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Jay Leno's Walker Coupe

  • Chris Summers
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29 Apr 2008 15:15 #9944 by Chris Summers
Replied by Chris Summers on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
Correction noted, and I love the "cross-pollination" description. :D Thanks, Josh.

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  • Josh Malks
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29 Apr 2008 14:47 #9941 by Josh Malks
Replied by Josh Malks on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
Herb Newport designed the Walker coupe. There was clearly a great deal of cross-pollination between his work and Buehrig's. I don't have a photo of the dome lights on the coupe, but Randy Ema has pointed out to me that they are identical to those on the Cord 810.

Incidentally, A.H. Walker was not a division of the Cord Corporation. They were one of three firms that built bodies for Duesenberg sold under the fictitious "LaGrande" label.

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  • Angelo Van Bogart
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25 Apr 2008 04:26 #9924 by Angelo Van Bogart
Replied by Angelo Van Bogart on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
There's an EXCELLENT article with photos on this car by Randy Ema and Jonathan A. Stein in Vol. 39, No. 4 of Automobile Quarterly. I go back and read the article every once in a while. Highly recommended!

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  • Chris Summers
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23 Apr 2008 00:20 #9916 by Chris Summers
Replied by Chris Summers on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
I believe it was a class winner at Pebble Beach.

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  • Steve Derus
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22 Apr 2008 23:58 #9915 by Steve Derus
Replied by Steve Derus on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
Looking at the photos of Mr. Leno's car I can also see the similarities to the three lovely Walker convertible coupes, most noticeable are the wide, rear hinged doors with large bullet hinges, the swoopy rear deck, and the hood panels that extend over the firewall back to the windshield pillars.

I personally think Walker-bodied Model J's were among the best looking cars of the era.

I remember seeing a feature article in the Orange County Register newspaper about the Walker coupe, right after Randy finished the restoration. It mentioned that the grille bars were particularly difficult to restore.

In the video I notice some ribbons displayed on the wall behind the car so assume it has received some awards. Sure looks like a best-of-show winner to me.



Steve D.

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  • Chris Summers
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22 Apr 2008 15:48 #9913 by Chris Summers
Replied by Chris Summers on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
According to the timeline on Josh's website (which I must say comes in handy when you're stuck at college with no ACD reference books on hand), the Baby Duesenberg project on which the 810/812 was based came about between October 1933 and April 1934. The prototype body for the BD was built by (you guessed it) A.H. Walker...the same contractor that bodied J-554/2569 in late 1934 or early 1935.

So while the production 810/812 Cord did not roll out until later in 1935, design cues from it were at the very least in the Walker studios at the time the Walker Coupe was built. As I understand it they didn't get the retractable headlights worked out until they were fairly well along in the design process, which may explain, if the Walker Coupe is indeed related to the Baby Duesenberg design, why the "pimple" headlights were used instead.

Incidentally, the car's original owner, J.K. Lilly, never really cared for it. This may have been due to the fact that he never so much as looked at the car until after it had been finished and he had paid for it in full. He sold it to Hilton Motors of NYC August 10, 1935, which could not have been long after he bought it.

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  • Bill Hummel
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22 Apr 2008 14:06 #9912 by Bill Hummel
Replied by Bill Hummel on topic Who copied who?
OK, who copied who? The Duesenberg and the Cord are nearly identical. The Walker Coupe was built in 1934. Is that right? The Cord 810 and 812 weren't produced for several years.

Who copied who?

Did Gordon Buehrig copy this design, or did he help with the styling of this one?

I understand Randy Ema restored this automobile. OK, Randy. What's the real story?

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  • Bill Hummel
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22 Apr 2008 14:00 #9911 by Bill Hummel
Replied by Bill Hummel on topic E. L. Cord Limousine
The limousine was not one of my favorites. My grandmother liked it though.

The Leno Duesenberg looks similar but has a cleaner look to it. It should have had dissapearing headlights to complete the Cord look.

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  • Chris Summers
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22 Apr 2008 13:34 #9910 by Chris Summers
Replied by Chris Summers on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
That's something I'd never noticed before. Especially if you compare it with the E.L. Cord Limousine that's in the National Automobile Museum.

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  • Ohio AMX
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21 Apr 2008 21:14 #9907 by Ohio AMX
Replied by Ohio AMX on topic Jay Leno's Walker Coupe
I wondered about the family resemblance myself.

Scott Campbell
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  • Bill Hummel
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21 Apr 2008 18:15 #9906 by Bill Hummel
Replied by Bill Hummel on topic Duesenberg Coupe
I wonder if those fenders were originally Cord fenders? Perhaps off of a Custom Series Cord?

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  • Ohio AMX
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20 Apr 2008 22:46 #9904 by Ohio AMX
Jay Leno's Walker Coupe was created by Ohio AMX
I didn't see this posted here already, check out this great car! Cool story and long video included:

www.jaylenosgarage.com/cars/Dues ... hell.shtml

Scott Campbell
Medina, OH

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