Automobile auctions rarely offer gems with a pedigree as impressive as that of this 1931 Duesenberg Model J. During its 93 years of existence, this imposing automobile belonged to a Yugoslav queen, a wealthy Peruvian seducer, a plethora of American collectors before ending up in the collection of a motorsport magnate. This March, it will be featured at the annual auction presented by the Gooding Company in Amelia Island, Florida.
The ultimate American
The Duesenberg J is generally very popular with wealthy collectors. It debuted on December 2, 1928 as part of the 24th Annual New York Auto Show, which was presented at the Commodore Hotel (which became the Hyatt Grand Central New York in 1978).
Although the unveiling of this model took place a few months before the stock market crash, the Model J quickly became the ultimate automobile for Americans, just as the Rolls-Royce was for the British. and the Bugatti for the French. This did not prevent this brand established in Indianapolis from disappearing in the troubled period following the stock market crisis. Founded in 1920, Duesenberg declared bankruptcy in 1937 after manufacturing just over 1,000 cars, including fewer than 500 J models and 36 SJs, a variant with a supercharged engine.
Designed in the United States, built in France
The car offered by Gooding, which fans of the brand today simply call “J-446”, reflects this high-end status. Equipped with an in-line 8-cylinder engine producing 265 hp, it has bodywork by Franay, a coachbuilder popular with well-heeled buyers whose workshops were in Levallois-Perret, a suburb of Paris. For this car which has the 2465 chassis and the J-446 engine, its craftsmen created a convertible sedan type body with double windshield, with pearl gray paint and a beige pink interior.
A few months after completing his work, the coachbuilder entered it on the local concours d'elegance circuit, after taking care to embellish it with some additional chrome trim and more modern-looking headlights.
Then, we saw it at the Paris Motor Show, an event presented at the Grand Palais in October 1931. It rubbed shoulders with another Duesenberg bodied by Frenay in the stand of Motor de luxe, the man's company. Serbian businessman Edmond Z. Sadovich who offered Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg products to European celebrities and aristocrats.
A queen, a seducer and a plethora of collectors
In such a context, it is easy to understand why the J-446 then became the property of Her Majesty Queen Maria of Yugoslavia, the kind of clientele that Sadovich and the American managers of the brand were targeting.
At the request of the Yugoslav sovereign, her lady-in-waiting wrote a message to Sadovich to express the queen's great satisfaction with the “absolute safety of her powerful car, its great comfort, its remarkable flexibility and its supreme elegance. » Obviously, she had been delighted by her new acquisition.
It is not known when J-446 left the royal family, but it was next found in Peru when it became the property of Antonio Chopitea of Lima, the capital. A great automobile enthusiast, this sugar baron and well-known seducer, like his two brothers, owned several other Duesenbergs.
Mr. Chopitea, who had kept this Duesenberg in Paris, then sold it to a brewer from the City of Lights, before he sold it to a first American named G. L. William Guilbert from Troy, in the state of New York . The latter in turn sold it to E. Romerez of New York City. Then, in 1941, it ended up in Maryland, in the garages of a certain Mr. Warriner.
Mystery surrounding the fenders and running boards
Some sources suggest that it was during Mr. Warriner's ownership of this Duesenberg that the bodywork was altered with “pontoon” style fenders and floating running boards, attributes which it still has. However, in the book The Pursuit of Perfection dedicated to Duesenberg, historian Fred Roe instead claims that these changes were made before the car's arrival in the United States. The mystery about this remains…
In any case, after Warriner, the Duesenberg then became the property of W. E. Howell of Oklahoma, followed by a Mr. Schreiber of New Jersey, then by Earl Clarke of Pennsylvania.
In May 1977, the collector Charles Goodman acquired it in turn and kept it until 1995. Then, in 1996, a successor whose identity remains unknown made it undergo a restoration and then began a tour of the great American concours d'elegance. In 1997, the J-446 was entered in the Louis Vuitton Classic at Rockefeller Center in New York, where it won the prize in the “Pre-war Touring” category, then it was seen at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, then to that of Meadow Brook Hall.
A pearl of the Glickenhaus collection
In 2002, its current owner, businessman and racing magnate James M. Glickenhaus, purchased it at an auction held by Christie's in Monterey.
In turn, he showed it at Pebble Beach, but also at the Concorso d'eleganza of Villa d'Este in Italy, in 2005, where it won second place in the “Flamboyances and extravagances” category.
He then underwent further restoration work on this Duesenberg at Straight Eight in Troy, Michigan, a workshop specializing in, among other things, vehicles of this brand. His technicians gave the J-446, which is now part of James Glickenhaus' Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus collection, its current appearance with black bodywork, red interior, chrome wire wheels and a superb plastic “mascot”. Lalique Chrysis crystal from 1931 to adorn the radiator. Yes, it looks chic!
Will she find a buyer this time?
At Gooding, the value of this 1931 Duesenberg Model J is estimated to be between $2.4 million and $2.7 million. She might make someone happy at the auction organized by Gooding at the Racquet Park of the Omni Amelia Island Resort in Amelia Island, Florida, on March 6 and 7, 2025.
Perhaps, indeed, since in January 2024, Glickenhaus had already tried to sell it at a Bonhams auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. At the time, it was estimated to be worth between $2.7 million and $4 million, and this royal Duesenberg remained unsold.
Photos: Gooding, Bonhams and ACD Museum
The text This 1931 Duesenberg which belonged to the Queen of Yugoslavia would be worth more than $2 million comes from L'annuel de l'automobile – Automotive news
