Vehicle Description
To be OFFERED AT AUCTION at Auctions America’s Auburn Fall event, September 1-4, 2016.
Chassis No.
J365
Estimate:
$750,000 - $950,000 US
Glamorous life of travel, high fashion, and social status in the 1920s and ‘30s required a gusher of money. Wealth like that was not drawn from widely held corporations, but often from privately won fortunes generated by hard-driven individuals who often had little or no formal training or background in their fields. Others were from old money, royalty, movie stars or had married into families that allowed all at this social echelon to live a life of extravagance that included the finest automobiles in their coachhouses.
In automobiles, Duesenberg of Indianapolis, Indiana has always meant the epitome of quality. Cars built to special order for the most discriminating owners, embodying all the features and principals which made the name Duesenberg synonymous with the utmost in quality. Largely recognized in period as the world’s finest automobile, the new Duesenberg Model J had at its core a massive and strong 420-cid, 265 horsepower dual overhead camshaft straight eight-cylinder engine. Its entire construction was proportionately strong, thereby Duesenberg could insure its clientele the greatest safety, endurance and absolute dominion. It exceled equally in every other respect of its form.
With double the horsepower of any other motorcar of the era, it equally outclassed all others in smoothness, ease of handling, road steadiness, riding quality, comfort, stamina, longevity and luxury. No other car of this Classic era was thought of as being so easy to handle or so pleasant to drive. No other car had as much horsepower, as smooth performance or as safe control. Queen Marie of Yugoslavia commanded her Lady of Honor to express her entire satisfaction with the “absolute security” of her Duesenberg at high speed, its “grand comfort, remarkable suppleness and supreme elegance.” Parisian perfume manufacturer Virgil Neal reportedly had lavished $41,000 for a sumptuous Hispano-Suiza town car; he wrote from the Riviera expressing his amazement of his J’s performance on an extended journey through the Italian Alps, the Tyrol and the Swiss Alps. He related how, while touring in Europe, he found himself “driving a regular car show,” with people gathering around his Duesenberg when stopped, in numbers the local police needed to be called to clear the streets.
Its speed, not even closely approached by others that had been considered fast, was merely the inevitable byproduct of Duesenberg’s aim to build superfine cars with wholly unmatched performance and extraordinary dependability and durability. Duesenberg proclaimed an unswerving devotion to one ideal…”to produce the best, forgetful of cost, or expediency or any other consideration. A Duesenberg definitely excels every other automobile in the world, in every way.”
When Duesenberg’s Export Manager, Vance C. Hall introduced the J to Europe in conjunction with the various auto exhibitions for 1930 models, he found warm receptions everywhere. The J made its European debut in Paris at the 23rd Annual Salon d’Automobile held at the Grand Palais in October 1929. At the London show, Mr. Hall recalled over 15,000 pieces of literature being handed out to the enthusiastic viewing public. After Paris and London, the Duesenberg J was received in Prague, Geneva and Milan at their motorcar exhibits.
Vanity Fair announced in May 1930 that Duesenberg was the winner of Elegance Rallye’s at Cannes and Pau France, in competition with 150 of the period’s world’s costliest cars. These were two of the most important fine car exhibitions in France; in order to merit this distinction, the Duesenberg had to not merely excel all other cars in every respect, but had to do it so definitely by such a large margin as to establish itself in a realm of its own. The Duesenberg did, firmly and with finality. Its status still reigns supreme, nearly nine decades after introduction.
Many have said that the most rare and distinctive of all Duesenbergs are the few, exclusive models that were assembled by the great European coachbuilders; amongst them you will find Letourneur & Marchand, Hibbard & Darrin, Fernandez & Darrin, Saoutchik, Figoni, Graber, Van den Plas and more, including Franay located in Paris.
The mighty Duesenberg J series was an exotic, imposing and elite automobile. It was far superior in concept and execution from even the largest and most powerful European vehicles of the period. This irresistible interest led the few Duesenbergs bodied in Europe to receive the coachbuilders’ most extravagant, beautiful and eloquent designs. This stunning example crafted by Jean-Baptiste Franay is no exception and its amazing appeal is only rivaled by the air of mystery, intrigue and excitement which surrounds its first owner; Mabel Boll and by then known as the Countess Proceri.
Mabel Boll was widely known in her day as the “Queen of Diamonds” for she loved not only to purchase jewels, but to wear them publicly. This press-labeled “Queen” started out selling cigars in Rochester, New York. She became an experienced horse rider and married businessman Robert Scott in 1909. In 1922 she married again to a Colombian coffee magnate, Hernando Rocha, who presented her with more than $1 million in jewels and a 46.57-carat emerald-cut diamond bearing her name. “The Mabel Boll” diamond was purchased by famed jeweler Harry Winston upon her death in 1949. With the Hope Diamond (he donated it to the Smithsonian in November, 1958) as the echelon of his collection; Winston is reported to have owned 31 of the most important diamonds in the world, of which “The Mabel Boll” is also listed. Winston crafted it to his own design at 44.76 carats; the stone is a near colorless, elongated emerald-cut.
It is said the much-married American socialite was often in the news in the 1920s. Boll collected nicknames like she collected jewelry: in 1921 she was hailed by newspapers as "Broadway's most beautiful blonde." When she married the Colombian coffee king in 1922 the press referred to her as the "$250,000-a-day bride." The "Queen of Diamonds" moniker became popular as she often appeared in public wearing much of her jewelry. It was said that the rings she wore on her left hand alone were worth more than $400,000, which would equate to approximately $5 million in today's dollars.
Mabel Boll not only enjoyed well publicized jewels, but a yen for a place in the public news and a good deal of innate courage as well. George Palmer Putnam; publisher, Amelia Earhart’s aviation sponsor and eventual husband, recounted in his memoirs “Soaring Wings” that, in regards to being the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean, “She (Amelia) developed the idea she wanted to fly the Atlantic. And so when AE started - and with a good deal more impulse than planning - Miss Boll just up and started too. She actually got as far as Harbor Grace in Newfoundland in her plane, while AE was poised at Trepassey, so it took no great journalistic ingenuity to make it look like a race... Mabel's plan was to have her plane piloted by - Bill Stultz. .. they were old friends.”
The Countess had the intangible spark of life, liberty, talent, determination, independence, personality and style that distinguished many of the bright and adventuresome young ladies of the late Twenties and early Thirties. She had the desire to collect another nickname, this time “The Queen of the Air.” Her yearning for this aerial adventure of being the first woman to cross the Atlantic was ...for more information please contact the seller.
