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Details
THE BAUER SJ DUESENBERG
1938/40 DUESENBERG MODEL SJ LONG WHEELBASE CONVERTIBLE
COACHWORK BY ROLLSON
Chassis No. 2405
Engine No. J-397
Black with violet leather interior
Engine: Straight eight with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder with centrifugal supercharger, 420 cu. in., 320bhp at 4,750 rpm; Gearbox: three-speed; Suspension: beam axle to front, live axle to rear, half elliptic leaf springs all round; Brakes: servo assisted, hydraulically operated drums on all wheels. Left hand drive. After many trial-trips with cars like the Mercedes-Benz, Austro-Daimler, Maybach, Horch, Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Cadillac, Packard, Lincoln, and after a driving competition in a Duesenberg with a Mercedes SS-Kompressor at the Avus in 1936, I finally chose Duesenberg and placed early in 1937 an order for a supercharger-chassis, which materialized with some delay because of the scarcity of superchargers, one year later, Rudolph Bauer, November 2, 1948.
The Bauer SJ, named after its creator and first owner, is regarded as one of the grandest and most original of all the Duesenbergs.
Frederick Samuel Duesenberg was a visionary engineer and an outstanding craftsman who earned his reputation as a racing car designer, making history when one of his cars won the 1921 French Grand Prix. His eight-cylinder racers went on to win at Indianapolis in 1924, 1925 and 1927 and set records at tracks across the USA. In 1921 he introduced the road-going Model A Duesenberg, built without compromise - the first production car made in the USA to have a straight eight engine and hydraulic brakes. Despite its undoubted merits, sales were sluggish and in 1926 the company passed into the control of E. L. Cord. He decreed that a new Duesenberg should be created - more powerful, faster and more glamorous than any competitor. The result was the breathtaking Model J that was unveiled late in 1928 at the New York Salon, the aristocrat of motor shows. With 265bhp available and a claimed 116mph maximum, it was engineered to the highest standards and was clad with coachwork of lavish ostentation. The new Duesenberg was, and still is, to many observers the crowning achievement of a brilliant era in automotive design. But it was not well timed. Within twelve months, Wall Street crashed and the market for costly automobiles dwindled. Determined to survive, the great motor car manufacturers launched ever more splendid designs. In 1932 Fred Duesenberg's response was the SJ, a supercharged version of the Model J that produced a remarkable 320bhp at 4,750rpm from its great-hearted engine. It was installed in a massive chassis that offered superb handling, stability and braking power. Upon demonstration, a factory production SJ four-passenger phaeton could reach 104mph in second gear, and an astonishing 129mph in top! Unfortunately, by August 1937, Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg, were unable to survive the depths of the Great Depression.
In 1937, in the closing months of the company's life, a German artist of varied talents, Rudolph Bauer, ordered a Long Wheelbase SJ chassis to be supplied to the Berlin coachbuilders, Erdmann and Rossi, so he could equip it with a body of his own wild design. This set in motion a process that would not be completed until 1940. Honoring its commitment, the factory set aside enough parts to build the chassis, possibly using the frame from an unsold long chassis demonstrator. It was duly completed in Chicago during 1938 by a few devoted Duesenberg employees under the supervision of Augie Duesenberg, who inspected and approved their work. This last of all Duesenberg chassis' was then wrapped in burlap and cosmoline to await shipment to Berlin. Final shipping instructions did not arrive due to the onset of World War II and to Bauer's problems in Germany.
Rudolph Bauer was a painter born in Lindenwald, Germany in 1889. Bauer was raised in Berlin and initially made his reputation as a caricaturist, subsequently exploring a series of artistic disciplines including Impressionism, Cubism and Expressionism. In 1912, at the exhibition in the Galerie Der Sturm, Bauer first came into contact with the works of Kandinsky. He was clearly moved by the abstract expressionist paintings and they influenced him to further develop his style into what he called futuristic art of non-objectivity. Bauer was soon to become recognized for this style and his paintings were shown alongside masters such as Kandinsky and Klee. By the 1920s, Rudolph Bauer had achieved international recognition and his paintings were displayed in the U.S. where they attracted the attention of Solomon R. Guggenheim. Guggenheim was so taken by Bauer's work that he purchased a number of his paintings and quickly became Bauer's most generous patron. The paintings of Kandinsky and Bauer would form the basis of Guggenheim's famous non-objective art collection now housed in the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
While still living in Berlin, Bauer was under increasing scrutiny by the Nazis who considered his abstract art criminal and degenerate. During one of the Third Reich military parades, Bauer hung an American flag outside of his window. Shortly thereafter he was confined to a concentration camp. Guggenheim, who had already bought freedom from the Nazis for such icons as Chagall and Klee, decided to rescue Bauer. Substantial sums changed hands and Bauer relocated to a mansion in New Jersey close to Guggenheim's estate.
After his arrival in the U.S., Bauer seemed far less interested in two dimensional art and became fixated by art on wheels. His long standing friend, critic and fellow artist, Hila Rebbay, felt that his obsession with Duesenbergs compromised his paintings and wrote to him in a letter, one who throws the best paintings away for motor cars, as you have done, should be on his knees if someone else succeeded in spite of such foolishness.
Undetered, Bauer finally retrieved his Duesenberg chassis from storage in Chicago and through the advice of Donn. P. Hogan, the head of the company's Chicago operation, commissioned the services of Rollson Coachworks to build a body of his own design. Rollson Coachbuilders, previously named Rollston, was regarded as one of the leading coachbuilders of the day. Bauer decided that they were aptly qualified to carry out his creation and submitted his drawings, but kept a close eye on their progress. The outrageous design accentuated the car's overall enormous length of 20 ft. 7 in. The striking streamlined grille is unique to this car and is followed by a huge multi-louvered hood that sweeps back well past the engine and finishes at the V-windscreen. As if the length of the hood is not enough to indicate the robustness of what lies underneath, the four chromed external exhaust pipes are ever-present and uninterrupted by the fenders. The narrow, torpedo-like body is racy, yet when painted black and adorned with huge landau bars, appears quite formal. Published copies of Bauer's drawings, which include his notations in German, illustrate his concern for detail. There is mention that the car should be fitted with Vogue 750 x 19 in. double side white wall tires, the same set of six that the car retains today - 58 years later. Unique triple-bladed bumpers dominate the car's front and rear and are surmounted at each end by unusual facetted repeater lights. At the rear is the leather trunk, fully trimmed inside and fitted with a custom-made matching set of suitcases including one long enough to take unfolded trousers and dresses. A final flourish to the rear of this imposing motor car is the elegant twin mounted spare wheels.
Bauer supervised the construction of the coachwork and saw to it that there were many special touches inside: door-handles, switches and above all, breathtaking violet leatherwork that is still pristine today. Intended to be chauffeur-driven, the car has a division with wind-down glass and a microphone together with a radio. The headlamps are not quite what they appear: mounted within familiar shells are Marchal reflectors and there are enigmatic Waldorf Astoria plates at the top of each. The 'Duesenbird' mascot is also a special item, made much larger than was customary.
The result is totally unique, different in proportion, line and detail than any other Duesenberg ever built. It is huge but sleek, sporting yet elegant. Invoiced to Bauer on April 25, 1940 with a price over $20,000, the car at that time cost a king's ransom.
It remained in Bauer's keeping until his death in 1954 and had covered a mere 9,884 miles. Bill Pettit has recalled his discovery of the car, Mother was seated in the back of our 1938 Packard Rollston at the Grand Classic in New Brunswick. The year was 1954. Somebody said, 'I know where there is a Duesenberg with a Rollston body and there is a Dual Cowl Phaeton Duesenberg on either side of it'. Needless to say I inquired further. That evening they dined with Rudolph Bauer's widow in Asbury Park. The next morning they toured the Asbury Park mansion before being guided to the outside. The suspense leading up to the opening of the garage doors was torture. The first sight of the cars was such an event the like of which I have never experienced before or since. A year later the deal was struck and the car was driven 300 miles to Virginia where it has remained since. It has covered a little over 1,000 miles in the last 43 years. Mr. Pettit reports that, unlike the other Duesenbergs that he has owned, "Rudolph" drives and feels like a new car.
While all SJ Duesenbergs are exceptionally important motor cars, the Bauer SJ is a superlative example of art on wheels and has been aptly dubbed by authority J.L. Elbert in his definitive book on the marque, the fitting last scion of a proud lineage. Coincidentally, J-397 is being sold exactly 58 years, to the day, from the date of the original invoice. Today, beautifully preserved, it remains quite probably the most original Duesenberg in the world and is one of the pinnacle examples of this grand marque.
1938/40 DUESENBERG MODEL SJ LONG WHEELBASE CONVERTIBLE
COACHWORK BY ROLLSON
Chassis No. 2405
Engine No. J-397
Black with violet leather interior
Engine: Straight eight with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder with centrifugal supercharger, 420 cu. in., 320bhp at 4,750 rpm; Gearbox: three-speed; Suspension: beam axle to front, live axle to rear, half elliptic leaf springs all round; Brakes: servo assisted, hydraulically operated drums on all wheels. Left hand drive. After many trial-trips with cars like the Mercedes-Benz, Austro-Daimler, Maybach, Horch, Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Cadillac, Packard, Lincoln, and after a driving competition in a Duesenberg with a Mercedes SS-Kompressor at the Avus in 1936, I finally chose Duesenberg and placed early in 1937 an order for a supercharger-chassis, which materialized with some delay because of the scarcity of superchargers, one year later, Rudolph Bauer, November 2, 1948.
The Bauer SJ, named after its creator and first owner, is regarded as one of the grandest and most original of all the Duesenbergs.
Frederick Samuel Duesenberg was a visionary engineer and an outstanding craftsman who earned his reputation as a racing car designer, making history when one of his cars won the 1921 French Grand Prix. His eight-cylinder racers went on to win at Indianapolis in 1924, 1925 and 1927 and set records at tracks across the USA. In 1921 he introduced the road-going Model A Duesenberg, built without compromise - the first production car made in the USA to have a straight eight engine and hydraulic brakes. Despite its undoubted merits, sales were sluggish and in 1926 the company passed into the control of E. L. Cord. He decreed that a new Duesenberg should be created - more powerful, faster and more glamorous than any competitor. The result was the breathtaking Model J that was unveiled late in 1928 at the New York Salon, the aristocrat of motor shows. With 265bhp available and a claimed 116mph maximum, it was engineered to the highest standards and was clad with coachwork of lavish ostentation. The new Duesenberg was, and still is, to many observers the crowning achievement of a brilliant era in automotive design. But it was not well timed. Within twelve months, Wall Street crashed and the market for costly automobiles dwindled. Determined to survive, the great motor car manufacturers launched ever more splendid designs. In 1932 Fred Duesenberg's response was the SJ, a supercharged version of the Model J that produced a remarkable 320bhp at 4,750rpm from its great-hearted engine. It was installed in a massive chassis that offered superb handling, stability and braking power. Upon demonstration, a factory production SJ four-passenger phaeton could reach 104mph in second gear, and an astonishing 129mph in top! Unfortunately, by August 1937, Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg, were unable to survive the depths of the Great Depression.
In 1937, in the closing months of the company's life, a German artist of varied talents, Rudolph Bauer, ordered a Long Wheelbase SJ chassis to be supplied to the Berlin coachbuilders, Erdmann and Rossi, so he could equip it with a body of his own wild design. This set in motion a process that would not be completed until 1940. Honoring its commitment, the factory set aside enough parts to build the chassis, possibly using the frame from an unsold long chassis demonstrator. It was duly completed in Chicago during 1938 by a few devoted Duesenberg employees under the supervision of Augie Duesenberg, who inspected and approved their work. This last of all Duesenberg chassis' was then wrapped in burlap and cosmoline to await shipment to Berlin. Final shipping instructions did not arrive due to the onset of World War II and to Bauer's problems in Germany.
Rudolph Bauer was a painter born in Lindenwald, Germany in 1889. Bauer was raised in Berlin and initially made his reputation as a caricaturist, subsequently exploring a series of artistic disciplines including Impressionism, Cubism and Expressionism. In 1912, at the exhibition in the Galerie Der Sturm, Bauer first came into contact with the works of Kandinsky. He was clearly moved by the abstract expressionist paintings and they influenced him to further develop his style into what he called futuristic art of non-objectivity. Bauer was soon to become recognized for this style and his paintings were shown alongside masters such as Kandinsky and Klee. By the 1920s, Rudolph Bauer had achieved international recognition and his paintings were displayed in the U.S. where they attracted the attention of Solomon R. Guggenheim. Guggenheim was so taken by Bauer's work that he purchased a number of his paintings and quickly became Bauer's most generous patron. The paintings of Kandinsky and Bauer would form the basis of Guggenheim's famous non-objective art collection now housed in the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
While still living in Berlin, Bauer was under increasing scrutiny by the Nazis who considered his abstract art criminal and degenerate. During one of the Third Reich military parades, Bauer hung an American flag outside of his window. Shortly thereafter he was confined to a concentration camp. Guggenheim, who had already bought freedom from the Nazis for such icons as Chagall and Klee, decided to rescue Bauer. Substantial sums changed hands and Bauer relocated to a mansion in New Jersey close to Guggenheim's estate.
After his arrival in the U.S., Bauer seemed far less interested in two dimensional art and became fixated by art on wheels. His long standing friend, critic and fellow artist, Hila Rebbay, felt that his obsession with Duesenbergs compromised his paintings and wrote to him in a letter, one who throws the best paintings away for motor cars, as you have done, should be on his knees if someone else succeeded in spite of such foolishness.
Undetered, Bauer finally retrieved his Duesenberg chassis from storage in Chicago and through the advice of Donn. P. Hogan, the head of the company's Chicago operation, commissioned the services of Rollson Coachworks to build a body of his own design. Rollson Coachbuilders, previously named Rollston, was regarded as one of the leading coachbuilders of the day. Bauer decided that they were aptly qualified to carry out his creation and submitted his drawings, but kept a close eye on their progress. The outrageous design accentuated the car's overall enormous length of 20 ft. 7 in. The striking streamlined grille is unique to this car and is followed by a huge multi-louvered hood that sweeps back well past the engine and finishes at the V-windscreen. As if the length of the hood is not enough to indicate the robustness of what lies underneath, the four chromed external exhaust pipes are ever-present and uninterrupted by the fenders. The narrow, torpedo-like body is racy, yet when painted black and adorned with huge landau bars, appears quite formal. Published copies of Bauer's drawings, which include his notations in German, illustrate his concern for detail. There is mention that the car should be fitted with Vogue 750 x 19 in. double side white wall tires, the same set of six that the car retains today - 58 years later. Unique triple-bladed bumpers dominate the car's front and rear and are surmounted at each end by unusual facetted repeater lights. At the rear is the leather trunk, fully trimmed inside and fitted with a custom-made matching set of suitcases including one long enough to take unfolded trousers and dresses. A final flourish to the rear of this imposing motor car is the elegant twin mounted spare wheels.
Bauer supervised the construction of the coachwork and saw to it that there were many special touches inside: door-handles, switches and above all, breathtaking violet leatherwork that is still pristine today. Intended to be chauffeur-driven, the car has a division with wind-down glass and a microphone together with a radio. The headlamps are not quite what they appear: mounted within familiar shells are Marchal reflectors and there are enigmatic Waldorf Astoria plates at the top of each. The 'Duesenbird' mascot is also a special item, made much larger than was customary.
The result is totally unique, different in proportion, line and detail than any other Duesenberg ever built. It is huge but sleek, sporting yet elegant. Invoiced to Bauer on April 25, 1940 with a price over $20,000, the car at that time cost a king's ransom.
It remained in Bauer's keeping until his death in 1954 and had covered a mere 9,884 miles. Bill Pettit has recalled his discovery of the car, Mother was seated in the back of our 1938 Packard Rollston at the Grand Classic in New Brunswick. The year was 1954. Somebody said, 'I know where there is a Duesenberg with a Rollston body and there is a Dual Cowl Phaeton Duesenberg on either side of it'. Needless to say I inquired further. That evening they dined with Rudolph Bauer's widow in Asbury Park. The next morning they toured the Asbury Park mansion before being guided to the outside. The suspense leading up to the opening of the garage doors was torture. The first sight of the cars was such an event the like of which I have never experienced before or since. A year later the deal was struck and the car was driven 300 miles to Virginia where it has remained since. It has covered a little over 1,000 miles in the last 43 years. Mr. Pettit reports that, unlike the other Duesenbergs that he has owned, "Rudolph" drives and feels like a new car.
While all SJ Duesenbergs are exceptionally important motor cars, the Bauer SJ is a superlative example of art on wheels and has been aptly dubbed by authority J.L. Elbert in his definitive book on the marque, the fitting last scion of a proud lineage. Coincidentally, J-397 is being sold exactly 58 years, to the day, from the date of the original invoice. Today, beautifully preserved, it remains quite probably the most original Duesenberg in the world and is one of the pinnacle examples of this grand marque.