The Nostalgia of Forgotten Gods: Duesenberg, USA, 1913-1937

In the world of collecting, Duesenbergs hold a prominent place with significant auction valuations (from a minimum of $500,000 to $5 million these days). The American brand was created in the 1910s by the brothers Frederick and August Duesenberg, who emigrated with their family from Germany to Iowa to ride the wave of the new internal combustion engine-powered transportation revolution. Their initial focus was on racing cars, which quickly proved to be very competitive.

Their passion led them to concentrate on performance and the build quality of their cars more than on a commercial organization. Thanks to the experience gained during World War I with engines for military use, the Duesenberg brothers designed their first eight-cylinder engine with the intention of entering it into races. The perfect opportunity came with the 1921 French Grand Prix, the first major post-war racing event, where they fielded four cars ready to challenge the established Peugeot, Ballot, and Talbot-Darraq teams. To everyone’s surprise, the victory was clinched by the Duesenberg driven by Jimmy Murphy. It was a prestigious message for the brand, demonstrating its reliability in a grueling race and marking the first time an American manufacturer triumphed in Europe, a feat not repeated until the 1960s.

The success at the 1921 French Grand Prix, with Jimmy Murphy at the wheel, established Duesenberg as a prestigious brand.

The successful launch strategy materialized in the same year with the introduction of Duesenberg’s first road car: the Straight Eight, better known simply as the Model A, produced at their new factory in Indianapolis. However, sales did not take off, primarily due to the lack of a proper commercial structure. This was paradoxical given that in the racing world, the brand won the Indianapolis 500 three times in 1922, 1924, and 1925.

The 1921 Duesenberg Model A was the brand’s first road model, produced at the new factory in Indianapolis.

With the costs of racing and stagnating sales, in 1926 the Duesenberg brothers were forced to sell the company to rival Auburn, owned by Errett Lobban Cord, who retained Frederick and August as valuable collaborators in the design department. It’s worth noting that Duesenbergs already had dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder at that time, explaining their performance. The new ownership decided a new model was needed, luxurious and powerful, to achieve the hoped-for commercial success. Thus, in 1928, the Model J was born, with an eight-cylinder, 6.9-liter engine capable of 265 horsepower, an impressive figure for that era. Finally, the market responded, and many famous personalities desired it: actors like Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Ginger Rogers, even King Alfonso XIII of Spain ordered one. Other well-known figures, such as Al Capone, also owned one.

The 1928 Model J brought success to Duesenberg, becoming a Hollywood symbol of the 1930s.

The roaring twenties were destined to become a memory with the onset of the Great Depression in late 1929. It was a severe blow to the automotive industry, but Errett Lobban Cord did not give up and asked Frederick Duesenberg, a brilliant technician, to design a supercharged version of the Model J, called the SJ. There were also even more powerful models: SSJ, JN, and the SJN, which offered a remarkable 400 horsepower. However, this was not enough, and in 1937, Duesenberg disappeared from the automotive world, with Errett Lobban Cord also being forced to abandon his original Cord project, another car as ingenious as it was commercially unsuccessful. It marked the end of the dream of visionary men who were ahead of their time. It’s no coincidence that despite the few models produced, Duesenbergs – like Cords – are still synonymous with quality and technological innovation today, sought after by collectors worldwide who are willing to invest significant sums to own one. True works of art.

In 2018, the 1935 Duesenberg SSJ once owned by Clark Gable was sold by Gooding for a record $22,000,000.