1923 Duesenberg Model A Roadster

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. The current owner acquired the car nearly 25 years ago and spent eight years working and reworking the car a little each year to bring it to its present restored level.