Last March I drove my faithfully leaky 1984 Mercedes 300SD 1,000 miles to the Amelia island Concours. The highlight of the festivities for me was the Gooding collector car auction. Most people were salivating over Seinfield's Porsche cast offs, but I fell head over heels in love with something I didn't expect. Yes, this 1931 Duesenberg Model J "disappearing top" is the most expensive Jalop car ever. Here's why.
The Duesenberg was the first American car you could Hoon. While the Ford Model A of the same year put out 40 Horsepower, the Model J had a race inspired straight 8 making 265! This meant a Duesenberg could cruise comfortably at triple digit speeds. With skinny tires, non-existent brakes or safety features, driving this car anywhere near the limit on public roads was suicidal. It was the original gangster of Hoon-mobiles. You can bet Jay Gatsby would have discovered the joys of drifting, burnouts, and other lawless hooning activities with these powerful beasts.
When you ordered this car from Duesenberg, they delivered you a magnificent power plant mounted to a long chassis with wheels tires and brakes. The only thing missing was the body. This would set you back $8500, in today's dollars the price of a complete Viper ACR. You bought the car with the intent on spending at least another $5000 for a custom coach builder to hand craft a body for your needs. Want a Duesey shooting brake? No problem!
With each Duesenberg body being built to order, no two were the same. Many were built as opulent limousines, the aristocratic owners never intending on driving them, but some sexy drop tops were made, and I was lucky enough to see one in person, but not in the condition you would expect.
The leather interior was badly weathered, looking just like Robert Redford's face. The paint job resembled the quality of a Maaco $199 Ambassador service, making it a real deal 20 footer. It was presented on a bright white elevated platform, perfect for showcasing the Duesey's oil leak.
The car was so Jalop I could barely contain myself. It exceeded its low auction estimate, selling for $2.64 million, making it the most expensive Jalop car ever. If the new owner happens to read this, would you mind uploading a burnout video?
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