1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster

This Duesenberg Model J with chassis number 2456 and engine number J-444 rests on a large, 153.5-inch wheelbase. The long chassis was exaggerated by the car's lowered proportions, created by moving the rear seat ahead of the rear axle and the footwells within the frame rails. These changes increased room for passengers while allowing the top and sides of the body to be lower than on a standard phaeton.

The standard phaetons were popular and the second windshield did provide weather protection to the rear passengers. The problem was that the windshields were mounted on hinged metal tonneaus that had to be swung out of the way each time a passenger exited or entered the vehicle. With the Tourster, Buehring solved this common problem by having a rear windshield that slips up and down out of the back of the front seat with the turn of a crank. The windshield performed well and had a nice appearance, but could also be stowed away.

The Tourster body style was built exclusively by the Derham Body Company in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. A total of eight were originally produced, of which this car is the third.

The original owner of this car was comedian and actor Joe E. Brown. Brown retained the car for seven years. It then passed through a Cadillac dealer, who turned it over to Clement Hirsch. Several months later, when World War II began, Hirsch traded the car to his brother-in-law, Mark Jelmeland, who traded it into yet another dealership, Kal Kam Ford. The Ford dealer sold the car to William Hunter, from whom it was purchased by Hughes Aircraft.

The company of aviator Howard Hughes elected to remove the rear body section, in order to use the Model J to tow gliders aloft. The car's torque allowed it to launch even the largest aircraft, and it continued to serve as a test vehicle for Briegleb Aircraft after it was sold to them in 1945.

Robert Straede of Santa Monica purchased the car in 1948. It then passed to Lassiter Hoyle. Hoyle sold the car in June of 1949 to Fred Buesse Jr., who kept it for 11 years before selling it to Nate Derus in January of 1960. Now missing the remaining body panels, the car eventually passed to Phil Renick and then to Lewis Landoli, who had restorer Harry Andrews reconstruct the original body. The work was completed in the mid-1970s by new owner Frank McGowan. McGowan sold the finished car to Otis Chandler who would keep the car for 10 years. Chandler showed the car on a few occasions and displayed it for the rest of the time in his private museum in Oxnard, California. During Chandler's ownership, the car was awarded a CCCA National First Prize, followed by its Senior Award in October 1989.

In March of 1996, Chandler sold the car to John McMullen, of Michigan. In Mr. McMullen's care, it earned Best in Show at the Gilmore Car Museum's Grand Experience in 2001 and numerous Best in Class and class awards, including, notably, Best in Class at the 1995 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and the Gordon Buehrig Memorial Award for Best ACD Car at the same event the following year.

The car joined the John O'Quinn collection in 2007. In 2013, it came to auction at RM Auction's Amelia Island Sale where it was sold for $825,000 including the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2013