Any Duesenberg is sure to draw consideration, however the automotive featured on this episode of “Jay Leno’s Storage” has all the time stood out from the remainder.
This four-door was constructed as a present automotive for the 1933 Chicago World’s Truthful, the place it turned well-known in its time because the “Twenty Grand” Duesenberg due to its then-outrageous worth of $20,000. Leno notes within the video that the common American automotive value lower than $1,000 on the time, and the common home was lower than $2,000.
The one-off Twenty Grand was not the costliest Duesenberg ever constructed—the 1934 Duesenberg Walker Coupe value $25,000 when new—however it was too costly to draw a purchaser the primary time round. Duesenberg repainted it black and introduced it again to Chicago in 1934, the place it was ultimately offered to a rich purchaser. It is now a part of California’s Nethercutt Assortment, the place it is displayed alongside different classics from storied automakers like Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza.
Like different Duesenbergs, the Twenty Grand is powered by a straight-8 engine based mostly on Indianapolis 500 racing engines. This automotive’s engine displaces 421 cubic inches and has a supercharger, producing 320 hp. Just like the automotive’s worth, that was an astounding determine within the Thirties.Â
The race-bred engine and the efficiency it offered meant that Duesenbergs have been thought-about driver’s automobiles of their time, however this automotive was additionally designed to be chauffeur pushed. Its distinctive coach-built physique features a partition and an entire set of gauges for rear-seat passengers so that they monitor what the driving force is doing. It provides new that means to the time period “back-seat driver.”
The automotive was restored in 1979 and has been proven regularly since then, though due to its worth it is not pushed fairly often anymore. Which means the driving portion of this video is restricted to a little bit of taxiing round an airport apron, however it’s uncommon to see this distinctive Duesenberg in movement in any respect.