Duesenberg J-497

1932 Duesenberg Model J Town Car by Kirchoff

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 5-6, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

If you were fortunate enough to enter the harshest years of the Great Depression still a wealthy individual – as was the case of this car’s original owner who was an heiress – you probably wanted a grand automobile. And there were few as grand as the Duesenberg Model J.

This car was purchased – as a bare chassis – for Countess Anna Ingraham. The body was hand built by J. Gerald Kirchoff who was then enlisted as Ms. Ingraham’s personal chauffeur. Not many other coachbuilders offered that kind of service!

J-497 is supposedly one of the most expensive examples produced, costing $25,000 in 1932. And here’s part of the reason why: the inside of this car is opulently trimmed featuring such extravagances as hand-embroidered upholstery and 24-karat gold-plated hardware. Of course, there was another great extravagance: that 6.9-liter straight-eight that pumps out 265 horsepower. Ms. Ingraham used the car on a grand European tour until WWII broke out and she brought the car home.

When she passed in 1944, the car then sat until it was sold to a museum in 1962. It’s had six owners from new and the current owner acquired it in 1999. The restoration dates to the 1980s and it has been well maintained since. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $594,000.