Duesenberg SJ Speedster wins Best of the Best Award

By Ryan Standen
News
 | 3 Sep 2024
Classic & Sports Car – Duesenberg SJ Speedster wins Best of the Best Award

A 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster has claimed the Peninsula Classics 2023 Best of the Best Award.

Each year, a winner is picked from a shortlist of Best of Show recipients from the previous year’s most prestigious concours events.

This Gurney Nutting-bodied SJ was nominated for the prize after it triumphed at last year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The latest victor was announced during a ceremony at The Peninsula London, near Westminster, today (3 September 2024).

Classic & Sports Car – Duesenberg SJ Speedster wins Best of the Best Award

The Duesenberg SJ Speedster has an eye-catching steering wheel in its bright-orange cabin

The Best of the Best-winning Duesenberg belonged to William Lyon, the US Air Force major general and businessman who opened the Lyon Air Museum in California.

His son, Bill H Lyon, now looks after his late father’s classic car collection and received the award on his behalf.

This c320bhp Duesenberg was one of just 36 supercharged SJs built.

Classic & Sports Car – Duesenberg SJ Speedster wins Best of the Best Award

This Duesenberg SJ Speedster has been carefully restored

The black-and-orange car’s first owner was the Maharaja Holkar of Indore, in India, who ordered the Duesenberg SJ Speedster in the 1930s.

After it left Gurney Nutting’s London workshop, this car was shipped to America and eventually Singapore en route to India, where it remained until the 1950s.

The Duesenberg has since been restored, although its royal upgrades – including chrome flagsticks plus red-and-blue lights – were retained.

Classic & Sports Car – Duesenberg SJ Speedster wins Best of the Best Award

The one-of-36 Duesenberg SJ Speedster has a supercharged straight-eight

The Duesenberg SJ Speedster went up against a 1937 Bentley 4¼-litre owned by Classic & Sports Car’s Simon Taylor, two ’50s Ferraris, a rare Frua-bodied Maserati, Bugatti and Mercedes-Benz roadsters, and one of four remaining Voisin C25 Aérodynes.

“Each vehicle exemplifies an extraordinary feat of automotive engineering and design,” said Sir Michael Kadoorie, co-founder of the Best of the Best Award.

“Consequently, selecting a single winner becomes increasingly difficult as the years pass.”

Designers Chris Bangle, Flavio Manzoni and Pete Brock, plus Ralph Lauren and Jay Leno, were among the judges.

The victorious 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster will be displayed in The Peninsula London’s lobby from 4-14 September 2024.

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Ryan Standen

Ryan Standen is Classic & Sports Car’s Editorial Assistant