In America, they use the expression doozy for something very special. The origin of that little word is this 1929 Duesenberg Model J 'Sweep Panel' Dual-Cowl Phaeton....
Text: Gerben Bijpost Photography: Darin Schnabel ©2023 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
The Duesenberg Model J was introduced in December 1928 at the New York Motor Show. It featured a 420cid (6884cc) 8-in-line engine with double overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder, resulting in a staggering power output of 265 hp and a top speed of 187 km/h for the time.
Brothers in racing
The American brand Duesenberg had been founded in 1920 by brothers Friedrich and August Duesenberg, who had built a reputation in racing. So their Model J had to be able to compete with the most powerful cars in the world, but also offer the ultimate in luxury. And it did just that. Revolutionary engineering and performance that outdid the competition soon made the car a crowd favourite.
That it nevertheless sold very little had mainly to do with the price tag: you had to fork out a whopping $8,500 and that was just the chassis. Depending on which bodywork you chose, the price could then go as high as $25,000. A huge amount at the time anyway, but especially so back then: the car was introduced the year before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. And money evaporated faster in those days than people could earn it. By comparison, you could drive a new Ford or Chevy out of the showroom for less than $600.
Eye-catching advertising
Therefore, to still find buyers, advertising was abundant. Initially, this was done in a conventional way: a picture of the Model J accompanied by a promotional text listing the car's strong points. But around 1934, they chose a surprising new course: no more picture of the car, no more technical specifications, not even a description. In its place were drawings by Paul Gerding, a Chicago artist and illustrator, who portrayed men and women in settings that indicated extreme wealth: a man gazing into the distance on his luxury yacht, a lady in a mansion watching the workmen in her vast gardens, the owner of a racing stable with his horses and jockeys in the background... Accompanied by just the simple text: He (or she) drives a Duesenberg.
Chewing gum giant
Whether the campaign was very effective is hard to say. Who apparently was receptive to it, however, was one Philip K. Wrigley, heir to William Wrigley Jr, the man who founded his eponymous company in 1891 to sell soap and later baking powder. To boost that trade a little, he gave packs of chewing gum with it as gifts. Soon he discovered that his gum was more popular than the baking powder, and changed his company again.... after which the Wrigley Company grew into the still existing gum multinational with billions in sales.
The young Wrigley, who succeeded his father as CEO of the exploding company, was an avid car enthusiast. This was no doubt stimulated by his youthful access to the best cars in the world, but also by another family business interest: the Wringleys were, in fact, major shareholders in the Auburn Automobile Company, Duesenberg's sister company. That enabled him to buy several Model Js directly from the factory.
Exchange object
One of them is the car you see here. Philip K. Wrigley personally travelled to the Duesenberg factory for it to oversee -and even participate in- the construction of his own chassis, number 2177 with engine J-121. Mounted on top of that was a Convertible Coupé body from Murphy, which Wrigley swapped with a friend a year later for a Sweep Panel Dual-Cowl Phaeton body.
Crash
By then, the Duesenberg brand name had become synonymous with elegance, luxury, mechanical qualities and power. So much so that the word doozy/duesy emerged, an expression to denote something of high quality. Despite this popular accolade, Duesenberg did not have a positive future ahead of it. First, Fred Duesenberg was killed in 1932 after crashing with his own Model J, and barely five years later, in 1937, the brand itself went defunct.
Duesenberg cars quickly lost popularity after that. Around 1942, you could buy used ones in excellent condition for less than $700. And if you looked a bit longer, you would discover offers of a used Model J for $300 to $400, with some eventually selling for less than half that.
From flop to top collectible
Only in late 1950s, when classic and vintage cars became popular among collectors, prices picked up and the counter was accelerating. With the provisional highlight being a Duesenberg SSJ that was auctioned in 2018. This car had once been owned by actor Gary Cooper and was hammered down to a whopping $22 million. In one fell swoop, this made it the most expensive US car ever sold. In comparison, the Duesenberg on these pages, which will be auctioned by Sotheby's in Miami in spring this year, seems like a bargain: for an estimated 2.8 million or so, you can take it home... Unless, of course, there are hijackers on the coast who want to dig a little deeper.