1935 Duesenberg SJ Gurney Nutting Speedster "Maharajah Holkar of Indore" by TSM Models

Surprisingly, one of the most beautiful bodies of Duesenberg was not created in the US but was made to order in England.
This speedster with chassis number  2614 J-585 has a really interesting history. The voluptuous speedster body was designed by A. F. McNeil and built by J. Gurney Nutting & Co. Ltd. in the fashionable Chelsea district in London for Maharaja Holkar of Indore, India and commissioned through a British sales agent R.S.M Automobiles Ltd of London.
Now about that futuristic master dandy (which he really was!), Maharaja Yeshwantrao Holkar II.  He ruled Indore State from 1926 to 1961. Yeshwantrao Holkar was known as a true automobile connoisseur with probably the most extraordinary collection of cars in India! Not to forget that he was also a major international collector of the finest art, such as architecture, artefacts and jewelry, all designed in the futuristic ‘Modern style’ or Art Deco, which was also to be found in his cars.
Maharaja always had a passion for the best cars. His stable include several Rolls Royce's , Bentley's, Delage D8S by Figoni, Pierce Arrow, Bugatti, Bentley, Hispano Suiza etc. In 1936 at the age of 27, the Maharaja ordered three superb cars, a 4.5-litre V12 Lagonda drophead coupé,  a Bentley Aerofoil coupé, and this open SJ Duesenberg, all finished in the striking Holkar colours of Sunglow orange and Black.
Destined for a life of royalty, the Gurney Nutting Speedster was built with unique, lavish features including a like chrome flagsticks, as well as red and blue lights on the front fender to indicate whether the Maharaja (red) or Maharani (blue) was driving the vehicle.
Upon its completion, the Duesenberg was delivered to the Maharaja’s mansion in Santa Ana, California due to fears of Japan invading India. After the tension in the region dropped, the automobile was shipped to India, then disappearing over time and thought to be lost until its rediscovery in 1959. The outstanding car was brought back to the U.S., eventually acquired by General Lyon and now resides in the Lyon Air Museum - Santa Ana, CA.

TSM (True Scale Models) has released a very accurate and beautifully made resin-cast model of the car in its current form that’s as gorgeous as the original. The two-tone paint is excellent and every piece of trim, even the tiny Maharajahs flags, is done with plated or photo-etched parts. If it’s visible in photos, its visible—and to scale—on the model! Interior detail is done to the same level, with accurate upholstery, black-painted relief interior handles, fully detailed instruments, pedals, built-in license plate holder, dual fuel tanks, and single-bar bumpers.  This is a beautiful model of a drop-dead gorgeous car. The only inaccurate detail is a little bit oversized Duesenberg ornament on the radiator.

Unfortunately this beautiful model is sold out. TSM also produces this type in Silver Old-Time livery, but it's not pretty at all. The Duesenberg collectors must have this Maharaja Sunglow orange and Black. Happy collecting!

Manufacturer:	TSM Models
Scale:	1/43
Year of Production:	2012
Part Number:	TSM134302
Material:	Resin
Rating:	10/10

1935 Duesenberg SJ 572-2596 Convertible Coupe SWB Bohman & Schwarz by Matrix

This wonderful one-off Duesenberg SJ was built for Barbara Hutton, the heiress to the Woolworth fortune. Hutton was well known for her extravagant generosity, and the car presented here is a fitting example of her remarkable largesse. It was a gift for Serge M'Divani, the brother of her lover Alexis M'Divani.
The famed M'Divanis were the children of Soviet Georgian nobles who fled Russia during Wold War One. Prince Serge M'Divani had settled in the US and his brothers were connected to some of the wealthiest women in America and were known to marry each other's former lovers and even former wives.Such was the situation that led to the construction of this magnificent Duesenberg.

Every coachbuilder has a design that clearly stands above the others for its use of proportion, daring construction methods and harmony of theme and detail. Among Duesenberg enthusiasts, coachbuilding connoisseurs and designers, this one-off SJ Roadster is hailed as the most successful Bohman & Schwartz design for the Duesenberg chassis and an absolute triumph in the art of coachbuilding.

This car gem is beautifully replicated by Matrix. We can only congratulate on the result. All the details are here including beautiful lines and an impressive deep maroon color matching the original.
Unfortunately, hardly accessible model (only 400 produced pieces), as well as the original from coach builder Bohman & Schwartz.

Manufacturer:	Matrix
Scale:	1/43
Year of Production:	2017
Part Number:	MX40406-021
Material:	Resin
Rating:	10/10

1935 Duesenberg JN 559-2587 Long Wheel Base Berline Rollston/Bohman & Schwartz by Matrix

In February of 1935 this particular Model JN, chassis 2587, would arrive from Rollston in New York with a new Berline body.
On the 9th of July 1935, Duesenberg Sales Corporation would sell this particular chassis to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson for the sum of S 17.500. Just like that, two graceful artists would be united.
By the following year, the JN would be in Pasadena, California at the coach builders of Bohman & Schwartz. It would be there to receive some updates, like the Cadillac bullet headlamps and special parking lights. Other additions would include a reworked windscreen,
 and one-piece bumpers.
Robinson and his Model JN were practically inseparable. Often the two wold be seen together, and, when Robinson returned to New York years later, the model JN was sitting at the famed New York garage Zumbach Motor Repair Company on West 53rd Street. The car would be to undergo service and repairs. As a $900 repair bill was still owed on the Duesenberg, Robinson’s widow sold the aging car to actor, singer, and nightclub entertainer Phil Regan. Regan keep the car until 1951, when it first passed into the hands of collectors and it was first restored between the years of 1966 and 1970. The car has since been carefully preserved and very well cared for.
Fortunately, this Duisenberg Berline still exists and Matrix has released a very accurate and beautifully made resin-cast model of the car in its current form that’s as gorgeous as the original. The brown metallic paint is excellent and in this color is painted also radiator and bullet headlamps and parking lights.Wheels are simply gorgeous, made exclusively for this model, which is uncommon for 1/43.
This is a beautiful model of a gorgeous car. Lovers of the Duesenberg, you must have.

Manufacturer:	Matrix
Scale:	1/43
Year of Production:	2018
Part Number:	MX50406-021
Material:	Resin
Limited No.:	167 of 299
Rating:	10/10

1933 Duesenberg SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan 'Twenty Grand' Rollston by GLM

GLM 1933 Duesenberg SJ "Twenty Grand" Arlington Torpedo Sedan by Rollstone

The coachbuilder Rollston Body Company began after World War I as a body repair shop in Manhattan and soon expanded into coachbuilding. Rollston bodies appeared on Bugatti, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Cord, Duesenberg, Ford, Hispano-Suiza, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow and Rolls Royce.
Rollston's most famous car was this  this 1933 Duesenberg Model SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan "Twenty Grand" – the most expensive Duesenberg ever.
Designed by Gordon Buehrig, the Twenty Grand was built as a show car for the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, and the finished car's price tag was $20,000, an astronomical amount at the time  when the average U.S. physician earned less than $3,000 a year ( by the way - other completed Duesenberg models cost  max between $13,000 and $19,000).

This supercharged Duesenberg with chassis number 2539 and engine J-513.
Chief designer, Gordon Buehrig, designed the "Twenty Grand", adapting several of the earlier coach styles, and the noted coach-builder Rollston Body Company, made the design a reality. With polished stainless steel tubing covering the exposed exhaust pipes, and an aerodynamically slanted windscreen, the luxurious "Twenty Grand" exuded a feeling of speed, as well as grandeur. Its long and sleek lines, uninterrupted by superfluous extravagance, elegantly belied the power that lay under the bonnet—a 320-horsepower supercharged engine that was claimed to have pushed the machine to speeds as high as 130 miles per hour.
The power and elegance that were revealed by the exterior were complemented by the sumptuousness of the interior. The "armchair" type seats were upholstered in broadcloth bounded with silver patent leather. Instrument panels, in the front and back seats, were panelled in two-tone burl walnut with silver inlay.

The famous ’20 Grand’ 1933 Duesenberg SJ Torpedo Sedan wears a California license plate with its original sales price was restored in 1979 and took top honors at Pebble Beach in 1980.

Original  Car Owner:   S. M. Archer, Minneapolis
Owner in 1968:   B. Johnson, IN
Current Owner:   The Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, California

Model made by GLM Models is authentic to the smallest detail.
Company GLM was founded in 2012 by a group of model car collectors.
Finish of paintwork Posh Champagne Silver and assembly are of the highest possible standard - each worker in GLM factory can only finish 2 cars every day!
The resin body casting is flawless, and the finish is accented with a mix of hand-applied detail castings, photo-etched metal, and sharp tampos.
Out front, the  Duesenberg grille, delicate photo-etched hood ornament and set individually-lensed head are very well done, and the photo-etched  front window frame look absolute perfect. Interior details include good-looking upholstery and hand-painted wood-grain dash and door panel wood trim, photo-etched control panels, and detailed instruments up front.
Tall whitewall bias-ply tires wrapped around exquisitely etched spoked wheels with finely crafted Duesenberg crests in the centers. Those wheels are probably my favorite feature on the whole model, and give it a feel of quality and completeness that ties the whole piece together.

It’s a beautiful car, and GLM does a beautiful job presenting in in 1:43. As a model that captures the promise and potential of the pre war period, this Duesenberg has few rivals—if this era appeals to you, this one is worth adding to your collection. But the price of the model is relatively too high, as once was the price of the real car.

Manufacturer:	GLM
Scale:	1/43
Year of Production:	2015
Part Number:	GLM43106201
Material:	Resin
Rating:	10/10

1929 Duesenberg Model J by Franklin Mint

The Duesenberg Model J was introduced at the New York Auto Salon on December 1, 1928. It made headlines. The combination of the Duesenberg reputation with the Model J’s grandeur and elegance made it the star of the show. The first delivery came in May 1929, barely five months before Black Tuesday. Duesenberg advertising the Model J as "The World's Finest Motor Car". In their print ads, an elegant man or woman were seen together with a concise but meaningful sentence: "He/She drives a Duesenberg". The campaign was a success.

Duesenberg customers could order their own bodies from coachbuilders of their choice, but Duesenberg, Inc., as it became known, also purchased directly from coachbuilders, although in very small quantities. Among the suppliers were Willoughby, Derham, LeBaron, Judkins, American Weymann, Walker, Brunn, Holbrook and Locke, a veritable who’s who of American craftsmanship. Quantities from these constructors ranged from 50 to one. By far the most bodies, however, came from the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California.

This lovely model is 1929 Duesenberg Model J Clear Vision Sedan by Walter M. Murphy Co.

Both front and rear doors were hanging on the “B” pillar, allowing the glass drops to be very close together. Roof pillars were made of cast bronze, as thin as practicable, which provided the driver unparalleled visibility and gave the whole car a light, airy character. This basic architecture, which Murphy called “Clear Vision,” was used for touring sedans, hardtop sedans and town cars on chassis from Packard to Cord to Duesenberg.  Despite being the principal supplier of coachbuilt bodies to Duesenberg, Inc., Murphy built very few Clear Vision sedans. By far the most popular Murphy styles were the familiar convertible coupes, with convertible sedans running a not too distant second. Only about five of the distinctive Clear Vision cars were built. The car offered here is, as a result, one of a select few.

This diecast model is 1:43 scale with intricate detail and meticulous workmanship. It is part of the World's Great Classic.  Model is in high quality red painting with black roof. 4 opening doors and bonnet.

Similar model was made by Solido, but with poor details.

Manufacturer:	Franklin Mint
Scale:	1/43
Year of Production:	1991
Part Number:	RC15
Material:	DieCast
Rating:	9/10