To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Amelia
Island event, 6 - 7 March 2020.
- Offered from the Keith Crain Collection
- Originally owned by infamous underworld figure Jake "the
Barber" Factor
- Formerly owned by Joe Kaufmann, Ben Caskey, and S. Ray
Miller
- Well-maintained older restoration; original chassis, bell
housing, and coachwork
- Multiple national AACA, CCCA, and ACD Club award winner
- Pictured in Griffith Borgeson's Errett Lobban Cord
- ACD Club Certified Category 1 (D-154)
The Murphy convertible coupe was justifiably the most popular
single body style constructed on the Duesenberg Model J chassis. It
had smooth, simple, classically elegant lines, with the subtle
beauty that Pasadena coachbuilders Walter M. Murphy were known for.
Today the style remains a true classic, and examples very seldom
become available for sale, in particular ones with the superb known
history of J-143-the "Jake the Barber" Model J, a car whose history
begins in gangland and ends among the great collectors of the last
half century.
JAKE THE BARBER
One of about 25 Murphy convertible coupes built with a conventional
folding top, J-143 is believed to have served as a factory branch
demonstrator in California before being sold new on 17 May 1932 to
Jake "the Barber" Factor of California. Half brother of cosmetics
magnate Max Factor, "the Barber" took his nickname from his early
training in hair care. He found his millions not in blush, but in
bamboozling, running a stock scam in England that ensnared even
British royals and netted him $8 million; afterward he fled to
France, rigged the tables at the Monte Carlo casino, and literally
broke the bank, then took his newfound riches home to the United
States. Tried in absentia by the UK courts, he arranged a
"kidnapping" to avoid extradition. The ploy worked, and Factor
remained in the US, eventually relocating to Las Vegas, where he
wound up his, shall we say, "storied" career running the Stardust
for the mob.
Jake "the Barber" kept the Murphy convertible coupe for only a few
months prior to trading up to the "disappearing top" torpedo
convertible coupe J-249-but they were undoubtedly an exciting few
months.
The Duesenberg factory branch in Los Angeles resold the car in July
1932 to Mrs. Reginald Parsons III, wife of a Seattle architect,
himself a Model J owner. Afterward the car was apparently acquired
by a G.I. and driven into the Midwest, where after World War II it
was sold by famed Duesenberg dealer John Troka.
After two short-term intervening owners, the Model J returned to
Troka, who sold it in 1951 to Dan Lang of Racine, Wisconsin. Lang
was an early Duesenberg enthusiast who acquired several of the cars
and many parts in the immediate post-war era. He maintained the car
in partially restored condition until his passing in 1972, after
which J-143 was purchased from his estate by longtime collector
Charles Johnson, who had several Model Js during this period.
"DOC" DUESENBERG'S COVER GIRL
Johnson shortly traded J-143 to Joe Kaufmann, the famed and
much-loved "Duesenberg Doctor" of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, known as
the highly skilled mechanical restorer of dozens of Model Js in a
career that lasted six decades. Kaufmann meticulously restored
J-143, installing the engine from J-174 but retaining the original
engine's bell housing. The completed Murphy convertible coupe,
dubbed "Baby" by its proud owner and restorer, appeared as the
cover feature, "'Doc' Duesenberg's Cover Girl," of the ACD Club
Newsletter, No. 9 1977, and as a color plate in Griffith Borgeson's
book Errett Lobban Cord.
"Baby" was sold in 1978, moving to Florida in the hands of Ben
Caskey, himself a highly regarded collector with a small, select
collection of Full Classics. Caskey, in turn, passed the car in
1983 to prolific Duesenberg owner Rick Carroll, from whom it was
acquired in 1984 by S. Ray Miller of Elkhart, Indiana, inventor of
the crushproof cigarette pack.
J-143 became the crown jewel of the S. Ray Miller Museum, what was,
for two decades, one of the Midwest's most superb collections of
Full Classics, with a focus on significant Indiana-built
automobiles. Each automobile in the collection was fully restored,
many by Mr. Miller's trusted advisors at LaVine Restorations of
nearby Nappanee, with an eye towards making it as correct and
exquisitely finished as possible. Accordingly, J-143 was placed in
the LaVines' hands in 1993 and emerged in 1995 in its present dark
green livery with tan interior. It then embarked upon a highly
successful show career, receiving several ACD Club awards, an AACA
National First Prize, CCCA Senior First Prize (reaching Emeritus
status), and Best Duesenberg at the Meadowbrook Concours
d'Elegance.
The car remained in the Miller Museum until 2004, when the
collection was sold following its owner's passing. It was then
acquired by the present owner, in whose own carefully chosen stable
it has remained for the last 16 years. During that time it has been
only occasionally shown, including winning Second in Class at the
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2006 and appearing at the
Concours d'Elegance of America in 2014 and 2017, receiving a Lion
Award in the latter. The restoration is now older and mellowed, but
still highly attractive and presentable, with the odometer noting
255 miles since the work was completed. The owner notes that the
engine was repainted by Classic & Exotic Service shortly following
his acquisition.
A respected and well-known example, with the outstanding provenance
of Kaufmann, Caskey, and Miller, the "Jake the Barber" Model J is a
Duesenberg to be treasured. One imagines it could still outrun just
about anything...To view this car and others currently consigned to
this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am20.
