Bob Roller

Matt, I also read in some auto magazine years ago that Gable's wife Carole Lombard?? drove it,didn't like it and left it at a sports car garage in LA.Maybe true,maybe not but it adds a bit of spice to the story. You are SOOOOO right about time flying.When I was young it staggered by on 3 broken legs now it travels in a Ferrari or maybe even an SSJ. I am now 82 and hope to share as much as I can remember with a degree of accuracy with any who might want to know about whatever subject I can help with.I am "retired" machinist and sometimes tool maker and over the years I accumulated some machinery,lathes,mill,drill presses and saws for hobby purposes and I am still active in that little shop.About 25 years ago I met Ted and Gerry McPhail from Canada and Ted was restoring a "J"that had engine J452 when new and Ted managed to get J105 to install in it and found the bell housing for J452 in Maine.I made shackle bolts,bushings and most if not all the acorn head nuts and bolts found on a "J" engine.Quite a task but he was happy with the work I did.Sadly to say,he was stricken with a vicious form of Leukemia called Multiple Myaloma and it took him out of this life.His first wife,Gerry had passed from stomach cancer earlier and I suppose his second wife sold the Duesenbergs (2). J452 was said to be the only Willoughby body on the "short"142.5 inch chassis.It had beautiful wood work as I recall.I don't know anything about the 2nd "J" but Ted told me some knucklehead removed the roof and all 4 doors fell off of it.That had to be a hoot and giggle of the first magnitude.

I saw one years ago that was driven by the generator. One old Packard mechanic said if it ever hit 5000 RPM it would put a rod thru the block. I had a 1935 "Super"8 when I was in high school and it had a beautiful dash and two glove compartments.This car was traded in on a Morris Minor in 1952 and I bought it for $150.It was a convertible with wire wheels (6) and a rumble seat. In the glove box on the drivers side I found a loaded German P38,unloaded it and had the owner of the dealership I was working in call the Morris owner to come and get it. This man was a law enforcement officer in Kentucky and carried it all over the country with him.In the past I have owned a 1951-52 and 53 + a 55 Patrician. The Patrician was a pathetic example of what happened to kill Packard and the Ultramatic transmission was the killer.In 1956 I understand that they got the "bugs" out of it but the 55's made sure few of the 56's were sold. My 51 was Ultramatic with a small (288)CID engine that didn't tear up the transmission. I did rebuild it after it started "surging"while idling in"drive".I made all new bronze bushings and closed up the sloppy manufacturing tolerances and the direct clutch in the converter could be felt when it engaged. In 1989 I went to St.Louis and rebuilt another one for a man who had his fail in a fine 54 sedan and I drove it back to Huntington WV where I live and fine tuned it. He picked it up on a trip from DC and drove it out West to wherever he lived.

That SSJ was never owned by Clark Gable. He was seen driving it,didn't like it and said,according to an old ACD Newsletter that he had a good Duesenberg and they wanted too much for that one.Al Ferrara told me in 1973 that he paid D Cameron Peck $2500 for it in 1950. I asked Al about the paint scheme and he said it was he and his wife that came up with what it is now. When he bought it he said it was "coffee with cream" tan and looked awful.

The failure of SJ528 was not from over revving,it was while the car was decelerating coming down Bridgeport Hill (US50)that the flat section coiled spring that kept the cam driving timing chain tight broke and the timing was thrown out of sync and when a piston and valves came together it broke the piston into pieces and rod broke thru the cylinder wall.I think it was on #2 but too many years have passed.to be certain.Either way,it ruined the engine.I wonder if that engine was ever repaired.The car was one of the 3 Brunn Riviera convertible sedans that were built and was bought new by Jacob Schick of electric razor fame. Jim Schneck had the one that had belonged to B.C.Hartline and is still a fine low mileage car with original supercharger. I saw the 3rd one at Auburn after restoration by Brian Joseph. It was painted orange and black and was a good looking car.SJ528 now J467 supercharged was for a time in the O'Quinn collection in Texas and restored to new or better. J467 was originally in a sedan that was mentioned in Elbert's book as belonging to a man that owned an eatery in Chicago named Ernie Henderson. I parted this car out and helped pull the engine which was in good condition. We also stored another sedan that was new as SJ551 with a modernized front end and bullet headlights and heavily skirted fenders.That engine now powers a phaeton that belonged to the late Harry VanIderstine and replaced J435.

65 years ago I was directly involved with Don Thompson and at the request of Harry Schulzinger we made extensive alterations to SJ 528,After a major engine failure while coming off Bridgeport hill in Clarksburg.Sj 528 was replaced by J467,bored out to 3.875 and fitted with Jahn's high compression pistons and a Clark 5 speed transmission with the 5th gear being an overdrive.That definetly put that car on the road as a major contender in cross country traveling. I think Harry used it for a bit over 20 years and finally sold it. At the time of the engine SJ 528 failure I was unaware we were in a car being used with NO authorization by Mr. Schulzinger and I don't know if there were legal repercussions or not. I am now the only one left alive that knows about that episode as far as I know and I am now 82. Also,I have never come close to hitting the dash with my knuckles on any Duesenbeg.The transmission was a relic when it was new and Art Brummer's idea of a Packard transmission is a good one as was the 5 speed Clark.

A fine view over the hood of a MAJOR classic car from a time we hope will never be repeated. Open cowl vent,air conditioner from 1930 and doesn't burden the battery. My inlaws once lived where Harry VanIderstine lived in New Symerna but I don't recall where. If you are going to travel in England you might find and buy J159.It was made for driving on the wrong side of the road. RHD and I think a Barker body of American style.

Ed, MANY thanks for the invite to Florida to help in wearing "Melvin"out.What became of the red seat covers that were on the seats?I am glad this car is in use as it should be.My biggest concern with driving this very valuable relic would be getting side swiped or worse yet,having tweedledee the Wonder Dummy run a stop light/sign and roll it like happened to J175. Tweedle is out there and his numbers are legion. Do you happen to know who has J540 now? Melvin owned it for years and in the winter of 1952/53 Jack Irwin and I brought it to Huntington and were chased all over the state by cold rains and flooding. I am glad we had that powerful,heavy old car because a lesser car would have failed to get us back in one piece.I was backing it into the garage and a drive line coupling failed and completely immobiized the car. In the Summer of 1953 I helped Don Thompson remove the ENTIRE drive line assembly including the springs and then Bill Evans and I loaded it into a Dodge pickup truck and took it to Melvin and then we removed the Entire drive line assembly from J155,the chassis with low miles I mentioned earlier.Later,in the Fall Don and I installed it under the old Judkins and took it back to Melvin running strong. I share the same opinion of Jim Schneck as you. I met him ONCE but he made a really GOOD first impression and we all know there is NO second chance to do that.I called him off and on and he was always cordial and when Igot the notice from Chris Summers of that terrible accident I was sick about it.People like Jim are as rare as a football bat and should never be taken for granted. Thanks again for contacting me and as far as I know I may be the only one still alive (82)that had experience with the car now known,fittingly, as "Melvin"

A friend,the one who introduced me to the Model "J" Duesenberg had a Citoen and the thing that impressed me was that @1000RPM in high gear or maybe overdrive it was running 60MPH on level ground.

For a while,J561 was driven as a chassis by a man in Delaware listed in Elbert's book as Sumner Francis. I remember Melvin Clemens talking about it many years ago.Melvin had a complete chassis in a garage and it apparently was parted out over the years. It was a VERY low mileage former limo,Rollston if I remember right and had under 15,000 miles on it. Wolff notes indicate it was J155 and had more than one body on it. Harry VanIderstine got the head from that low mileage engine and called me to see if I had any information on the engine and I told him about the extremely low miles. The short block sold later after Melvin passed away and I have no knowledge of any of the rest of it. Here is something else that may be of interest to some people.As may be fully known,Jim Schneck of Manitowoc Wisconsin undertook the stunning task of reproducing the head for the Model "J",ready to install once the cams,valves and other components were properly in place.Sadly,Jim died in a tragic,freak accident a while back. He was trying to get his dog off the ice of a frozen pond,fell thru and drowned. During a conversation with Jim at Auburn a few years ago he mentioned the fact he neeced a head that could be cut in half to help establish water passages in the head he wanted to produce.Harry VanIderstine had such a head which was nothing but trouble from SJ551.It was constantly cracking and the head from J155 was the answer.I pointed Harry out to Jim and the new heads got made and I think Harry got the first one for furnishing the pattern head. I am glad I was there and able to help in a small way with this project that made some of these cars driveable again.

I am going to see if I can find a lot of pictures taken at Auburn in years past. The Derham sedan I saw went to Texas after the McGowan ownership. It was black and the paint was chipped in places. I am having visual problems now,cataracts,left eye repaired,right eye not repaired and glasses that are totally useless for either eye.It may be a while before I try to look for the pictures.The joys of becoming a fossil?

Art Brummer's Duesenberg,the one I am familiar with was,I think J561 a fine Rollston sedan also called the "6 fender car" by some.It was mostly original except for the installation of a Packard transmission for easier shifting and an overall better unit.It was 1986 and me and my wife and two young sons were walking into Eckhart Park and Art pulled up beside of us.The car was running so quietly that I saw it before any of us heard it. It may still be owned by a family in the South but I won't give the name unless they tell me I can. They got it after ownership by Dick Gold from Minnesota,now deceased. I hope this helps.

In the mid 1980.s I told Fred Roe about a man who bought a Duesenberg Limo and rebodied it with a Lincoln roadster body and drove it like that.Fred contacted the man who living in Florida and he furnished Fred with pictures of the car with the Rollston limo body and the Lincoln body. Fred said until I uncovered this man there were no known pictures of the limo.I THINK it may have been J402 but don't take that as firm fact.I had a 1935 Packard convertible coupe with rumble seat he tried to buy but I didn't want it parted out to get the body for his Duesenberg..

I think the real Gable Duesenberg was offered a while back for 10 million and 7 was offered and refused.Al Ferrera was here in Huntington WV at a national car show but brought no car(s).He told me he bought that car from D.Cameron Peck for $2500.I asked about the paint scheme and he said it was his idea and the original was what he called "coffee with cream" and looked like hell.This was in 1973 when I had this conversation.First prize went to a beautiful 1934 Packard 12 with a LeBaron phaeton body.

Ed,I sent a couple of pictures years ago to AJ.I THINK they involved something to do with an intake manifold on J292?,an SJ. J357 was owned by Melvin Clemens when Jack Irwin and I put a clutch in it in 1951 or 52. Melvin was a DRIVER and he thought nothing of running the tachometer off the scale.J396 was a scourge on the roads back then. It had a Packard roadster body installed after the sedan (Derham?) was wrecked by a street car in NYC.(1936)? Harry VanIderstine told me the frame damage was still evident when it was refinished.Engine J396 was damaged by a rod coming thru the block years later and the can has had two other engines since then and I don't know the "J"numbers but J202 MIGHT be one of them.Engine J396 was restored and it was in a pieced together "torpedo phaeton"the last time I saw it.I keep no track of what's going on with these cars any more but have memories of personal experiences with them that few living today can remember.

I doubt if E.L.Cord and Fred Duesenberg had in mind lugging these cars on trailer. Once while at Auburn,maybe 25 years ago a Derham (J164)was driven in from Connecticut and the owner was asked WHY.His reply was "It's to heavy to carry". I complimented him on the fast response.This car then was unrestored and reeked of mothballs.I think I might have pictures of it.

If memory serves me right didn't this car have a free wheeling device or some similar contraption that didn't work very well.I recall an article in AQ about Captain Whitell and his Model "J"s and he apparently had problems with all of them such as engine failure on the LWB speedster.Anyone else have anything to add.

25HP and timed from 0-60 with a calendar.

A.J. Thank you for the welcome.If I can help I will be glad to.Duesenberg cars and Long Range Muzzle Loading Rifles are my main hobby interests.

Only if it were in currency backed by precious metal, NOT Federal Reserve notes.

Only if it were in currency backed by precious metal, NOT Federal Reserve notes.

Only if it were in currency backed by precious metal, NOT Federal Reserve notes.

The Whitell aluminum top Murphy bodied coupe.Went to a German industrialist for over 10 million$.Must be nice to write a check and have the bank bounce instead of the check..

The whole hobby is nothing but one big auction.Does anyone drive these cars or is it just a money hustle?