1935 Duesenberg Model J Sweep Panel Dual-Cowl Phaeton

It is believed that fifteen examples of the dual-cowl phaeton were produced under the LaGrande label, using both the short- and long-wheelbase chassis, and were numbered between 1000 and 1015. For some reason, body number 1010 was not used.

This particular example is equipped with engine number J-537 and body number 1015, the last of the LaGrande 'Sweep Panel' Dual-Cowl Phaetons. It was delivered 'in the white' in February of 1934 and fitted with engine number J-537 several months later. The body had suicide-style front doors, a feature that was applied to the last five bodies produced. Modern design cues include the newly specified skirted fenders and 17-inch wheels.

The Duesenberg's factory branch in New York used J-537 for over a year as a demonstration vehicle. Its first known private owner, Hugh Bancroft, Jr., acquired the car on October 28th of 1935. After World War II, the car made its way across the country, entering the ownership of a Chevrolet dealer in San Francisco. Several brief ownerships ensued before the car was sold by John Lane Ward of Modesto, California, to Tom Carstens of Tacoma, Washington, in early 1951. The car remained with Mr. Carstens for nearly a decade, fitting it with side exhausts. In 1958, the car was involved in a fire that was largely cosmetic, damaging the right side of the car, the rear seat, and the rear cowl.

Robert Jelinski of Wisconsin purchased the car in 1960 and sold it six years later to Joe Kaufmann of Manitowoc. While in Mr. Manitowoc's care, the Duesenberg was given a restoration but preserving the original sheet metal and much of the original wood. After the work was completed, the car was shown in a Midwestern competition, winning many awards.

In 1972, Charles Johnson of Florida became the next caretaker and continued showing the car extensively, earning many further awards. Tom Lester of Florida acquired the Model J in 1980 and kept it for several years before it moved to Europe. By the close of the decade, it had returned to the U.S. and into the care of Mark Smith of Virginia. Frank Ricciardelli purchased J-537 in 2000, and a fresh restoration was soon begun in the hands of Steve Babinsky's Automotive Restorations of Lebanon, New Jersey.

In 2002, the Duesenberg was shown, devoid of coachwork, as part of a Classic and Vintage Chassis class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It returned a year later for its debut with bodywork installed, and received First in Class, followed by a Lion Award and the Buehrig Memorial Award at the Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance in 2004 and Best in Class at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2007.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2021

Billed as 'the world's finest motor car,' the J model had a massive chassis and a powerful eight-cylinder 265 horsepower engine that could propel the car to 116 miles per hour in high gear. A somewhat pricey automobile, the cost of a Duesey was $13,000 in 1929 while a Ford Model A cost less than $600.

The company's philosophy was that its designs should be so original that no Duesey would resemble anything other than another Duesey. Designed in-house by Buehrig, this automobile is the only one of 19 short-body chassis originally fitted with a La Grande swept-back, double-cowled Phaeton body, which featured an inset panel that began at the radiator cap, widened near the cowl, and ended in the door in a reverse curve.

Gordon Buehrig redrew Alan Leamy's beautiful 'sweep panel' Dual-Cowl Phaeton design with a more curved cowl and powerful straight-through beltline for production under Duesenberg's own auspices, bearing the name LaGrande.

This Model J was bodied to this design. It also was fitted from new with the freshly available skirted fenders and 17-inch wheels, then used as a demonstrator at Dusenberg's factory branch in New York. It was finally sold on October 28, 1936, to 26-year-old Hugh Bancroft Jr., whose family published The Wall Street Journal. Subsequent owners included well-known Duesenberg restorer Joe Kaufmann and long-standing collectors J. Frank and Milli Ricciardelli, for whom a restoration was performed by Steve Babinsky.

This rare, highly prized model underwent a complete body-off restoration in 2003 and has since received many prestigious awards, and was recently featured in '24 Motor Cars Under the Stars' in Philadelphia.