1931 DUESENBERG Torpedo Phaeton Red Painting is a painting by John Straton which was uploaded on March 28th, 2024.
1931 DUESENBERG Torpedo Phaeton Red Painting
The Duesenberg Model J is a luxury automobile made by Duesenberg. Intended to compete with the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, it was... more
by John Straton
Title
1931 DUESENBERG Torpedo Phaeton Red Painting
Artist
John Straton
Medium
Painting
Description
The Duesenberg Model J is a luxury automobile made by Duesenberg. Intended to compete with the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, it was introduced in 1928, the year before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. The Model J, available with a supercharger after 1932, was sold until Duesenberg Motors Company went bankrupt in 1937.
As was common practice among the luxury car brands, only the chassis and engine were displayed; the body and interior trim of the car would be custom-made to the owner's specifications by a third-party coachbuilder. The chassis on most model Js were the same, as was the styling of such elements as fenders, headlamps, radiator, hood and instrument panel.[13]
About half the model Js built by Duesenberg had coachworks devised by the company's chief body designer, Gordon Buehrig,[13] and executed under the name La Grande by company branches in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Florida and Denver, as well as by smaller dealers. The rest were designed and made by independent US coachbuilders such as Derham, Holbrook, Judkins,[14] Le Baron, Murphy, Rollston (later renamed Rollson), Walker, Weymann, and Willoughby, and Fernandez et Darrin, Franay, Gurney Nutting, Saoutchik, and others in Europe.[8]
1932 Duesenberg SJ Bohman & Schwartz Convertible Coupe
The chassis cost US$8,500 ($182,315 in 2022 dollars [15]) ($9,500 after 1932 ($203,763 in 2022 dollars [15])). At a time when the average U.S. physician earned less than $3,000 a year ($64,346 in 2022 dollars [15]), most completed vehicles fell between $13,000 and $19,000 ($407,527 in 2022 dollars [15]), with two American-bodied J's reaching $25,000 ($536,220 in 2022 dollars [15])[7]). Figures for prices charged by deluxe coachbuilders in Europe are not available, but it is possible they were even higher than the most expensive American built models.[7]
The J was generally available with either with a short 142.5 in (3.62 m) wheelbase chassis or long 153.5 in (3.90 m)).[11] Special orders included two SSJs shortened to 125 in (3.18 m) and a few extended to 160 in (4.06 m) and over.
The dash included mechanically timed lights that reminded the driver when to change the oil and inspect the battery.[16]
Most engine and chassis were made in 1929 and 1930, but due to the Depression, high price, etc., ended up sold and bodied throughout subsequent years. Thus the year for a given Model J usually refers to the latter.[citation needed]
A series of minor modifications were carried out during the model's production life. The first major change was to replace the four-speed gearbox, which proved unable to handle the engine's power, with an unsynchronised three-speed gearbox, subsequently fitted to all Duesenbergs. Unlike almost all American manufacturers, Duesenberg did not switch to a fully synchronised gearbox in the mid-1930s, which made the Model J difficult to drive and outdated by the latter years of its run.[17] The factory closed in 1937.
Uploaded
March 28th, 2024