Tag Archives: 1931

Duesenberg J-444

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster by Derham

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2013

1931 Duesenberg Model J-444 Tourster by Derham

This is the second Derham Tourster (of the eight originally built) to be offered at an RM auction in 2013. The other one, J-423, sold for $1.32 million. That one had kind of an interesting history, being owned by an Italian Count and all. This one is slightly more interesting.

J-444 was delivered new to film comedian Joe E. Brown, who was known for his comedic roles in the 1930s-1950s (and he was the rich gentleman who hilariously courted Jack Lemmon (in drag) in the near-perfect film Some Like It Hot. He delivered the classic line “Well, nobody’s perfect”). By the time World War II came around, the car was passed around before it came into the hands of a Mr. Howard Hughes.

Hughes liked powerful things and the Duesenberg Model J fit that bill. A 265 horsepower straight-eight engine was about as good as you were going to do in the day. He, apparently, wasn’t so concerned with the gorgeous Derham Tourster body on the car – as he cut the rear half of the car off and used the car to tow gliders up and down a runway – aircraft, after all, were his business.

The car was later in the Otis Chandler collection and then the John McMullen collection and a replica of its original body was fitted at some point. This is a real Derham Tourster, but it just doesn’t have the original Derham Tourster body it came with. It is remarkable to look at nonetheless. John O’Quinn acquired it after that.

This car has been in the hands of some seriously famous people and well-respected car collectors who obviously didn’t let its “replica” body scare them (as it shouldn’t). This car sold in 2007 for $1.35 million. It won’t bring less than that this time around but that is, apparently, the going rate for a Derham Tourster today. Click here for more info and here for more from RM at Amelia Island.

Update: Sold $825,000.

Hispano-Suiza Coupe-Chauffeur

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1931 Hispano-Suiza H6C Coupe-Chauffeur by Saoutchik

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 18, 2013

1931 Hispano-Suiza H6C Coupe-Chauffeur by Saoutchik

The Hispano-Suiza H6C was the final version of the great H6. Introduced in 1924, the model lasted into the early 1930s and was the most powerful variant of the H6. It also featured some of the most outlandish and stylish bodies by some of the world’s most prestigious coachbuilders.

Hispano-Suiza – which is roughly Spanish for “Spanish/Swiss” – was founded in Barcelona by a Spaniard and a Swiss engineer. They opened a factory in France and cars were produced in both countries. It was quite the international company. The H6C line was made in France.

This car uses a straight-eight of 8.0-liters making 160 horsepower. It was the most potent of H6s. The fact that the French factory rolled this car out is important because it allowed French coachbuilders – arguably the best of the best – to design beautiful bodies for the cars. Saoutchik is regarded as one of the most desirable coachbuilders and this Coupe-Chauffeur style is both reserved and opulent at the same time. Some of the exterior trim is silver-plated!

This car has known ownership history and has been owned by the same man since 1985, who had the car restored during his stewardship. Only about 250 H6Cs were built and they are highly prized today. This one should sell for between $400,000-$800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

Update: Sold $424,849.

Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

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1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 7, 2013

1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix

Whoa. Bonhams dug up a treasure for their Paris sale this year – this is one of only nine Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix cars built. The Type 54 was an evolution of the Type 51. It was used for the 1931 Grand Prix season. The engine is a 300 horsepower 4.9-liter supercharged straight eight. It was entered in the “Above 3-Liters” category, which was essentially an “anything goes” class. Most of the important pieces on the Type 54 were sourced from other Bugattis. Essentially, they took the best bits of every car they built until one super machine was finished. This particular car won the 1931 Grand Prix of Monza with Achille Varzi driving.

I’d like to list the entire race history of this car, but Bonham’s catalog description looks like it was written in French and run through a mediocre translator to get the English version. As it is, it is almost unreadable and very vague. If you’re thinking of buying this thing and provenance is important to you, I’d get someone on the phone first to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

This car left the Bugatti team ranks at the end of 1931 and was sold to Prince Georg Christian Lobkowicz of Czechoslovakia. He was a “gentleman driver” so to speak and was unfortunately killed in this car during his first outing in it at AVUS in 1932. The car was given to his teammate, Zdenek Pohl, who had it rebuilt but didn’t really use the car until it was obsolete. So he turned it into a two-seat roadster with beautiful coachwork by Oldrich Uhlik (the body for this new car now resides on another chassis and is owned by a 1930s European car hoarder in California – just kidding, Mr. Mullin!).

The next owner, who acquired the car in 1970, had the roadster body removed and an original-style Grand Prix body was constructed for the car by the Peel coachbuilding company. It was re-bodied again in 2005 by Rod Jolley in painstaking detail back to 1931 Monza race condition. It is being offered as one of four surviving Type 54s of the original nine built and the only one whose original mechanical parts have never been removed/separated from the car. It is expected to sell for between $3,300,000-$4,700,000. Read more here (it’s better if you speak French) and check out the rest of the Bonhams lineup here.

Update: Not sold.

Minerva Convertible Sedan

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1931 Minerva Model AL “Windswept” Convertible Sedan by Rollston

Offered by Bonhams | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2013

1931 Minerva Model AL Windswept Convertible Sedan by Rollston

Minerva is one of the great makes of the 1930s. They built big, powerful, imposing cars for the rich elite. The cars came adorned in the fanciest coachwork from the most respected of coachbuilders. This particular Minerva meets all of the above criteria.

Dutchman Sylvain de Jong started manufacturing bicycles under the name Minerva in Antwerp, Belgium in 1897 before moving onto automobiles. In 1930, the Model AL was introduced. It uses a 6.6-liter sleeve-valve straight-eight making between 120-130 horsepower. The wheelbase of 152 inches was one of the longest you could get, giving the folks at Rollston a lot of room to work with when crafting this exquisite “windswept” convertible sedan. The “windswept” referring to the distinct “in-motion” look the car has when sitting still – the sharp angle of the doors, A & B pillars and roofline.

Rollston provided some of the most expensive coachwork you could buy in the 1930s and the Minerva AL chassis was also near the top of its own list. In fact, it was so expensive, only about 50 were ever built and you had to have deep pockets to get one. This car was purchased new by the son-in-law of R.J. Reynolds (of tobacco fame). Over the years, it has maintained its exclusive price, with a pre-sale estimate of $900,000-$1,100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Scottsdale.

Update: Did not sell.

Update II: Sold, RM Auctions, New York, 2013: $660,000.

Duesenberg J-423

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster by Derham

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 18, 2013

1931 Duesenberg Model J-423 Tourster by Derham

It’s been a little while since we’ve featured a Model J. But luckily, the sales in Arizona are upon us and these sales are one of three or four places annually awash in high dollar cars like this. It’s a normal Model J with the big straight-eight engine making 265 horsepower.

The car wears a “Tourster” body from Derham – making it one of only eight Derham Toursters. Also cool is the fact that this is the original engine and chassis combination – a feat of which many Duesenberg’s cannot boast. Derham was founded in 1887 in Rosemont, Pennsylvania as a carriage builder. Like many, they made the jump to automobiles, becoming the longest-lasting coachbuilder in America – the only “classic-era” company to make it through the Depression.

This car was, for a time, owned by an Italian Count and located in Italy. It has since, obviously, come back to the United States where it will sell for somewhere around $1 million (give or take a few $100,000). For more information, click here. For more from RM in Arizona, click here.

Update: Sold $1,320,000.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2023, $1,710,000.

Ruxton Sedan

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1931 Ruxton Model C Sedan

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2013

The idea for the Ruxton came from Archie Andrews, who was on the board of Hupmobile. He named the car after William Ruxton, an investor he was hoping to attract to the car. Ruxton said no and sued for the use of his name. It didn’t matter – Ruxton was founded in 1929 and was out of business by early 1931.

The car was designed and backed by New Era Motors Inc of New York City. While the design was original, the company lacked the capital to undertake production themselves. The cars ended up being built in one of two locations: either at the Moon plant in St. Louis or by Kissel in Hartford, Wisconsin. It was a front-wheel-drive car – aimed directly at Cord – that used a 100 horsepower 4.4-liter Continental straight-eight engine.

The design was sleek and sporty looking – it lacked running boards and its rakish design made it look quick while their paint schemes were intended to make them look longer. The headlights are some of the coolest on any car ever (called Woodlight headlights) – although they don’t provide much light – make sure you’re home by dusk!

Moon went bankrupt before production really got going and Ruxton tried a hostile takeover of Kissel and the Kissel family shut their business down to prevent it – forcing Ruxton out of business after production had been underway for only four months. Only 300 to 500 cars were built. Two were Phaetons, one was a Town Car and the rest were split between Sedans and Roadsters. Only 19 total are known to still exist, only eight of those being sedans. This is a very rare car and it’s one of the best Depression-era cars and one of the greatest American cars ever built. You can read more here and see more from Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, here.

Update: Sold $275,000.

Duesenberg J-299

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1931 Duesenberg Model J Dual Windshield Barrelside Phaeton by LeBaron

Offered by RM Aucitons | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 11-12, 2012

This Duesenberg has two things – okay three things – going for it. First, it’s a Duesenberg. So score a point over just about all competition. Second, it carries a rare and desirable bodystyle. And third, it has a story.

The body is by LeBaron and it’s a rare “barrelside” dual-windshield phaeton – one of only seven built. “Barrelside” just means that the body has a bit of a curve to it – it’s not extremely noticeable in the pictures.

But the story is the interesting part here. This car was delivered new to Phil Berg, a wealthy Hollywood agent. He and his wife, actress Leila Hyams, were at Al Jolson’s house when Zeppo and Chico Marx roared up in their Mercedes S-Type (I feel like Regis Philbin telling one of his heavy-on-the-name-dropping Hollywood tales). The gathering shifted focus to the two cars parked outside and eventually Chico Marx bet Berg that his Mercedes could beat the Duesenberg in a race from Al Jolson’s house to Santa Monica beach.

Instead of a Depression-era The Fast and the Furious-style race through Hollywood, they decided to move the race to Muroc Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. Two engineers/racers were grabbed to drive the cars and the friendly wager ballooned to $25 grand – a princely sum in the 1930s. They stripped the cars down to nothing – the Duesenberg looking very awkward without fenders or any unnecessary body panels (pictures available at RM’s site).

There were a few hundred invited celebrity guests in attendance and this Duesenberg was victorious. The car passed through numerous owners before being restored in 1985. It’s an exceptional car with an exceptional history. For more information, click here. And for more from RM in Hershey, click here.

Update: Sold $1,292,500.

Maserati Tipo 26 Four-Seater

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1930-31 Maserati Tipo 26 Sport

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, England | September 15, 2012

If you can believe it, there are actually two 1930 Maserati Tipo 26s up for auction at this sale. One is a two-seater, and the one seen here is a four-seater – you know, the more useful of the two when hauling the kids to soccer practice. Both cars come out of the same collection and having similar histories, as they were both imported into the U.K. for racing purposes in 1930. We’ll focus on the four-seater from here on.

The car is powered by a supercharged 2.5-liter straight-8, taking direct aim at Alfa Romeo’s 8C competition cars. This car competed against Alfa 8Cs, driven by the likes of Henry “Tim” Birkin, in the 1931 Eireann Cup in Dublin, Ireland. This car finished second to Birkin in an 8C. It was driven by Giuseppe Campari, who mid-race, was temporarily blinded when mud and debris from another car came off the track and shattered his goggles, sending glass into one of his eyes. Giulio Ramponi, a sometimes riding mechanic who was working in the pits, took over the car while Campari had his eye tended to. Before long, Campari ran back onto the track, flagged Ramponi down, and resumed his race.

The car was entered at Brooklands earlier that year, but only one of the two cars offered here actually competed (chassis unknown, based on price, I’d say likely this one). This car did compete at Brooklands in 1933 and a few other races over the next few years. It passed through numerous hands – and numerous drivetrain configurations – before being acquired by its current owner in 1952. All of its original pieces were located and reinstalled, making this a highly original example of an already extremely rare car.

It is very impressive, in both history, rarity and condition. It is an exquisite alternative to the comparatively common Alfa Romeo 8C. The pre-sale estimate is $2,900,000-$3,500,000. For the complete lot description, click here. And from more from Bonhams at Goodwood, click here.

Update: Sold $2,727,000.

Duesenberg J-430

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1931 Duesenberg Model J LWB Limousine by Willoughby

Offered by Gooding & Company | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

A few weeks ago we featured a car very similar to this. J-306 is also a Willoughby Limousine, but it is green and was offered by Mecum during the Pebble Beach weekend as well. The write up for J-306 included a history of Willoughby, so we’ll keep this one short.

The other thing that differs between these cars is that this one is original. It has been repainted – in the late 1950s. It is in amazing condition for a car this old. Then again, this car was owned by people who loved Duesenbergs for most of its life. The owners appreciated the car and maintained it. It has also spent time in museums.

A decent number of Duesenbergs have been rebodied over the years. Many more have been restored (or over-restored). This one is all original – a 1930s time warp car. It is way cool. The pre-sale estimate was also in the affordable-for-a-Duesenberg range of $400,000-$500,000. The complete lot description can/could be found here.

Update: Sold $330,000.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Hershey 2019, $451,000.