2011 AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS d'ELEGANCE- BREAKING NEWS

Duesenberg SJ (supercharged) Arlington “Twenty Grand”

Duel Duesenbergs Win Concours d’Elegance
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Ed Lucas is the master of ceremonies (that is, he narrates) most of the finest, most prestigious classic and collector car shows in the world. He had just finished hours of that work when I had an opportunity to chat with him.

As the two “Best of Show” cars were being swarmed by photographers, collectors and show-goers I asked Ed what he thought of the show.

“Over the top!” he enthused. He cited the featured Duesenbergs, of which there were plenty, the amazing concept cars and perhaps the best collection of historic race cars ever assembled. Cars from the brass era (very early 1900s) as well as the classics from the 1930s shared the 10th and 18th fairways of the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island’s golf course with featured Allards and Kurtis cars.

A cadre of expert judges award dozens of class honors but the Best of Show is by far the most coveted by the car’s owners as well as the people who restorer these beauties. After a few hours of introducing and reviewing the best cars on the field as they passed in front ot the crowe the suspense continued to build, culminating in the announcement of the two Best of Show winners: one called Concours d’Elegance winner and the other Concours d’Sport, for racing cars.

The Concours d’Elegance winner is a unique Duesenberg SJ (supercharged) Arlington “Twenty Grand,” designed by iconic designer Gordon Buehrig and owned by the Nethercutt Collection of Helen and Jack Nethercutt in California. Its name comes from the original price of this custom bodied limousine. $20,000 (a fortune in that day) which was perhaps the most famous car built by coach builder Rollston who originally built it for the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.

The winner of the Sport class is the huge, raucous, bright yellow 1935Duesenberg Mormon Meteor built to set records on the Bonneville salt flats. Making around 400 horsepower it set a variety of speed records of around 150 mph for 12- and 24-hour trails. The beauty and charm of this big racer is exceeded only by the rumble of the monstrous engine under the hood.

It was a spectacular show and I’ll be providing a full report later.

Enjoy!