sold for  $1,292,500 in March 2013

This is one of seven cars built by LeBaron with what is called a “Barrelside” body. Despite having a second windscreen, this is the only car that does not have an elongated rear cowl.

What’s even cooler is that in 1932 this car owned by prominent Hollywood agent Phil Berg - was stripped of its fenders and a number of other pieces to race a Mercedes-Benz SSK owned by two of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo and Chico. Not just a Friday night grudge match, the race was held at the Muroc dry lake in California for a reported $25,000 booty.

By the time the starter’s flag dropped, more than a thousand spectators were on hand. Invited guests numbered about 200 and included Hollywood royalty such as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and Mae West. The Duesenberg won the race at the hands of stock-car Ace and Auburn test driver Eddie Miller.

http://cars.girlstalkinsmack.com/cars_motorbikes/rm-auctions-of-may-2013-(part-2).aspx
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/06/did-i-ever-post-about-marx-brothers.html
http://oldschooliscool.tumblr.com/

1932 Duesenberg Model-J 462-2522 Custom Speedster

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/375135843937033013/

If you know Duesenbergs, you probably have heard of Ema. Obviously, I'm still learning, as this is all new to me

Ema has restored 52 Duesenbergs in his 30 years in business; six Model Js restored by him have scored first places at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. He reckons he has 28,000 original drawings and 1,000 patterns to make Duesenberg parts. "We can make exact reproductions, as opposed to those which look okay and are a testament to the success of guesswork," he says.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-05-31/lenos-latest-duesie

the Woods Town Car, the ultimate undriven car, the last unrestored Duesenberg to be with its original owner's family, and the ultimate Duesie barn find. Also known as the NYC parking garage Duesie barnfind Leno found that couldn't get out of the building

Fred Roe, who wrote the definitive book Duesenberg, the Pursuit of Perfection, photographed Leno's car covered in dust in the corner where he found it. "Wood made cars from 1904 to 1930, but in very limited numbers," says Roe, a sprightly 86-year-old. "Their main business was building bodies for commercial cars and trucks, so their car bodies came from contacts with store owners."

The only Duesenberg known to be bodied by Woods, this one, was purchased new at the 1931 New York Auto Show by a New York department store owner, was parked in a New York City garage in 1933 by the wealthy owner who didn't like it.

"The car has covered 7,085 miles," says Ema. "It's the last original-owner, original-condition Duesenberg to be found. There's one other in the original family's hands, but it's been reupholstered."

It Leno heard about it and decided to track it down one day while his wife went shopping. Leno says he paid a fair price for his car, considering it will cost $200,000 to restore. He shipped it to Ema in California, and was thrilled by the expert's condition report.

"I figured it was one of those rumors I heard when I was a kid, like the $300 Corvette somebody died in and they couldn't get the smell out, or the Hemi Road Runner where the guy went to Vietnam and never came back," he says.

"I hit about 16 parking garages and asked if they had any old cars upstairs. Then I found this Duesenberg sitting next to a 1932 Rolls-Royce. It was a situation where a great deal of money was owed for parking. The guy was wealthy but wouldn't pay the parking, a lien sale ensued, and I got the car," he recalls.

What Leno bought was the only Duesenberg bodied by F.R. Wood and Sons, a small New York body shop. It's a square, formal Town Sedan, most of which were converted over the years to more valuable open cars.

Duesenberg's New York service department maintained the Woods car until 1937, then it sat until the owner's son inherited it in 1953 and got it running. "He went to a classic car meet, but he didn't like them, so he took it home and parked it," said Ema.

Leno has been quoted as saying it was stuck on the second floor of the garage because the elevator had been remodeled and it was now too long to fit. "No, that's not true," he admits. "I exaggerated so people would think it would have to be dismantled. Hey, it chased people away for ten years."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-05-31/lenos-latest-duesie
http://duesey186.com/Datasheets/Model_J_Index/data2467.htm
http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/w/wood/wood.htm

Known in their day for their high quality commercial delivery vehicles, Frederick R Wood and Sons built the world’s first electric ambulance in 1899. They occasionally built a one-off limousine or town car for one of their commercial body customers and are known to have built on Crane-Simplex, Duesenberg, Mercedes, Panhard, Rolls-Royce and Thomas-Flyer chassis.

Although they shared the same surname, Frederick R. Wood was not directly related to Bridgeport, Connecticut's Frederick Wood, a principal of the famous Bridgeport and Manhattan carriagebuilding house of Wood Bros. that operated a number of large warerooms along Broadway from the late 1840s into the early 1880s.

Howard Hughes had this Duesenberg body chopped in half to tow and support his gliders at his El Mirage Soaring School

1947, El Mirage. chassis number 2456 and engine number J-444

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/65803-howard-hughes-duesenberg-at-el-mirage-1947-not-what-you-think/

The Tourster body style were built exclusively by the Derham Body Company in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. A total of eight were originally produced, of which this car is the third.

The original owner of this car was comedian and actor Joe E. Brown. Brown retained the car for seven years. It then passed through a Cadillac dealer, who turned it over to Clement Hirsch. Several months later, when World War II began, Hirsch traded the car to his brother-in-law, Mark Jelmeland, who traded it into yet another dealership, Kal Kam Ford. The Ford dealer sold the car to William Hunter, from whom it was purchased by Hughes Aircraft.

The company of aviator Howard Hughes elected to remove the rear body section, in order to use the Model J to tow gliders aloft. The car's torque allowed it to launch even the largest aircraft, and it continued to serve as a test vehicle for Briegleb Aircraft after it was sold to them in 1945.

McGowan sold the finished car to Otis Chandler who would kept the car for 10 years. Chandler showed the car on a few occasions and displayed for the rest of the time in his private museum in Oxnard, California. During Chandler's ownership, the car was awarded a CCCA National First Prize, followed by its Senior Award in October 1989.

In March of 1996, Chandler sold the car to John McMullen, of Michigan. In Mr. McMullen's care, it earned Best in Show at the Gilmore Car Museum's Grand Experience in 2001 and numerous Best in Class and class awards, including, notably, Best in Class at the 1995 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and the Gordon Buehrig Memorial Award for Best ACD Car at the same event the following year.

The car joined the John O'Quinn collection in 2007. In 2013, it came to auction at RM Auction's Amelia Island Sale where it was sold for $825,000 including buyer's premium.

http://www.conceptcarz.com/events/eventVehicle.aspx?carID=14238&eventID=1434&catID=3587

Jay Leno's aerodynamic Walker bodied 1934 Duesenberg coupe(J554)... has a leather top, and was designed from wind tunnel testing

Bodied by the firm of A. H. Walker of Indianapolis. In 1934, the Walker Aerodynamic Coupe cost $25,000, making it the most expensive Duesenberg ever produced. It was made for pharmacy tycoon Josiah Lilly, president of Eli Lilly corporation

Though ugly, the headlights are deliberately designed to increase airflow, though Jay described them as looking like they were as ugly as bad implants on a stripper

By the way, I learned that this parking spot is always reserved for Jay. That's kinda cool.

this car was also the cover car for Vintage Road Car magazine, May 2012

some interesting things I noticed at the annual Benedict Castle car show