Duesenberg Braking advantage

Red car with beige wheels and roof in a gleaming showroom

Black car with white tyres seen from the side in a black studio

Black-and-white portrait of a man in a suit in front of a wall

Red Duesenberg car with white wheels and open roof in a car park in a green residential area

August and Frederick Duesenberg, also known as Augie and Fred, have a problem. The races are going well, but business is bad. Since 1922 they have wanted to literally enrich the car market. With the very luxurious Duesenberg Model A, they show how they can use their experience in racing engines to create the ideal powerplant for a smooth grand tourer.

With the very first use of hydraulic brakes on all four wheels, the car is far ahead of its time. However, the new technology is expensive, and the car quite literally runs into the law of diminishing returns. Because production is difficult and limited to only 650 units, the brothers are heading for bankruptcy.

In 1926 the brothers are saved by Erret Lobban Cord, owner of Cord and Auburn. Erret believes in Duesenbergs luxury concept. The company must continue with all its developments. From then on Augie focuses on building racing engines, while Erret puts Fred in charge of the car factory and gives him a mission: Build the most luxurious car in the world. And that is exactly what happens. Fred pours all his energy into the new Model J. In 1928 it is ready. The youngest Duesenberg surpasses everything. In a country where a doctor earns 3,000 dollars a year, the Model J costs no less than 8,500 dollars.

Black car with white tires from the side in black studio

Duesenberg Model J Limousine-Landaulette Throne Car

But that is only for the chassis. The final price is between 13,000 and 19,000 dollars. A single example is even sold for 25,000 dollars. For that you get a car with 265 hp and high tech on board: a warning light that indicates every 700 miles that the oil needs to be changed, a light that indicates every 1,400 miles that the battery needs to be checked, and a Bijur pump that automatically lubricates the chassis grease points every 75 miles.

View model J

This is the car you want to be seen in when you are in Manhattan. Your success on wheels. The law of diminishing returns has been beaten. Murphys law, not yet. In 1929 the stock market crashes, and sales of the Model J plunge with it. Yet Duesenberg keeps its head above water thanks to the Hollywood jet set and the European nobility. Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, James Cagney, Mae West, the Duke of Windsor, Queen Maria of Yugoslavia, Alfonso the Eighth of Spain, and oh yes, Al Capone. Romanian Prince Nicolaas buys three of them. And anything is possible: stretched, shortened, in every imaginable color and with any interior. You want to be seen in it. The image of Duesenberg stands above every other brand.

Red Duesenberg car with white wheels and beige top side view in red studio

Duesenberg Model SJ Lagrande Dual-Cowl Phaeton

Duesenberg can continue. In May 1932 Fred Duesenberg introduces the Model SJ, a supercharged J with 320 hp. Recognizable by the four exhaust pipes that emerge from the sides of the engine. A design so iconic that Erret Cord registers it as a trademark just to be sure. Until now, a fast production car reaches a top speed of 160 km/h, but a Duesenberg Model SJ hits that speed in just 17 seconds and keeps going up to 225 km/h.

View Model SJ

But then things go wrong. Two months later, the car proves fatal to Fred. In his Duesenberg Murphy SJ he shoots off the road. He survives the crash, but not the pneumonia that follows. And with that, the driving force of the company is extinguished as well. His leadership is taken over by his brother Augie, but Duesenberg Inc. does not hold out and goes bankrupt in 1937.

Yet the brand is rooted in American culture through the word "doozy." It is still sometimes used to indicate that something is of immeasurable value and quality. The Duesenbergs themselves also remain quite doozy. In 2018, a Model SSJ (once owned by Gary Cooper) fetched 22 million dollars. The Louwman Museum displays some of the most iconic models from Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg. For enthusiasts who want to see more of these marques, there is the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in the city of Auburn.