w 39.7656358 n 86.1889736 w 39.7656358 ; 86.1889736 for other uses see duesenberg disambiguation . duesenberg automobile & motors company inc. industry automobile manufacturing engine manufacturing founded saint paul minnesota united states 1913 1913 founder august duesenberg frederick duesenberg defunct 1937 ; 79 years ago 1937 headquarters auburn indiana united states number of locations auburn indiana area served worldwide key people august duesenberg & frederick duesenberg products model a model x model j services automobiles ship and airplane engines website http www.automobilemuseum.org duesenberg motors company sometimes referred to as duesy was an american manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles . it was founded by brothers august and frederick duesenberg in 1913 in saint paul minnesota where they built engines and race cars . citation needed the brothers moved their operations to elizabeth new jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for world war i. in 1919 when their government contracts were cancelled they moved to indianapolis indiana home of the indianapolis motor speedway and established the duesenberg automobile and motors company inc. delaware . in late 1926 e.l. cord added duesenberg to his auburn automobile company . with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the depression duesenberg folded in 1937 . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 model a 1921 1927 2.2 model x 1926 1927 2.3 model j sj ssj jn sjn 1928 1937 2.4 production summary 3 revivals 4 etymological note 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit duesenberg family with fred and august in the middle ca. 1886 . in 1913 brothers fred and augie duesenberg founded duesenberg motors company inc. on university avenue in st. paul minnesota to build engines and race cars . 1 the brothers were self taught engineers and built many experimental cars . duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time citation needed and were built entirely by hand . in 1914 eddie rickenbacker drove a duesy to finish in 10th place at the indianapolis 500 and duesenberg won the race in 1924 1925 and 1927 . the fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when colonel r.c. bolling and his commission acquired a license to produce the bugatti u 16 for the u.s. army air service . the end of world war i stopped this project before it could ever mature . in 1921 duesenberg provided the pace car for the indy 500 driven by fred duesenberg . in 1923 jimmy murphy became the first american to win the french grand prix when he drove a duesenberg to victory at le mans . products edit model a 1921 1927 edit main article duesenberg model a at the end of world war i they ceased building aviation and marine engines in elizabeth new jersey at the corner of newark avenue and north avenue . in 1919 the duesenberg brothers sold their minnesota and new jersey factories to john willys and moved to a new headquarters and factory in indianapolis where the duesenberg automobile and motors company inc. was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars . the plant was located on a 17 acre 69 000 m2 site on west washington street at harding street until 1937 adjacent to the overland automobile factory . 2 3 1923 duesenberg model a touring car at the louwman museum although the duesenberg brothers were world class engineers they were neither good businessmen nor administrators ; they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car the model a. this had the duesenberg straight 8 engine the first mass produced straight eight engine in the u.s. citation needed it was an extremely advanced and expensive automobile prices began at 6 500 4 offering features such as single overhead camshafts four valve cylinder heads and the first four wheel 16 5 hydraulic brakes designed by fred in conjunction with lockheed 6 offered on a passenger car anywhere predating adler s introduction to the european market in 1926 on the standard 6 . the model a was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition . it was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time . citation needed among the celebrities who purchased this model were tom mix and rudolph valentino . the model experienced various delays going from prototype to production . deliveries to dealers did not start until december 1921 . 6 sales lagged and the goal of building 100 duesenbergs each month proved far too high as the indianapolis plant struggled to roll out one a day . in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured 7 and only 650 model as were sold over a period of six years . 1922 model a specifications engine power transmission wheelbase ground clearance frame 260cid 1 bbl . 8 i8 9 90 100 hp 3 speed manual 5 134 in 3 404 mm 10 in 254 mm chrome nickel steel 6.40 inch 163 mm in depth 5 winning races did not translate into financial success either although that winning reputation would eventually attract new investors who supplied the cash flow to prop up the production facility . the brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars boats and a few planes but only as employees of various capitalist investors who bought the rights to their famous family name . 4 brothers duesenberg pictured in 1925 august at left and fred at right . the firm had already acquired a considerable aura of prestige when in october 1919 fred signed over the rights to his name patents and drawings for a passenger car to a pair of promoters newton e. van zandt and luther m. rankin . 6 on march 8 1920 these men became president and vice president of the duesenberg automobile and motors corporation of indianapolis . fred was chief engineer and augie his assistant and both were salaried as employees . van zandt quit after a year and business went from bad to worse in 1923 . in 1924 the company went into receivership but somehow it survived that year . 10 in 1925 the firm s name was changed to duesenberg motors corporation and fred assumed the title of president . 10 fred and august struggled to keep the company but to no avail as they weren t able to raise enough capital . model x 1926 1927 edit model x duesenbergs are very rare . it was a sportier version of the model a with a heavier and longer 136 in 3 500 mm wheelbase chassis and 100 hp 75 kw engine that enabled it to reach 100 mph 161 km h . 9 the most notable differences between the a and x were that the latter had hypoid differentials and all its valves were on one side ; it sported the hydraulic brakes that fred had originated on his 1914 racing cars . this braking system could have earned him a fortune if he had obtained a patent . 11 according to randy ema the top duesenberg authority in the united states only 13 were built . they fit in between the duesenberg model a and the famous j ; only four were known to survive until automobile preservationist jay leno found a fifth x in a neighborhood garage in 2005 . model j sj ssj jn sjn 1928 1937 edit main article duesenberg model j 1930 j walker la grande torpedo phaeton e.l. cord bought the company on october 26 1925 for the brothers engineering skills talent and the brand name in order to produce luxury cars . he challenged fred duesenberg to design an automobile that would be the best in the world . indeed cord wanted the biggest fastest and most expensive car ever made . he also ordered a large chassis to be able to compete with the biggest most powerful and most luxurious european cars of the era such as hispano suiza isotta fraschini mercedes benz and rolls royce . after cord s takeover the new company was renamed duesenberg inc. fred would continue in the new organization now with the title of vice president in charge of engineering and experimental work . 10 whereas augie had played an important role in the development of the model a and its variant the very rare x he had nothing to do with the j and had no formal connection with duesenberg inc. until later . according to the expert marshall merkes cord did not want augie around . 12 however all duesenberg racing cars produced after 1926 were augie built in an enterprise that functioned separately and in a building apart from the main duesenberg plant . he was also responsible for a number of engineering achievements like the superchargers he developed for both the auburn and cord motorcars . 13 duesenberg j murphy 1931 . the newly revived duesenberg company set about to produce the model j which debuted december 1 at the new york car show of 1928 . in europe it was launched at the salon de l automobile de paris of 1929 . the first and at the time of the new york presentation only example made of the series the j 101 was a sweep panel dual cowl phaeton with coachwork by lebaron finished in silver and black . 14 by the time the great depression hit in october 1929 the duesenberg company had only built some 200 cars . an additional 100 orders were filled in 1930 . thus the model j fell short of the original goal to sell 500 cars a year . 15 model j engine the model j s straight eight was based on the company s successful racing engines of the 1920s ; designed by duesenberg they were manufactured by lycoming 16 another company owned by cord . in unsupercharged form the eight produced an impressive for the period 265 horsepower 198 kw 9 aided by dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder . 17 the model j was capable of a top speed of 119 mph 192 km h and 94 mph 151 km h in second gear . other cars featured larger displacement engines but none surpassed its power . citation needed it was also both the fastest and most expensive american automobile in the market . citation needed as was the custom among the luxury car brands only the chassis and engine were displayed since the interior and body of the car would be coachbuilt to the owner s specifications . the chassis on most model js were the same as was the styling of such elements as fenders headlamps radiator hood and instrument panel . 18 duesenberg bodies came from both the united states and europe and the finished cars were some of the largest grandest most beautiful and most elegant cars ever created . about half the model js built by duesenberg had coachworks devised by the company s chief body designer gordon buehrig . 18 the rest were by independent coachbuilders from the united states such as derham holbrook judkins 19 le baron murphy rollston later renamed rollson walker weymann and willoughby and from european works fernandez et darrin franay gurney nutting saoutchik etc. 14 however other coachworks were made by duesenberg branches in chicago new york city los angeles philadelphia florida and denver as well as by smaller dealers . for the in house bodies duesenberg used the name of la grande . the chassis cost 8 500 9 500 after 1932 ; the completed base model cost between 13 000 and 19 000 two of the american bodied j s reached 25 000 13 at a time when the average u.s. physician earned less than 3 000 a year . citation needed figures are not available as to the prices charged by deluxe coachbuilders in europe but it is reasonable to assume the final selling price of the products mounted on the costly imported chassis were considerably higher