keiser31 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Anyone know if this Duesenberg supposedly owned by Howard Hughes is still around? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Yes it is, I understand in restored condition. Maybe someone else will weigh in. But I've been told that what has disappeared is Howard Hughes' Stutz Bearcat, which according to legend still existed, possibly in disassembled state, at the time of his death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragtop4two Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 I googled this car just now and got a story on it. This pic was also in the story, I'm assuming its the same car? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 Thanks for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 How tall is that man in the driver's seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Photo says "towed gliders". Is this the same car as..?....I read a website saying a J was bought out of a LA county? junkyard many decades ago, and it said it was used at an airport to tow gliders. It did mention something about the rear of the car body, was modified in some way. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Interesting times. If you wanted a machine to tow gliders 3 at a time, you would need something surefooted, heavy and fast. A two ton truck would be surefooted and heavy but slow; a Ford would be fast but unsteady and light. The solution is obvious and cheap: go down Whittier Boulevard to Honest Ernie's Used Cars and get a fifteen year old Duesenberg off the back of the lot for a few hundred bucks. Did they fab up a homemade blow-through supercharger? Looks like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 If that is #444 it is also known as the Joey Brown car. It was totally restored by the McGowan brothers here in Connecticut about 20 years ago. LA Times owner later had it and put WWW on it, glad to see the blackwalls on it again. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 From The Old Motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 21 minutes ago, 1937hd45 said: If that is #444 it is also known as the Joey Brown car. It was totally restored by the McGowan brothers here in Connecticut about 20 years ago. LA Times owner later had it and put WWW on it, glad to see the blackwalls on it again. Bob If that's Otis Chandler at the wheel (late LA Times owner), he was a shot putter and weightlifter in early years and stood 6'3", weight 220, according to wikipedia. Makes the Dues look like a Model A Ford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K8096 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 I never heard the Stutz story before. I'm assuming it was a 1931-33 DV-32 Bearcat. Where did you hear that story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/05/howard-hughes-had-this-duesenberg-body.html Howard Hughes had this Duesenberg body chopped in half to tow and support his gliders at his El Mirage Soaring School 1947, El Mirage. chassis number 2456 and engine number J-444 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/65803-howard-hughes-duesenberg-at-el-mirage-1947-not-what-you-think/ The Tourster body style were built exclusively by the Derham Body Company in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. A total of eight were originally produced, of which this car is the third. The original owner of this car was comedian and actor Joe E. Brown. Brown retained the car for seven years. It then passed through a Cadillac dealer, who turned it over to Clement Hirsch. Several months later, when World War II began, Hirsch traded the car to his brother-in-law, Mark Jelmeland, who traded it into yet another dealership, Kal Kam Ford. The Ford dealer sold the car to William Hunter, from whom it was purchased by Hughes Aircraft. The company of aviator Howard Hughes elected to remove the rear body section, in order to use the Model J to tow gliders aloft. The car's torque allowed it to launch even the largest aircraft, and it continued to serve as a test vehicle for Briegleb Aircraft after it was sold to them in 1945. McGowan sold the finished car to Otis Chandler who would kept the car for 10 years. Chandler showed the car on a few occasions and displayed for the rest of the time in his private museum in Oxnard, California. During Chandler's ownership, the car was awarded a CCCA National First Prize, followed by its Senior Award in October 1989. In March of 1996, Chandler sold the car to John McMullen, of Michigan. In Mr. McMullen's care, it earned Best in Show at the Gilmore Car Museum's Grand Experience in 2001 and numerous Best in Class and class awards, including, notably, Best in Class at the 1995 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and the Gordon Buehrig Memorial Award for Best ACD Car at the same event the following year. The car joined the John O'Quinn collection in 2007. In 2013, it came to auction at RM Auction's Amelia Island Sale where it was sold for $825,000 including buyer's premium. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Fuhrman Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 I suspect Mr. Hughes had other Duesenbergs besides the glider launcher, probably many nice cars given his Hollywood presence and celebrity status not to mention his income level. Of course there are stories about his more ordinary cars too. If you look at his whole life not just the later years, he was quite a guy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org/weekend-rides/ Hughes '55 Packard is located in this Museum, it's in the video. El Segundo Auto Driving Museum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 (edited) Thanks for all of the answers! If that car could only talk.... Edited May 5, 2017 by keiser31 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 2 hours ago, 1937hd45 said: If that is #444 it is also known as the Joey Brown car. It was totally restored by the McGowan brothers here in Connecticut about 20 years ago. LA Times owner later had it and put WWW on it, glad to see the blackwalls on it again. Bob Bob....the McGowan name rang a bell. When I bought my Nash,(here in CT) I was told though the grapevine, that my Nash sat dormant, next to a 31 Cad V12 ex-California farm cutdown, for 20 years when they were sold. My Nash came to me with the Cad 12 front seat stuffed into the Nash. I knew it was wrong, so I asked the grapevine for a phone number of the Cad buyer, as maybe they had my Nash back seats. I ended up speaking with a McGowan, perhaps "Bob"?, and he did not have my seat, but never came for mine, as he either parted the Cad out or acted as the agent to part it out. geez, small world.. .thanks for the history lesson on that J. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 (edited) Bob is the only brother with us today, they were super nice guys, I sure miss seeing them at all the local swap meets. Three regular guys who got into high end cars early on. Google "Fabulous Farquhar" that was the brothers band, it along with a few bars at some sky slopes funded their Classic Car collecting.Bob Edited May 5, 2017 by 1937hd45 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 4 hours ago, K8096 said: I never heard the Stutz story before. I'm assuming it was a 1931-33 DV-32 Bearcat. Where did you hear that story? It was widely reported that when Hughes was young he bought a Stutz Bearcat from the teens or maybe very early 20s, and took it apart to see how it worked. Word here in Houston was that the disassembled car was stored at Hughes Tool for decades, up until the time he died. Then, it just disappeared. Word was that a lot of old stuff was just disposed of following his death. So I'm not implying that it's out there somewhere. It's probably gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Here are two books on it, hope the links work. They are pdf's so I cannot cut and paste unfortunately. Hidden genius, H T Bryer - https://books.google.com/books?id=2CzHSAZLIn8C&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=howard+Hughes+Stutz+Bearcat&source=bl&ots=9YwdEySSJh&sig=dyAhNYjG_75o7t994jPcjHmfwgg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB8cqwn9rTAhXLjFQKHW4yCAcQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q=howard Hughes Stutz Bearcat&f=false Howard Hughes, Untold Story - https://books.google.com/books?id=BfkKlX4FT7gC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=howard+Hughes+Stutz+Bearcat&source=bl&ots=wo_CmFpEq3&sig=KXOnCWe3t2fvc90lv0Kk6bNUaCM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB8cqwn9rTAhXLjFQKHW4yCAcQ6AEIQDAH#v=onepage&q=howard Hughes Stutz Bearcat&f=false Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 The Hughes 1925 Doble e-22 and custom built steam car, CalTech - http://acdclub.org/forum/cord-l-29-acd-forums/4477-howard-hughes-car-info Howard decided to pilgrimage to that center of scientific knowledge, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He went directly to the president himself, Dr. Robert Millikan, the famed physicist who had won the Nobel Prize a few years before. "I want to build a steam car which will be practical enough for general use," Howard announced. These are excerpts from the H T Bryer book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne sheldon Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Lots of interesting stuff here, about so many things. But the one thing I would want to comment on is the third posting (of the photo of the restored Duesenberg). I only met Otis Chandler once, at a Palo Alto Concourse. A very friendly and charming fellow in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt (oh well, to each his own, he had recently retired). With the wind-wing doing such a fine job of disguising the face of the driver, it may be difficult to tell. But I am fairly sure that is NOT Otis Chandler behind the steering wheel. As a matter of opinion, I do suspect that is Otis Chandler in the back seat (far side), I am fairly sure the driver is Jack Passey. I was fortunate enough to know Jack fairly well for quite a few years, although not so much in his later years (Jack Passey introduced me to Otis Chandler). When he stood, he had a tendency to lean to one side or forward a little. When he sat behind the wheel of a great classic? He sat straight and tall. That driver had Jack written all over him, face showing or not. Just my opinion, W2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Did Howard drive Chevys in his later years as not to attract attention and blend in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 3 minutes ago, Joe in Canada said: Did Howard drive Chevys in his later years as not to attract attention and blend in? Decades ago in an antique car magazine, or ad, there was a early 50s Chrysler sedan I believe, that had some bizarre air filtration system taking up the entire trunk room. It said that he went off the deep end about avoiding germs and contaminants in his very later age. His suite was said to also be filtered. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Here is some info from 2014 on that super air filtered car. https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/12/19/howard-hughes-record-setting-1953-buick-roadmaster-heads-to-auction/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5219 Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 I remember watching this car sell for 1.65 mil and thinking that that was insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 23 hours ago, F&J said: Decades ago in an antique car magazine, or ad, there was a early 50s Chrysler sedan I believe, that had some bizarre air filtration system taking up the entire trunk room. It said that he went off the deep end about avoiding germs and contaminants in his very later age. His suite was said to also be filtered. . I saw that car at the imperial Palace collection in Vegas about 15 years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 I believe you saw the article we ran in Car Collector magazine back in the late 1980s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5219 Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 The fact that he owned these cars does not mean that he ever rode in them or even knew that he owned them. He owned all kinds of things that sat forgotten for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renek Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 I built the car inspired by a single photo and the model participated in several competitions in which it was awarded ... 1:18 scale 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC5 Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 That is pretty cool! Patina and all... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 That model is awsome. And after reading the story, I have to say I am more impressed that the car was owned by Joe E Brown than HH. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 (edited) THANK YOU! That model is great J-444 was restored here in Connecticut by the McGowan brothers, sure miss those guys. Bob Edited March 10, 2022 by 1937hd45 (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renek Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Thank you for the comments .... Due to the unavailability of information, I improvised a lot with this model, I did not know, for example, how the winch drive was designed and the control of the engineer is purely my imagination ... I hope you don't mind if I put a few photos of the building details here 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now