A 1929 Duesenberg Model J known as ‘Blue J’ is expected to make $2-2.75 million at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction, in the USA, on 18-19 August.
The Dual-Cowl Phaeton is fitted with its original engine, chassis, coachwork and interior. It received a light restyle from the Derham Custom Body Company in 1937, which included adding skirted front wings, a vee’d windscreen with winged side windows, bullet-style headlights and external exhaust pipes.
In 1940 the car was sold to German Avant-garde artist, Rudolph Bauer, who in turn sold it to Bill Pettit in the ’50s. The car has remained almost untouched in the Pettit family’s hands, receiving only an engine rebuild in the 1970s.
Blue J is set to headline the sale of cars amassed by Bill Pettit, who had one of the biggest collections of the period with more the 150 cars.
It also included this 1928 Roll-Royce Phantom I Derby Speedster, with coachwork by Brewster & Co. One of only four believed to be in existence, the two-owner matching-numbers car, which has an original interior, was bought by Pettit in the ’50s and is expected to raise $500-650,000.
