1929 Duesenberg Model J Berline

Duesenberg J-118 started out as a Derham-bodied four-door sedan and was the first Duesenberg chassis delivered to the Pennsylvania company. Its original owner was Mr. Art Kiel of Southern California. The car was involved in a mishap where it fell into the Santa Barbra Channel upon a return trip from Santa Catalina Island. The water was not deep and the car was retrieved and sold in the early 1930s to M. K. Barbee of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles. Barbee was known to be a flamboyant playboy with expensive taste. As the Model J had to be rebuilt anyway, Barbee took the opportunity to significantly freshen its design with the California coachbuilder Bowman & Schwartz who treated it to a new rakish and streamlined body with modern fenders and skirts, torpedo headlamps, and their traditional 'waterfall' grill. The car was then sold to Mr. Fred Buess Jr. of Venice, California, in 1947. In 1963, the car was purchased by Mr. Homer Fitterling, a well-known Duesenberg collector in Indiana. Mr. Fitterling owned the car for 20 years. The car was then purchased by Mrs. Jerry Brown in 1983, who sold the car to Mr. Ed Weaver in 1993. The car has been freshly re-restored (1996 through 1997) which resulted in a 1st in class at the 1997 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It retains its original chassis and engine.