alsancle

If you don't restore and drive the car, Haggerty is not going to make any money. The only danger the hoarder represents is to Haggerty making money.

Those that have seen this before will get tired of me saying it, but there has not been an undiscovered Model J Duesenberg find since the early 1960s. What that means is that every single Model J that has been "found" in the last 50 years was known by the Duesenberg guys. This post would have been about a Model A which a few probably have been discovered as they are not tracked with the same vigor of the Model J.

I would say a assembled group of parts from many different kinds of cars (none of which were Duesenberg)

Some pictures will tell the story. The average hit ratio on the "I found a Duesenberg" story is about 1 in 100 so I wish you luck.

I'm not an expert but the 50s are not valued as much as the 48 and early. I assume you will be doing much if not all of the work? If not then free would be too much. However, I think the car is probably worth 4k.

I'm sure they built a few. There is probably one or two hiding somewhere too. It is always amazing to me what comes out of the woodwork. There is an interesting discussion on the HAMB regarding 41 Willys Roadsters. I guess there were 3 built and 1 or 2 are still out there. Most people including me did not realize they built any. I can remember as a kid reading an article on Graham Hollywood Convertibles where they were adamant saying they only built one. There were actually 4 or 5 built. Btw, West is 100% correct. The NADA guide should not be used for an sort of reference material (including values).

Bob, the old car world accepts the rebodied Duesenbergs to varying degrees. The general public doesn't know the different. It used to be that they were not allowed at certain shows but I think that has changed. The market absolutely cares. Depending on when the rebody was done and by whom the discount can on resale can be 50% or more. For me, the history of the car is every bit as important as the car itself. I'm probably in the minority but modern fabrications just do not interest me that much. I appreciate period hot rods, but they of course have history

The Round Door Rolls was bodied in period so I'm not sure that is related to this discussion. If you got a 5 window, I would restore it as is. Most prewar cars could stand a 2 inch chop and those that don't need it are usually worth tons of money. But, as a rare car (although not valuable) I would leave it original. If you found a Beacon roadster body remounting it as is on the longer chassis would be fine with me (assuming it was always presented as such). I generally frown on cars modified to an owner's tastes although respect their right to do it. People do tend to overestimate their taste.

There seems to be an out flow of wealth from California these days. Garage looks nice but he needs some help picking cars.

I have seen it in person restored. A beautiful car. I too prefer the painted wheels but it looks so good I could probably learn to love it just the way it is.

Sorry. He may have one of those. Or a 72 Gremlin. it is hard to tell what is a "Classic" these days.

If the OP has a 540k to restore that might be a good suggestion. But since he didn't specify what kind of car, what kind of work, or what he expected to pay I have a feeling that might be overkill.

Fantastic work Frank. What a great project.

I can't disagree with anything you are saying, except maybe to quibble a bit with Auburn-Cord being an "assembled" car. E.L owned Lycoming too so it wasn't just part of the overall corporate entity and the bodies were all built by E.L companies. The definitive Voisin book is Automobiles Voisin: 1919-1958 by Pascal Courteault which I unfortunately cannot find for less than $1,100.

I guess it would depend on what model car they go in. If one is a CG or CL engine it could be real money. Otherwise, you are probably right.

Cool car. Are you the guy on the hood or running board or the tall one?

I need a pair of usable 1949 Massachusetts License Plates. Google is not being my friend on this. Are there any dealers which may stock a set of these?

Do you know the story of the chassis, when the roadster body was built, etc? Interesting that they swapped out the wheels. Usually the wheels don't go missing as it makes it hard to push the chassis around.

Cool car. Very well done. I could be wrong but it looks like a sit-up to lay-down transitional car. More likely from the mid to late 1960s.

Craig, the 1990 Sothebys Cab A & the 3 from 2001 "The Auction" are in the lists I gave you.

So the engine has already been set back 5 inches for the special roadster setup? Did you ever find out where the wheels came from?

Thomas, I think you will have some trouble. There are very very few untouched Supercharged prewar MB cars in existence. If you are looking for a restoration project there are a few of those. However, the cars are in pieces or have been messed with in some way. Go to the CCCA forum and towards the end of Prewar MB thread there are a couple of projects.

I always wondered how these buy/sell threads get brought to the top. I assume a computer novice using the search function?

There are a few real unrestored ones and a few more than that being cobbled together,

Price guides are worthless so ignore them. Hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like a decent car but 4 door sedans are always a tough sell. If I were you I would compare it to other mid to low priced 6 cylinder sedans from the same year. I can tell you that if it was a 3 window in that condition it would be worth closer to 18k. His price is probably strong by a couple of thousand but it really depends on the actual condition.