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Frederick and August Duesenberg are the brothers behind the famous American luxury car icon. Frederick designed his firsat car in 1904 though it was not until 1920 that he and his brother August started production of elegant luxury cars bearing their name. The Duesenberg brothers are known for their great power plants which they started building under the name of Duesenberg Motor Company in 1913. Their first car bearing their name was the 1920 Model A which carried the first straight eight for sale in the US. Prior to their automobile careers Frederick was a bicycle shop owner in Iowa. He closed his shop in March 1903 at a time when his debts were twice as much as his assets. He built and raced his first car, called a Mason, in Iowa before relocating to St. Paul, Minnesota to go into the engine manufacturing business with his brother, "Augie". The Duesenberg Motor Company was formed and the brothers built auotomobile and marine power plants. From St. Paul came a move to Elizabeth, New Jersey and then Newark, New Jersey. The brothers were employees of their own company as they always managed to find somebody elses money to fund their passion. With this lack of control came a sale of the company in 1926 to Auburn president Erret Lobban Cord and a final move to Indianapolis, Indiana. throughout their history Duesenberg automobiles were not just status symbols for the rich. The factory produced great racing and land speed record cars as well. Also, reliability runs were demonstarted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on several occassions. A Model J was driven at an average of 116mph and later a supercharged J circulated at 129mph. Ab Jenkins did a 24 hour test at the Booneville Salt Flats in 1935 and averaged 135.5mph. At one point Jenkins avaraged 152.1mph over one hour. |