ACD in West Virginia

Bob Roller recently cleared up the story of J-155's scrapping for me.

J-540 / 2557 had been driven to Huntington, barely making it after being diverted all over the state by floods and road closures. (Hey, in fifty years, not much has changed!) The differential's driven splines failed as the car was being backed by Irwin into the garage at 420 12th Street. J-540 / 2557 sat there until Bob and Bill Evans went to Melvin Clemans's in Clarksburg and removed the whole driveline from J-155, from the rear axle housing to the short exposed section of the driveshaft. We loaded this into a Dodge pickup truck and bought it to Huntington, where a few days later we installed it under J-540 / 2557

Bob and the late Raydon "Don" Thompson took J-540 / 2557 back to Clemans shortly thereafter. Irwin followed in a new MG TD, and they came back in that car.

Bob adds that J-155 / 2172 was never in Irwin's possession and he assumes that Clemans parted it out as needed. "It was a fine 14,500 mile chassis and whoever has the motor block now has a fine one."

Bob Roller of Huntington worked for two Duesenberg enthusiasts there in the early 1950s, Raydon "Don" Thompson and Jack Irwin. Bob was a teenager at the time. In the early 1990s he recorded his Duesenberg tales on tape and sent them to Ted and Gerry MacPhail, who transcribed them and published them in the Newsletter. I am lucky to consider Bob a friend and asked him to expand on his tales a little.

Raydon "Don" Thompson of Huntington was the owner of J-487 / 2336, a LWB LeBaron "Sweep Panel" Dual Cowl Phaeton, in the early 1950s. Thompson and Jack Irwin, also of Huntington, owned a repair garage, at an out-of-the-way location in the Harveytown neighborhood. Much mechanical restoration was done to that car at that shop, which today is a weedy vacant lot.

After vacating the Harveytown shop, the business was moved to a building at 420 12th Street East in Huntington, known as Thompson & Irwin Automotive Service. It was here that an overhaul of the Brunn Riviera Phaeton J-528 / 2551 was completed for Harry Schulzinger, its owner at the time. According to Bob, the garage's sign was done in gold leaf and read "Rolls-Royce Duesenberg Mercedes-Benz," after the signage of John Troka's more famous service facility in Chicago.

Afterward the Thompson/Irwin partnership dissolved and the move was made to 1120 3rd Avenue, where Irwin's Tire Service was established (mostly by Jack Irwin's father).

The building at 12th Street East is now a parking lot. The 3rd Avenue shop is also gone, and the site is occupied by an apartment building.

At one of these locations, Irwin scrapped Model J J-155 / 2172 for Melvin Clemans of Clarksburg. This chassis originally had a Judkins Limousine body. Bob reports that this chassis had 14,500 actual miles when they dismantled it.

The differential, springs, and shackles were installed on J-540 / ?*, a Judkins Berline that Clemans owned at the time. I have conflicting information on the fate of the frame. The Judkins Limousine in the O'Quinn Collection in TX (J-297 / 2128) has the car's firewall. The original engine was, as of this June, still in Clemans's estate in WV. I believe the head is installed on engine J-551 in Harry Van Iderstine's LaGrande Phaeton, however.

One J Irwin actually owned was #J-467 / 2481, the infamous "Chicken Fancier" Willoughby Berline. Irwin bought the car from Clemans c. 1953 and parted it out. Bob Roller had the firewall emblem and steering wheel controls for this car but lost them in a house move a few decades ago. The parts to this car are scattered among several owners and cars.

More to come.

*Chassis number missing at the moment because my home computer is in the shop. Sorry!

I am looking for information relating to original Auburn, Cord, and/or Duesenberg dealers, owners, or places of interest in my home state of West Virginia. I will be living here for about two more years and before I leave I would like to document as many as possible. Any tips or leads are appreciated.

Locations around Huntington, WV, which is my home turf, have already been well-documented.

I will contribute more to this thread over the coming year, as I am able to photograph locations and find more ACD-related places of interest around the state.