THE CAR AND ITS OWNER 1930 Duesenberg Model J cabriolet...

THE CAR AND ITS OWNER
1930 Duesenberg Model J cabriolet owned by Emily and Sam Mann

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING Duesenbergs, engineered in Auburn, Indiana, were considered among the world’s finest, most advanced and most expensive cars during their production run from 1913 to 1937. The Mann’s striking blue, one-of-a-kind cabriolet began its life as a chauffeur-driven town car in 1930. The wealthy socialite owner had the car shipped to Paris, where it was later sold to the local Duesenberg dealer.

He removed the body and sold the chassis to renowned Swiss coachbuilder Graber, a firm that sculpted the fluid lines of the current body between 1934 and 1935. This car was among four finalists for the “Best of Show” title at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, considered by many as the Super Bowl of classic car competitions. It won the show’s Duesenberg class and captured the “Most Elegant Open Car” trophy. The Manns, well-known on the classic car circuit for their outstanding and rare vehicles, have won the Concours’ “Best of Show” four times since 1991.

HOW LONG THEY’VE OWNED IT
Since 1996

WHERE THEY FOUND IT
The Manns bought the Duesenberg at auction in 1996. It had resided in museums for the previous 20 years, including the personal collection of American casino operator William Harrah.

CONDITION
The Duesenberg’s restoration, including a change in color from bronze and gold to the current two-tone blue, was completed just before the latest Pebble Beach show. Right after purchase, the Manns had taken it on a 1,000-mile tour in the southwestern U.S. and had to stop continually to repair it. “We were naïve enough to think we could just take it out on the road and drive it,” Emily Mann says. “It would stop and Sam would fix it, and then we would drive it again. We missed a lot of meals and made a lot of stops. We sort of restored it on the road because it had never really been run.”

VALUE
The couple declines to put a value on the car, although more common Duesenbergs routinely sell at auction in the seven figures.

PERSONAL COMMENTS
“We were absolutely breathless over this car,” Sam Mann says, after the couple first spied the Duesenberg at a 1986 auction. “To our eye, it was unspeakably beautiful.”

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