Art Deco Duesenberg Cabriolet
Image by fossiled
Beginning life as a long wheel-base chassis sold in 1930, and then given a Murphy-bodied Town Car, for Vera Montgomery of New York City, NY. The car was later sold to Vladimir de Radevsky of Paris, who (in 1935) tasked the coachbuilder Graber with re-bodying the car. The update included new instruments, modified suspension, and a design which represented the aerodynamic ideals of the era.
In 1934 the town-car was shipped to Duesenberg’s agent in Paris, E.Z. Sadovich. He in turn brought the car to Swiss coach-builder Graber to have it fitted with a more spectacular body. Graber discarded the original body and shortened the chassis to the length of the standard short wheelbase J. The new body sculpted for the car was a stylish Cabriolet, constructed almost entirely from aluminium. The interior was also very spartan to make it one of the lightest Duesenbergs of its type. Chassis 2254 J-312 is believed to be the only survivor of three Duesenbergs clothed by Graber.
The Duesenberg Model J was produced in Indianapolis from 1929 until 1937. It was powered by a 420 cubic inch double-overhead-cam engine, which produced 265 horsepower normally and 320 horsepower with the addition of the centrifugal supercharger. It was capable of 104 mph in second gear and a top speed of 130 mph. There were 480 cars sold that received custom coachwork, tailored to the individual whims of each owner with no two Duesenberg’s exactly the same. A top of the line Duesenberg could cost ,000 at a time that a new Auburn sedan could be bought for ,000 or a Model A for under 0. The Coachwork was left to the discretion of the buyer. The cost of the rolling chassis was around ,000 and usually included all mechanical components, dashboard, radiator grill, and other essentials.
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