Monday, August 19, 2019

I betcha never seen this before


right? Me neither.

In 1964 the ultra-luxury marque Duesenberg was set to unveil an all-new vehicle because Fred  “Fritz” Duesenberg, son of the legendary Augie Duesenberg, partnered with Texas real estate baron Fred McManis who promised $5 million in startup capital.

Coachwork was penned by Virgil Exner and handcrafted by Carrozzeria Ghia on the chassis of a 1966 Imperial with a 440.

Since it was ugly, not enough were paid for on pre sale, though 50 were spoken for, the financing to complete the production required 1000. So, that didn't happen, and even though some mega wealthy people like Elvis and Jerry Lewis did order one, another 950 were needed to sell in order to make the production run happen.

This car has been driven only 800 miles, and spent over 30 years in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum, then the Bortz Collection.


Maybe I judge it too critically, and it's not quite "ugly" as I think it would be the perfect triad gangster car from a late 60s early 70s Hong Kong Kung Fu movie or tv show.

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af19/auburn-fall/lots/r0016-1966-duesenberg-model-d-concept/779879
https://silodrome.com/duesenberg-model-d-concept/

Of course, it could be worse, it looks like this was one of 8 Exner designs that were equally terrible


Thanks Billy O!
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/renwal-103-66-duesenberg--1183473



 http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/tonhazelaar/wwwhome/kits-renwal.html

5 comments:

  1. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/renwal-103-198-66-duesenberg--1030216

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/tonhazelaar/wwwhome/kits-renwal.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. You don't judge it too critically, as the car looks like shite (British expression). The moderne Stutz Blackhawk was designed along the same lines and didn't look quite as bad. But it didn't look good either.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my, that Mercer... what a cookie!

    ReplyDelete