In 1913 brothers Fred and August would establish
the Duesenberg Motor Co. to build a variety
of engines...
The Duesenberg "J" may not have featured
a supercharger, but the 6.9 litre engine still
made the car good for a top speed of around 116mph.
Pictured is the (at the time) more popular LWB
version with rear seating arrangement...
The Deusenberg J featured flowing lines and wonderful
bright work...
 The
awesome but lethal supercharged SJ
would claim founder Fred Duesenbergs
life during testing...
 A
rare alternative to the LWB version
was the 11ft 10in roadster, complete
with 'Dickie' seat...
This rear view image gives clearer detail of the
fabulous speedster tail (with Dickie seat lowered),
and the removal of the running board accentuates
the exhaust system...
Doing away with fender mounted lights and incorporating
a single unit into the front bumper was way ahead
of its time for the 1935 Duesenberg SJ
"Mormon Meteor"... |
Fred and August Duesenberg
The beautifully built and styled Duesenberg
may have been owned by screen greats Clark Gable and
Gary Cooper, but was never able to make serious inroads
into car manufacture.
The company was founded by Fred
Duesenberg; born in Germany in 1876 Fred immigrated
to North America and started his first business building
bicycles.
As an aspiring car designer, he played a
big part in the design of the “Mason” automobile
in 1906, after which he set up his own racing engine
business with brother August.
Together,
the pair built and supplied their race engines to Mason
in 1912, and then established the Duesenberg Motor Co.
the following year. As their business expanded, Duesenberg
began manufacturing a wide variety of engines including
racing, road car, airplane and marine varieties.
A special
16-cylinder unit powered a Land Speed Record contender
up to 158mph (254.3 km/h) in 1919, and in 1921 a Duesenberg
won the prestigious French Grand Prix.
The first Duesenberg production car followed in late
1921; called the Model A, it had a straight eight-cylinder
260cu.in (4.25 litre) engine, and was the first-ever
North American car to use hydraulic brakes.
The Takeover By Erret Lobban Cord
Less than
500 cars were sold up to 1926, at which point the company
was taken over by the colorful entrepreneur Erret Lobban
Cord – founder of the Cord Automobile Company and another marque that will be featured in the Unique
Cars and Parts “Lost Marques” feature.
Cord kept Fred Duesenberg on as an
employee, and soon had him developing the wonderful “Model
J”.
The car was launched in 1928 and featured a massive
straight-eight 420cu.in (6.9 litre) engine built by
Lycoming - another company in the Cord group.
The
engine had twin chain-driven overhead camshafts, four
valves per cylinder and a (claimed) power output of
265bhp
– almost twice that of any other American built
car of the time. The open four-seater “J”
was good for a top speed of around 116mph (186.7 km/h)
– quite literally awesome for the time!
Cord did not allow the Depression to thwart his grandiose
plans for the car, and continued development of a supercharged
version.
The Release Of The SJ
In 1932 his dreams were realized when the “SJ”
was released. The celebrations were short lived, Fred
Duesenberg having a bad accident during testing of the
car – he would later die from resultant complications.
The SJ itself, of which only 36 were ever built, was
said to develop 320bhp, could top 130mph (209 km/h)
and was good for the 0-100mph dash in a mere 17 seconds.
August would take over his brothers responsibilities
as chief engineer, and would see his brothers creation
reach an astounding 135mph (217 km/h) for 24 consecutive
hours setting a new record during 1935 trials at the
Bonneville Salt Flats (Ab Jenkins driving the aptly named "Mormon Meteor"). In fact, the car would set
a staggering average of 152mph (244.6 km/h) during
one hour of the trials!
Even though the J and SJ Models made widespread use
of aluminum parts, the regal and luxurious custom-built
coach work made the cars rather overweight.
And it was
a requirement of any purchaser that their wallet also
suffer a similar affliction.
But there was no doubting
the cars beauty, and boasting such (lethal) power the
car found favor with movie stars, politicians and industrialists.
Nearly all specified formal body work on the 12ft 9.5in
chassis, although there was a shorter 11ft 10in chassis
available, the body work encompassing a lovely 2-seater
roadster with a ‘Dickey’ or ‘Rumble’
seat housed in the speedster tail.
It was this latter version, when equipped with the
supercharged SJ engine, which was seen at the time as
the ultimate US built car. Dubbed the “SSJ”,
examples were to find their way into the garages of
arguably two of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the
time, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.
No doubt adding to
the allure of the car was its scarcity on US roads –
with only around 500 model J’s being built between
1929 and 1937. Even less of the SJ and SSJ were built.
Financial difficulty at Cord would have dire consequences
for Duesenberg, and neither company would survive past
the late 1930’s.
We are not aware of any examples
existing in Australia, and even for those in the US
the chances are you will see a replica “SSJ”
rather than the real thing. But then as the saying goes,
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…
Also see:
Duesenberg Model J
Duesenberg Model SJ Mormon Meteor
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