Duesenberg J Series
Born: 1928 Died: 1937
It was designed to be and billed as "The World's Finest Motor Car", but the Duesenberg Model J and its Duesenberg J Series derivatives wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for entrepreneur and carmaker EL Cord, who bought the Duesenberg company from the edge of bankruptcy. The founders, Augie and Fred Duesenberg, were superb engineers, and expanding from their bicycle business into racing cars in the early 1920s. With a number of technical innovations, their cars won many domestic and international events, including the 1921 Le Mans, but sales of their advanced but dull-looking first road car were dismal.
When Cord bought them out in 1926, he commissioned what was to become the J. Under Fred Duesenberg's engineering direction, the design was developed by Gordon Buehrig. Because any expensive car of the time had its body done by an outside coachbuilder, the car was first shown at the New York Auto Show in chassis form, with the front end, grille, mudguards and long bonnet enclosing the engine. The price tag approximated the cost of a Mercedes Benz S-Class today, - reflecting Cord's ambition for the car to be exclusive and profitable.
The engine was built by Lycoming, a company also owned by Cord and which provided motors for several car companies of the day. But Fred Duesenberg's technical expertise made his car's powerplant very special. A 6.9-litre straight-eight, it had twin overhead cams and four valves per cylinder and had a 265hp output in its most powerful version, at least a third more than was produced by the nearest competitor in that engine range. The car originally had a four-speed gearbox, but soon that was changed to a three-speed which better suited the characteristics of the engine.
During the life of the car, the basic engine was upgraded a couple of times. The first involved the addition of a supercharger, which increased power output by 55hp. Later, with ram-horn intakes fitted, the output achieved a massive 400hp. Popular designations for these versions, which were built in very small numbers, were SJ and SSJ respectively, but Duesenberg itself never used those names.
Many famous names drove Duesenberg Js, including Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Queen Marie of Yugoslavia and the Duke of Windsor.
Gradually, soon after introduction, Duesenberg commissioned batches of cars with the same bodies from coachbuilders, and were thus able to provide "off the shelf" versions for customers who didn't want to go through the two-stage process.
One of the most famous versions of the J was built for record-making. Augie Duesenberg had continued racing after the company was sold, and bought one engine and a chassis from which he and racer Ab Jenkins built the "Duesenberg Special". It had a special streamlined body designed by Herbert Newport.
In 1935, despite some engine problems, Ab Jenkins and relief driver Tony Gulotta set a number of new world records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, including travelling 3,253 miles in 24 hours, at an average speed of 135.47 mph. In 1936, with a modified Curtiss V12 engine, Augie and Ab renamed their car the Mormon Meteor and set new 24-hour and 48-hour speed records. Refitted with its original engine, that car became Ab Jenkins's regular road car for many years later. It is still in existence.
The financial collapse of the EL Cord empire in 1937 ended the production of "The World's Finest Motor Car", after fewer than 500 had been built. Today the J and its derivatives are among the most sought-after collector cars in the world.