Duesenberg Model X

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Duesenberg
Duesenberg Model X Boattail Roadster with McFarlan body
Duesenberg Model X Boattail Roadster with McFarlan body
Model X
Production period: 1926-1927
Class : Upper class
Body versions : various
Engines: Otto engine :
4.3 liters
Length:
Width:
Height:
Wheelbase : 3429 mm
Empty weight :
Previous model Model A
successor Model J

The Duesenberg Model X is a luxury vehicle from the US automobile manufacturer Duesenberg , which was built in very small numbers in 1926 and 1927. The car was a further development of the Model A presented in 1921 . It was the last vehicle the Duesenberg brothers developed before EL Cord took over their company . Based on the Model X, two prototypes named Model Y were created in 1928 , which prepared the transition to the legendary Duesenberg Model J.

background

Born in Germany, "Fred" Duesenberg began making bicycles in Des Moines , Iowa at the turn of the century . In 1905 he and his younger brother "Augie" designed an automobile for the first time for the Maytag-Mason Motor Company . In 1913 the brothers founded the Duesenberg Motor Company, initially based in St. Paul , Minnesota , and later in Indianapolis , Indiana . In the early years, the company built engines for automobile competitions. Cars with Duesenberg engines won numerous races in the USA and Europe after the First World War. From 1921 Duesenberg also began making road vehicles. Their first vehicle, which was subsequently named Model A, was considered to be “brilliantly designed and sophisticatedly manufactured”, but it was not a success from an economic point of view. Only 500 copies were made by 1926, and 620 according to other sources. In 1926 the company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by the businessman Errett Lobban ("EL") Cord, who had bought the Auburn Automobile Company two years earlier and wanted to create a third pillar in the automotive sector in 1929 with the newly founded Cord brand . A year before the takeover by EL Cord, the Duesenberg brothers had started to develop a successor to the Model A. The new vehicle, which was named Model X, went into production in autumn 1926. However, E. L. Cord stopped production after only a few months. His aim was to make Duesenberg a luxury brand. The Model X did not meet these ambitions. Instead, under Cord's direction, the Duesenberg J was developed, a car that was one of the most powerful series production vehicles of the interwar period and is a coveted classic. Contrary to the original plans, the X became a mere interim model.

Model description

chassis

The Model X chassis was a variation on the design used in the Model A. While the predecessor had a simple ladder frame , the Model X had cross-shaped stiffeners. The chassis was equipped with hydraulic brakes as standard, which Duesenberg had been using for several years in racing cars and also in the Model A.

drive

Duesenberg Straight Eight: Reference to the eight-cylinder in-line engine

For the Model X, Duesenberg took over the engine of the Model A, which was revised in some details and was more powerful. The in-line eight-cylinder engine retained the displacement of 260 cubic inches (4256 cm³). Each cylinder had an intake and exhaust valve controlled by a single overhead camshaft. Unlike the predecessor, all valves were on the same side of the cylinder head. This arrangement was intended to make it easier to use a compressor that was not actually installed on any production model. Only one prototype used by Fred Duesenberg had a compressor motor. The uncharged production engine made 100 hp, 12 hp more than the Model A engine. This allowed the car to reach a top speed of 100 mph (160 km / h). New to the Model X was a hypoid differential .

Superstructures

The superstructures for the Model X chassis came from independent body manufacturers. Each design was independent; no body version was built multiple times. Which and how many superstructures were actually made has not been fully clarified.

The individual vehicles

The production scope of the Model X is unclear. Most sources say that about a dozen - twelve or thirteen - chassis were made. It is doubted in the literature that all chassis were actually provided with a body. In 2018, four existing copies of the Duesenberg X are known, and there are photo documentation of two more.

McFarlan Boattail Speedster

Unique: Boattail Speedster from McFarlan

McFarlan Motor Car Company , a luxury automobile manufacturer and occasional body builder from Connersville , Indiana, built the Boattail Roadster, what is generally believed to be the most attractive version of an X-Model. The two-seater was designed for hotelier Arnold Kirkeby, who had temporarily supported Duesenberg's motorsport program. The car still exists. It was extensively restored in the 1990s and is now occasionally shown at classic car exhibitions. This vehicle is the only classic Duesenberg from the era before E.L. Cord with a boattail rear. The tapering shape of the rear influenced the two-seater from Cord's corporate brand Auburn , which became known as the Boattail Speedster . McFarlan built a four-door tourer body for one of the Model Y prototypes in 1928, which was later transferred to an older Model A chassis.

Locke superstructures

The New York body manufacturer Locke & Co. , which had already dressed many Model A chassis, manufactured at least three bodies for the Model X. These include

  • a Sport Touring with a soft top and a separate windshield for the passengers in the rear.
  • two closed six-seater sedans with a vertical windshield. One of the Locke sedans still exists; today it belongs to the collection of the American entertainer Jay Leno .

Superstructures from Brunn

The body manufacturer Brunn from Buffalo , New York , made two bodies for Duesenberg's Model X. Brunn designed

  • a four-door formal sedan with no rear side windows. Brunn's Formal Sedan also differed from Locke sedans by a sloping windshield.
  • a Dual Cowl Phaeton , which differed from Locke's Sport Touring mainly in the area of ​​the front windshield and in the shape of the rear end.

Duesenberg Model Y

Based on the Model X, two prototypes known as Model Y were created in the course of 1927, which combined the conventional X chassis with a further developed engine. The engine was a preliminary stage of the eight-cylinder in-line engine that Duesenberg used in the Model J from 1929. It had a displacement of 412 cubic inches (6751 cc) and four valves per cylinder. The power was given as 200 hp. One of the chassis received a sedan body, the other was dressed up by McFarlan as a four-seater Phaeton. Both structures were based on designs by Alan Leamy. Duesenberg undertook extensive test drives with the two prototypes in 1928. During the year the engine was further developed. In the production version, it finally had a displacement of 420 cubic inches (6882 cm³).

The Phaeton body of the Model Y was later placed on an older Model A chassis. This vehicle, which now has the conventional Model A engine, is still preserved; it was sold in October 2016 at a price of US $ 340,000. The limousine no longer exists.

literature

Web links

Commons : Duesenberg Model x  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard M. Langworth: Automobiles of the 1930s. Beekman House, New York 1980. ISBN 0-517-309947 , p. 35.
  2. ↑ a b Dennis Adler: Duesenberg . Krause Publications, 2004, ISBN 9781440225321 , p. 78.
  3. ^ Richard M. Langworth: Automobiles of the 1930s. Beekman House, New York 1980. ISBN 0-517-309947 , p. 36.
  4. ↑ a b Mike Mueller: American Horsepower . MotorBooks International, 2006, ISBN 9781610608060 , p. 52.
  5. ↑ Images of six different Model X vehicles on the website www.duesey186.com ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on March 4, 2018).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.duesey186.com
  6. ^ A b Richard A. Stanley: Custom Built by McFarlan: A History of the Carriage and Automobile Manufacturer, 1856-1928 , McFarland, 2011, ISBN 9780786444571 , p. 234.
  7. ^ History of McFarlan Automobile on the website www.coachbuilt.com (accessed March 3, 2018).
  8. ↑ Illustration of the Model X Sport Touring by Locke on the website www.coachbuild.com (accessed on March 4, 2018).
  9. ^ Brian Earnest: Lost and Found: Great Barn Finds and Other Automotive Discoveries , Krause Publications, 2009, ISBN 9781440241178 .
  10. ^ History of Locke & Co. on www.coachbuilt.com (accessed March 3, 2018).
  11. ↑ a b Image of the vehicle on the website www.conceptcarz.com (accessed on March 4, 2018).
  12. ^ History of the Duesenberg Model Y on the website www.conceptcarz.com (accessed on March 5, 2018).
  13. ↑ Description on the website www.classiccarweekly.net (accessed on March 5, 2016).