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Twenty Grand (Duesenberg)
Motor vehicle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Twenty Grand is the name given to the one-off custom 1933 Rollston Arlington Torpedo-bodied Duesenberg SJ sedan. The design's initial price tag of US$20,000 ($485,810 in 2024 dollars [1]) during the height of the Great Depression infamously gave it its nickname of Twenty Grand.[2] It is widely considered to be the most famous Duesenberg ever built and its design was the pioneer of the ultra-luxury car. It is one of the most valuable cars in the world, and potentially the most valuable American car ever made, estimated to be worth US$50 million.[3][4][5]
The Twenty Grand is the most valuable and flagship vehicle of the Nethercutt Collection and the family's car collection, where it was fully restored by J.B. Nethercutt and painted in its iconic silver. It won Best of Show at the 1980 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.[6]
The unprecedented 320-horsepower engine output made the Twenty Grand one of the most powerful American-built road cars for several decades, long after its construction. Jay Leno described the Twenty Grand as the 20th-century equivalent of the Bugatti Veyron in regards to the unprecedented engine power and prominence of each of the vehicles relative to their times.[4]
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History
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Luxury brands Duesenberg and Rollston contracted leading American custom stylist Gordon Buehrig to design a one-off ultra-luxury car as the "Dream Car" representing the progress of the United States automotive industry at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.
Once completed in Indianapolis, the finished automobile's set price was an astronomical $20,000 during the middle of the Great Depression, where cars typically cost around $600–800 ($19,432 in 2024 dollars [1]) and houses $2,000 ($48,581 in 2024 dollars [1]), leading onlookers to infamously nickname the vehicle The Twenty Grand.[7][8] Ultimately because of its unprecedented price tag, it proved too expensive even for the wealthy American and foreign dignitaries attending the World's Fair.[2]
Due to the further deterioration of the economy from the Great Depression, the Twenty Grand was untouched for a year before being sold for $20,000 to Shreve Archer during the 1934 run of the Fair, making it the second most expensive new Duesenberg ever sold.[9] Later the Twenty Grand would have several other owners, who made such alterations as a modernized interior, fenders, and black and green paint.[6]
In 1979, cosmetics entrepreneur J.B. Nethercutt purchased the car for $130,000 ($563,214 in 2024 dollars [1]), making it one of the most expensive vehicle purchases up to that time. It was completely restored at the Nethercutt Collection, changing the exterior color from black to a metallic silver and reverting the interior to its original 1930s opulence. Once the restoration was complete, Nethercutt entered it into the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 1980, where it won Best of Show. In the late 1980s the Twenty Grand was selected to be exhibited in Essen, Germany, as one of “The Ten Most Beautiful Cars in the World.”[8] It won Best of Show at the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, and at the 2022 Las Vegas Concours d'Elegance.[10][11]
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See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1933 Duesenberg SJ Twenty Grand.
References
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