Sold for $1,980,000 at 2012 Gooding and Company - Pebble Beach Auction.
W.H. Brown, Jr. of New York City collected his new Duesenberg Model J on September 19th of 1929. His car was chassis numb er2217 with engine J-197 and wore LeBaron 'Sweep-Panel' Dual Cowl Phaeton coachwork. Just two months later, his stately automobile was involved in an accident and returned to Duesenberg for repairs. The chassis was badly damaged so Duesenberg removed the LeBaron body, refinished it as required and placed it on a brand-new chassis, 2292, with engine number J-270. The work was completed by the close of November of 1929 and Mr. Brown received - in essence - his brand-new Duesenberg.

Sometime between late 1933 and early 1934, Mr. Brown returned J-270 to the New York factory branch for resale. On January 25th of 1934, the Model J was sold to Belgian banker Jean Cattier of New York. It is believed that while in his care, the car was shipped to Belgium and used to tour the continent before returning stateside.

In August of 1935, the car was offered for sale at Hilton Motors in Brooklyn, New York. Franklin d'Olier, Jr. of Philadelphia, PA purchased the car in September. Mr. & Mrs. d'Olier spent the Summer of 1936 touring the country, accruing some 20,000 miles on their journey.

After the updates were completed, it was sent back to Mitchell, who rebuilt the engine and fabricated a new intake manifold that allowed the use of twin-downdraft Winfield carburetors.

After driving over 100,000 miles in four years, Mr. d'Olier sold the car in the winter of 1940 in order to purchase a supercharged Cord. The Duesenberg was purchased by T. Chalfield Taylor and then re-acquired by Mitchell less than a year later. In 1941, the Duesenberg was sold to Alexander Georg Rudolf Bauer.

Bauer had put an order in for a long wheelbase supercharged Duesenberg early in 1937. The scarcity of superchargers meant the car was delayed by more than a year. The car was intended to be clothed by Erdmann & Rossi. However, before the chassis was even completed, a series of complications placed the car on hold. His long-awaited SJ, chassis J-397, was given a fully convertible, all-weather cabriolet by Rollson, Inc. He took delivery in April of 1940. Soon after, he acquired two additional Duesenbergs: J-436, a La Grande Dual Cowl Phaeton; and J-270.

When Bauer passed away in November 1953, his Duesenberg collection went to the care of his widow, whom he had married in 1944.

In the Summer of 1954, the Pettit family attended the CCCA Grand Classic in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While there, Mr. Pettit learned of a Rollston-bodied Duesenberg along with a Dual Cowl Phaeton Duesenberg.

A year later, the Pettits were able to purchase the three Bauer Duesenbergs - J-270, J-397, and J-436 (reportedly for $7,000 for all three). For nearly six decades, J-270 has been part of the Pettit Collection.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at the Pebble Beach auction presented by Gooding & Company. The car was estimated to sell for $2,000,000 - $2,750,000. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $1,980,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2012