1934 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe

The Duesenberg brothers of St. Paul, Minnesota began building racing cars just prior to the onset of World War I, in 1913. Fred, the older brother by five years, was the designer and tinkerer of the pair while Augie made Fred's designs come to life. They were self-taught mechanics who initially built cars that bore the Mason and Maytag names. Their four-cylinder engine produced by Rochester powered half a dozen marques, and the race cars they built were driven by many accomplished drivers including Rex Mays, Peter DePaolo, Albert Guyot, Eddie Rickenbacker, Ralph DePalma, Ab Jenkins, Ralph Mulford, Stubby Stubblefield, and Jimmy Murphy. The first of fifteen consecutive Indianapolis 500 appearances began in 1913, and a total of 70 Duesenbergs would compete during that time. 46 percent (thirty-two) of them finished in the top 10. In 1921, Jimmy Murphy's Duesenberg won the French Grand Prix at Le Mans and was the first car with hydraulic brakes to start a Grand Prix. A year later, Murphy won at Indianapolis and was joined by eight other Duesenbergs in the top ten places.

The Duesenberg brothers moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to build military engines, and following the cancelation of their government contract in 1919, the company moved to Indianapolis, IN. They became part of the E.L. Cord empire near the close of 1926.

When the Model J Duesenberg was introduced in 1929, its horsepower output more than doubled the highest-producing American motor car of the time, the Packard 645 and Stutz M. The 'short' wheelbase platform equaled many of its competitors long-wheelbase offerings. The coachwork bestowed upon the highly sophisticated chassis was equally impressive and was among the most opulent and expensive from the very best that America and Europe had to offer, including Murphy, LeBaron, Holbrook, Judkins, Derham, Willoughby, and Rollston. Most Mode J's received unique coachwork to their client's orders. Duesenberg, however, also developed an in-house line of bodies from the A-C-D Body & Art Studio, comprised of talented individuals such as Gordon Buehrig and Al Leamy. Styled La Grande, Duesenberg's proprietary designs were built by several coachbuilders and supplied to the Duesenberg factory in Indianapolis where they were mounted and trimmed either to clients' orders or for stock. Most were built by the Union City Body Company, and a few were built by others, including Brunn, Weymann, and A.H. Walker.

Albert Walker started his coachbuilding firm in 1934 in the old Weymann American Body plant. Walker built three of these stylish cars, known as Walker-LaGrande Convertible Coupes, on the Duesenberg J chassis, and this Model J Convertible Coupe is the only one of the three that retains the original open fender design. (The three Walker-LaGrande Convertible Coupes are J530, J531, and J534).
J531
The elegant and graceful beltline molding of the Walker convertible coupes is one of the distinguishable features, stretching down from the cowl to a point midway down the rear fender's leading edge. Additional unique features include the rake and low height of the windshield, the innovative crank-operated top mechanism, and the long hood that traverses from the base of the windshield to across the cowl area, essentially combining the body, cowl, and hood into a single seamless entity.

This car was first purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the founder of General Mills, Inc. She was a businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist, and collector of fine art - and the wealthiest woman in the world. She sold the car to Wallace Bird of Long Island, New York, in 1962, and it was later sold to Hans Dieter Holterbosch of New York City. Its current owner has restored the car to its original color and specification.

This Model J is powered by an 8-cylinder, twin-cam engine equipped with factory-fitted dual Winfield carburetors. There are dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, a three-speed manual transmission, and four-wheel vacuum-assisted hydraulic brakes. The 142-inch wheelbase chassis is suspended by a front beam axle suspension with a live axle setup in the rear.