To Be OFFERED AT AUCTIONEstimate:
$850,000 - $1,100,000
- Offered from thirty years of enthusiast ownership
- Original short-wheelbase chassis, engine, and coachwork
- Equipped with a supercharger built using original
components
- Featured in Beverly Rae Kimes's The Classic Car
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
The Model J with short-wheelbase chassis number 2192 and engine no.
J-169 was likely originally supplied on the East Coast, with one of
roughly 45 convertible sedan bodies produced for Duesenberg by the
Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California. These cars were
unusually beautifully proportioned, with simple, classic lines
inspired by earlier Murphy bodies created for Packard and Hudson.
By its body number this example appears to have been ordered for
Duesenberg stock, yet it was equipped with several interesting
features, including a lockable compartment in the rear seat
floorboard.
The earliest known owner of J-169 was a William Robinson of
Connecticut, who, according to the notes of Duesenberg historian
Ray Wolff, was the car's second owner. After two further
intervening owners, the car was purchased by Julius Reale, who
stored it from 1949 to 1960, when it was sold to the early
collector Tony Pascucci of Meriden, Connecticut. At the time,
Pascucci was having Ted Billing of Massachusetts restore his
original LeBaron "barrelside" dual-cowl phaeton; J-169 was used as
payment for the work on that car.
In February 1967 the car was sold by Billing to Al San Clemente of
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, a longtime collector and trusted
personal friend. Mr. San Clemente spent nearly two decades on the
Duesenberg's restoration, electing to convert the car to the
ultimate supercharged "SJ" specification. A single-carburetor
supercharger was assembled, using the original top "pot" portion of
a factory supercharger; this aluminum piece was porous and had
remained unusable until the technology arrived, in the 1970s, to
impregnate and seal it. The inner gears and other componentry for
the "blower" were supplied new by Leo Gephart. It is significant
that, in an era when fully reproduction superchargers were coming
into their own, this car's owner went to the lengths of using what
original pieces he could find.
Following eighteen years of ownership, in 1985 the San Clementes
sold the freshly restored Duesenberg to a new owner in the Pacific
Northwest. It soon passed to the flamboyant and colorful Domino's
Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who kept it along several other
Duesenbergs in his vast and diverse collection in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. During Monaghan's ownership the car was exhibited at the
1987 Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance. It was eventually sold from
the Monaghan collection to a longtime enthusiast in New Jersey, and
was featured in Beverly Rae Kimes's 1990 book, The Classic Car, in
which the owner, asked to describe why it was special, noted,
"Because it's supercharged!"
In 1990 J-169 was sold by RM Classic Cars to the present owner, a
German enthusiast, in the first major "deal" completed by the
burgeoning company. It has remained largely tucked away for the
last three decades, seldom shown, and is genuinely "fresh to
market." Its Billing restoration is older now, but remains
well-preserved, and the two-tone green finish and complementary
interior very attractive. Accessories include Pilot Ray driving
lights and a luggage rack with trunk. At the time of cataloging the
car recorded 808 miles, presumably since completion of the
restoration; the most recent mechanical work was the fitment of a
new head gasket.
A fine Duesenberg, it awaits a new caretaker who will enjoy caring
for it, and savoring its thrilling supercharged performance on the
open highway.To view this car and others currently consigned to
this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo20.
