Equipment
420/265hp, 3-speed, wire wheels, cowl lights, dual sidemount spares with mirrors, Bedford blackwall tires, Pilot Ray lights, dual chrome horns, suicide doors, opera mirrors, courtesy light, engine-turned dash, clock.
Condition
#3 Good
Runs and drives well. Flaws not noticeable to passersby. Most common condition.
ACD Category 1 Certified original drivetrain, chassis, and firewall. Originally delivered as a Weymann Sedan but upgraded with this body in 1933. The chassis shows age and use. The paint is aging and shows cracks in places, including several around the hood vent louvers, the cloth roof is seriously faded. The interior is mostly gorgeous, but there are cracks in the wood trim on the right side. The wood running boards look tired, also. It’s a Duesenberg so it’s automatically special, and it looks stunning from a short distance, but there are plenty of issues to note.
Market commentary
This is a remarkably handsome and purposeful Model J with a hood and cowl that is longer than the Brougham body on Duesenberg’s short wheelbase chassis, a proportion that accentuates the incipient power under the hood. This Duesenberg was offered here a year ago and at Kissimmee in January where it was reported bid to $1.1 million and $900,000 respectively. The reported high bid reached the pre-sale estimate here, but didn’t sell. It should have, but having been viewed at all three auctions by the same person it went from a “2” condition last year to a “2-” condition at Kissimmee to a “3+” condition here. Having added only 3 miles to its odometer since Monterey 2022 it might be inferred that familiarity breeds contempt, or that the writer’s standards have been raised. And why it didn’t sell at a reported bid equal to the low estimate? No one but the auctioneer can answer that.