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1926 Duesenberg


Guest MrRepair

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Guest MrRepair

I have become an owner of what I believe is a 1926 Duesenberg, but it doesn't have the orginal engine. How can I know what it really is?

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Guest Bob Call

Tail lights are VW bettle. The Ford badge on the front has been added to radiator shell of who knows what make.

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Guest MrRepair

I had a guy from yearone in Atlanta, that came by and took a close look at it. He said that there was alot of put ons, that was not orginal, but he could tell that was an antique. The Ford radiator is mounted in front of the orginal one. The taillights was not orginal, alone with other parts.

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Tail lights are VW bettle. The Ford badge on the front has been added to radiator shell of who knows what make.

Chevy radiator shell. Ford Model A front fenders, chevy rear bumper, Some of the body tin looks early GM, so maybe the same chevy.

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Revise that to 1 in 101.

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.

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This would definately be a lot of fun to give to three or four teenagers, to play around with, learn a bit, and maybe drive in a small town parade. Unless the OP can figure out what this is based on, (see modern steering wheel and column in one pic) the frustration will be in identifying the mechanicals to repair assuming it was up and running at one time.

Better than endless video games... ;)

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The little detail I can see of the front and back ends of the chassis is definitely nothing like the chassis detail of my 1922 and 1923 A Duesenbergs.

You would have to get underneath for flash photos of the front and rear axles as well as the chassis so you might expose any detail which may be confirmatory. The design style of all the components of a Duesenberg make them quite distinctive. My guess is it may have been a special build for film or TV, and only you can tell whether it even had an engine or was a static prop.

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In response to Dale: You cannot pull up one photo of a Model A Duesenberg and make a decision. They're all unique. Ivan's argument is much more supportive.

I only proposed the possibility that the fenders looked like they could be Duesenberg, giving the OP the benefit of the doubt. However, in my opinion, the body tub, doors, hood, bumper and fenders look more like a Chrysler product of the period, sedan specifically.

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Wouldn't the cut outs in the front fenders (one side is boxed) that appear to accomodate A -arms be indicative of a more modern chassis underneath? This, along with the modern steering column & wheels/tires seems to support that IMHO.

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In response to Dale: You cannot pull up one photo of a Model A Duesenberg and make a decision. They're all unique. Ivan's argument is much more supportive.

I only proposed the possibility that the fenders looked like they could be Duesenberg, giving the OP the benefit of the doubt. However, in my opinion, the body tub, doors, hood, bumper and fenders look more like a Chrysler product of the period, sedan specifically.

I would say those items tend to look more like a 1927 Chevy.

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If you look at auto magazines from the 60s and 70s, it seems that every two or three months someone came out with a farb* antique car. Everything from the Glassics and Shays(Model A-ish), to some things that were more homages to 70s bad taste but had the names of 20s and 30s classic cars on them. A few of these were actually well-done, like some of the 1936 Cord replicas and, rather than "farby", are collectible in their own right. The disappointment of these cars was always the moment you opened up the hood and found modern junk instead of the original engines you were hoping to see.

This car might have one of the Model A replicas in its ancestry. Has anyone noticed that this was born a modest-wheelbase 4-door phaeton, and then got chopped-down so the little rear doors with the cutouts for the rear wheels are now the "front" doors?(make-over from duel-cowell pheaton** to roadster)? And then someone decided one cowl wasn't enough and put two back-to-back. It looks like it has steel body parts, but a magnet might turn up the odd bit of fiberglass. I guess it's possible there is some original pre-war sheetmetal somewhere.

It would look pretty good primed and painted, but I'm confused by the fuel filler coming out of the otherwise great-looking accessory trunk.

*FAR Be it from real

**I've seen these spellings in car ads!

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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Last year, there was a Shay on eBay that the seller insisted was the real deal. People explained that it was a replica and the seller went postal and threatened to report them to the administrators. It can be easy for a non car guy to get duped, but this thing had air, automatic, power steering, tilt wheel and all the usual 1930 features.

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