J - Series automobiles .

1928-1934 Duesenberg Specifications

The 1928 - 1934 Duesenberg J - Series were beautifully made , expensive auto that had a hard metre find a clientèle during the Depression years . Keep reading for specifications on the 1928 - 1934 Duesenberg J - Series .

Specifications*:

locomotive engine : dohc , 32 - valve 1 - 8 , 419.7 cid/6.9 liters ( 3 3/4 × 4 3/4 - in./95 × 121 -mm bore × stroke ) , 5.25:1 compression ratio ; 5 master bearings , 4 fuel pumps ( 3 electric , 1 mechanical ) , full pressure lubrication ; Schebler carburetor , 265 bhp @ 4,250 rpm

Transmission:3 - speed selective , level - mounted lever

respite : stiff axle , semi - elliptic leap , Watson stabilators ( front ) , Delco Lovejoy shock absorbers ( rearward )

Brakes:4 - steering wheel hydraulic drum type ( vacuum attend beginning 1930 )

Wheelbase ( in.):142.5

Shipping weight ( lbs):5,460

0 - 100 miles per hour ( sec):21

Top speed ( mph):116 ( 89 in second gear )

Production : Approx . 480 ( J , SJ , SSL and JN combine )

  • 1929 model , J-101