1935 Duesenberg Convertible SJ LA Grand Dual-Cowl Phaeton

[George Smolinski]

[John Bloom]

I’ll take two please. 

[edinmass]

Looks like a rebody............I’ll take a square box over a modern body. It was fun to drive the Pacific Coast Highway down to Big Sir in a J. It was a bit foggy, and the earlier cars were a bit slow......but we found a few areas to let the old girl open up...........exhaust cut out open, flying down the road, passing other tour cars from the opposite direction..............great fun!

[alsancle]

It is the car in the Louwman museum.    It was supposedly updated in the late 30s by Rollston.   I don't think it is a rebody.

[edinmass]

^{That explains the windshield and top looking out of sorts. The top bow looks so awkward that it’s distracting. Another example of people trying to make a great design better and failing. Weather or not it’s B & S is anyone’s guess.........what’s the J number?}

[West Peterson]

Yes. Modified. The redesigner did it no favors.

[58L-Y8]

The highest top bow should not be the one over the rear seat with the top sloping downward toward the windshield...

[TAKerry]

9 hours ago, edinmass said:

Looks like a rebody............I’ll take a square box over a modern body. It was fun to drive the Pacific Coast Highway down to Big Sir in a J. It was a bit foggy, and the earlier cars were a bit slow......but we found a few areas to let the old girl open up...........exhaust cut out open, flying down the road, passing other tour cars from the opposite direction..............great fun!

Ed, Looks like you got passed by a guy on a skateboard going uphill!   LOL.

[West Peterson]

28 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The highest top bow should not be the one over the rear seat with the top sloping downward toward the windshield...

 

Actually... it should be.

 

[SC38dls]

Maybe it was a tall owner and a short chauffeur! 

[SC38dls]

Duesenberg SJ Sweep Panel Dual Cowl Phaeton "LaGrande" (J-342)

---

1935

 

The one at the Louwman museum 

Edited August 19, 2021 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

44 minutes ago, West Peterson said:

 

Actually... it should be.

 

Really?  Perhaps a tad too much downward slope in this case.  Anyone have a photo of the car in its original configuration?

[edinmass]

It’s interesting that someone would modify a car, alter its appearance so much that it makes it look like a modern rebody. That car had just about perfect lines when it was new. Why would anybody alter something that was considered almost perfection when it was made. ?

Edited August 19, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Robert G. Smits]

3 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Why would anybody alter something that was considered almost perfection when it was made.

How about TOO MUCH MONEY

[West Peterson]

13 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Really?  Perhaps a tad too much downward slope in this case.  Anyone have a photo of the car in its original configuration?

 

Yes. The windshield was lowered way too much. Looks like someone dropped a refrigerator on the top. Plenty of photos of phaetons to look at online.

[edinmass]

If you read the auction report from 2015 it’s been re-bodied for the third time. It’s a modern body made in the 70s according to the article. It’s exactly what I expected by looking at it. The first two bodies were sedans. It says it burned in 1940s. It survived as a chassis until the 70s. Which also explains the color, as well as all the other over-the-top modifications. The blower was also an add on. Too many cars are allegedly modified by B & S. It’s everyone’s quick answer to why their car doesn’t look correct. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

To answer my own inquiry:  Duesenberg J: The Pursuit of Perfection by Fred Roe, page 255

[60FlatTop]

13 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Why would anybody alter something that was considered almost perfection when it was made. ?

Someone who read a magazine and saw this ad while thinking about about their dated frumpy 3 year old car.

 

The way one would personalize a 2016 Escalade which some may think is almost perfection today.

[West Peterson]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

To answer my own inquiry:  Duesenberg J: The Pursuit of Perfection by Fred Roe, page 255

 

The top doesn't look quite right on the top car. It would be better to find a photo of a car that has never been restored. In the 1950s, it was VERY common for tops to be slightly modified to satisfy the owner's wish to make it look like the trend of the day.

[58L-Y8]

1 minute ago, West Peterson said:

 

The top doesn't look quite right on the top car. It would be better to find a photo of a car that has never been restored. In the 1950s, it was VERY common for tops to be slightly modified to satisfy the owner's wish to make it look like the trend of the day.

You are probably right, West.  Clearly Bohman & Schwartz got their hands on the car...

[edinmass]

21 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

You are probably right, West.  Clearly Bohman & Schwartz got their hands on the car...

 

Somehow, 99 percent of the Bohman & Schwartz stories are truly BS! In reference to the above car, I have no clue. But the lines offend the trained eye. Too many people think their idea of improvements help a car......they NEVER do.

[Laughing Coyote]

When I look at the car this comes to mind.

 

[prewarnut]

9 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

To answer my own inquiry:  Duesenberg J: The Pursuit of Perfection by Fred Roe, page 255

 

J532 looks interesting with unusual features. One would think this would have skirted fenders as a '35. Is this on display somewhere?

[edinmass]

Doesn’t look like it.......

[ericmac]

12 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

To answer my own inquiry:  Duesenberg J: The Pursuit of Perfection by Fred Roe, page 255

The car in the top photo, J324 has been owned for 60+ years by the same family in Indiana.  It regularly appears at the ACD Festival in Auburn, IN. As for the second car,  I am certainly in the minority here, but I don't mind the look of the car as it appears today. Would I prefer it as it appeared new? Yes. But I certainly wouldn't turn it away if I had a chance to own it as it appears now.

[60FlatTop]

I have a much lesser car that is a convertible. Maybe I could find a couple of pictures with the top up. Top up is a storage position. I put mine down early in May and it stays that way until around the beginning of November.

 

I would do the same with any convertible I owned. The architecture of the top or its aesthetics would never be an issue.