Drive 'em if you got 'em!

Harry Schulzinger ran J528 for years without a cracked head. I heard a subsequent owner had a rod bearing failure but I am not sure if it was the man Harry sold the car to or one of the other owners. Possibly the reason for no head problems was the use of overdrive on the highway. I don't think any owner today of such a car would push it as hard as we did in the 1950's when a good one was worth maybe $2000 dollars.

Bob Roller

For those of you that feel that hot rodding a DUESENBERG.is a good idea , I WILL WARN YOU THAT THE CYLINDER HEADS WILL NOT TAKE THE INCREASED HEAT AND WILL CRACK , AND I HAVE NOT SEEN A REPAIR HOLD UP YET. RANDY

I think if a Duesenberg is going to be used to any extent,it should be given a "Bill Bocock" engine remake with higher compression pistons and "I"beam rods and insert bearings.Another item would be a 3 to 1 ring and pinion which with the 19" wheels would be close to an overdrive.
As far as acceleration is concerned,back when I was involved with these cars,they were just an unusual used car and as mentioned earlier,standing on the accelerator in low gear as not an uncommon thing.After the engine warm up on J528,wheel spin was easily obtained on hot asphalt which our town has an abundance of. Melvin Clemans would run the tachometer off the scale on J396 and no ill effects were noticed and that engine was worn badly.
Today,my biggest concern would be Tweedle Dee the Wonder Dummy running a light or stop sign and creating a horror story like happened to J175 with five people dead. Does anyone have any info on the outcome of that tragedy as far as legal actions and insurance is concerned?

Bob Roller

I stand corrected on the itme. i was told the 14 sec value.
Russ

I was watching the timer when the Erics maroon Murphy CC went 17.xx.

I think it would be fairly easy to build a 14 second Duesy if you wanted to. Port the head, bump the compression, build a bulletproof bottom end, put a hot grind on the cams, swap in a quick shifting modern 5 speed, etc. But that's not really how we treat our Duesey's today.

I agree with every thing you said Bob. I did not mean to take any thing away from the Duesenberg. 1929 and 1965 do not compare. I was only making the point that 14.2 in the 1/4 mile was not a time I can believe.
CORDially Mike

I found a really good video online : www.fwnews.tv/index.php?option=c ... &video=732

I would not sell the Duesenberg short on acceleration.The Duesenberg Special had to have good acceleration coming out of a pit stop to maintain the 135.5 mph average that it recorded for a 24 hour run.I have held the accelerator down hard in low on a "J" and it came up past 50 quickly and a quick shift to second if it could be done will bring 80+ up quickly as well.These cars are not sluggish and while I would expect a Dodge 426 or a Corvette to be faster, but how many years did it take GM and Chrysler and Ford to finally surpass the Duesenberg??
Neither of these cars has anywhere near the curb weight of a Duesenberg so while their accomplishments might seem impressive,they represent little in actual engineering except installing a hot modern engine in a light car that is noisy and uncomfortable to travel in.

Bob Roller

I heard he had the top speed of the event, 88 mph. I had a nice talk with Eric in the park Saturday. What a neat guy. He informed me that this would be the last time he drove the car that distance, as at 83 years old, "I'm just getting too d-mned old." He more than earned his Mayor's Trophy and Doug Johnson Award.

Incidentally, that car is Eric's second Duesenberg. His first, Judkins Coupe J-137 / 2162, was also present in the park, shown by Richie Clyne. Eric drove that one, too, to the tune of 20,000 miles.

It should also be mentioned that Russ's father, Harry Van Iderstine, received his much-overdue Don Carr Duesenberg Driving Award at the banquet Sunday morning. He wanted to drive at least one of his two cars from Florida but was unable. They and Bill Pettit's were shipped by Reliable Carriers and made it to the shows on time.

Any worries I had about whether Duesenbergs are still being driven, were squashed last weekend. Thank you to EVERYONE who brought cars. I'll do my part to get as many of them as possible back for next year...and I hope that some of them will make the distance under their own power!

I believe the 14.2 but I'll bet it was not a 1/4 mile. I have a 67 Vette with a 300 HP 327 that won't turn that and I will put it up against a Duesenberg any time! I also used to run a 65 Dodge with a 426 wedge, dual four barrels. headers and 4:10 gears the turned 13.2. You can't tell me a Duesenberg turned only 1 sec. slower.
CORDially Mike

I've never seen Duesenberg 1/4 mile ET stats before this.

Are you saying 14.2 from a standing start for 1/4 mile? What was the speed?

That's almost a second faster than a supercharged Mini Cooper S so if the 14.2 is correct I am dumbfounded.

Steve

He had issues with the distributor. My Dad ended up overnighting a new rotor to him in Columbus Ga and the car ran great the rest of the way. BTW it had the fastest time on Friday with a 14.2 sec run in the 1/4 mile.
Russ V

Drive them if you have them or as an old time mechanic,Clarence LeMaster used to say,junk them while they're still running and save the tow bill.
Chris Summers told me J119 had a bunch of trouble on the way to Auburn. Does anyone know what happened to
it?

Bob Roller

I wanna drive!

[url:2t20s8lt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W55q-pQQDCM[/url:2t20s8lt]

[url:2t20s8lt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3UNH4Hs-n4[/url:2t20s8lt]

This reminds me of the ride Gary Vick took me in his car at my book signing in '05. Two guys happened by and turned green by the time Gary let 'em out!