1923 Duesenberg Model A news, pictures, and information

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Roadster
Coachwork: Millspaugh & Irish
Chassis Num: A-773

A Fast Roadster With a Racing Heritage
The eight cylinder Duesenberg Model A was introduced in 1922. It was the first production car bearing the Duesenberg name. Prior to the Model A, Fred and August Duesenberg had designed and built cars for other companies such as Mason and May, and they built the famous four cylinder Rochester-Duesenberg engines which powered cars such as Roamer and Revere. The Duesenberg brothers also built many racecars and a Duesenberg became the first Indianapolis 500 winner to average over 100 miles per hour. Duesenberg also became the first American car to win the coveted LeMans French Grand Prix.

The Model A Duesenberg features an inline, eight-cylinder engine with a single, overhead camshaft. The engine developed 88 horsepower and had a cubic-inch displacement of 259.7 inches. The advertised top speed was 90 miles per hour.

This 1923 Model A Duesenberg features a roadster body that was built by the coach building firm of Millspaugh & Irish. It sold new for $6,850 and was one of the most expensive American vehicles of the period.

The early Duesenbergs, built between 1920 and 1926 and known as the model A's, are largely unknown except by serious automotive historians. These are the cars built while the Duesenberg brothers - Fred and Augie - were building their racing reputation at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Slightly more than 600 Model A Duesenbergs were built, most with attractive custom coachwork such as this roadster - designed and built by the body-building firm Millspaugh and Irish of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Attractively styled, with cutting-edge engineering for its time, such as an overhead cam engine and hydraulic 4-wheel brakes, Model A Duesenbergs were available with custom coachwork and also a range of production bodies built by Millspaugh & Irish, another Indianapolis firm.

However, despite the luster of important racing victories, the Model A's limited sales success - only about 600 were built in five years - had more to do with the high factory price than anything else, for there was certainly nothing wrong with the design and engineering of the cars themselves.

The Model A, though, is historically important, as it paved the way for the Model J and also demonstrated the Duesenbergs' exceptional engineering prowess and forward thinking at a time when most cars' features, including the most costly marques, went little beyond pedestrian L-Head engines and primitive mechanical brakes.

Seven standard body styles were offered for the 1923 Duesenberg models, in price from $5,500 to $7,300.

The Duesenberg's impressive in-line eight featured a single overhead camshaft driven off the crankshaft via beveled gears. Displacement was a relatively small 260 cubic inches, but it developed impressive horsepower ratings and 170 foot pounds of torque at 1500 rpm. An interesting induction system incldued a single Stromberg 1.5-inch updraft carburetor, utilizing a firewall-mounted vacuum tank. The fuel link ran up through the exhaust manifold to be preheated. Pistons would have been aluminum, unless the customer ordered otherwise.

A bright spot in 1923 was an endurance run that took place at the Indianapolis Speedway in April. A fully-equipped standard-bodied touring car drove non-stop for 3,155 miles that took 50 hours and 21 minutes at an average speed of 62.7 mph and required two tire changes.

All Duesenbergs were delivered with knock-off wire wheels mounted to 33 x 5-inch cord tires. The orthodox ladder frame featured Watson Stabilator shock absorbers hooked to semi-elliptic springs front and rear. Brakes were an industry-leading four-inch hydraulic system with 16-inch drums and circumferential cooling fins. Dual sidelamps (Searchlight made by Stewart-Warner Speedometer Corp.) had mirrors designed into the back of each and were standard equipment.

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