Car 2231
1930 Model J Duesenberg 231, Murphy Convertible Sedan
Engine No.:	J-211
First Coachbuilder:	Murphy
First Body Style:	Convertible Sedan
Wheelbase:	Short
Current Coachbuilder:
Current Body Style:
Original Owner:
Owner in 1968:	Jack R. Doney, 2308 First St, Bakersfield, CA
Current Owner:	Bill Smith Collection: Museum of American Speed, Lincoln, Nebraska
References:	Malks, p. 49

 Notes:
Display picture from journalstar.com.  Steve White, son of a previous owner, visits the restored car on Nov. 10, 2010.

From journalstar.com:

As a teenager, Steve White used to take his dad's car for joy rides.

What kid growing up in California could resist the temptation of a fast convertible?

And his dad didn't own a plain Jane Chevy or Ford. He had a 1930 Model J Duesenberg.

Long, sleek and sassy, the "Duesy" had a straight eight, 420 cubic-inch engine, with a three-speed on the floor that could top out at 120 mph. Most cars in 1930 could only muster 80 mph.

White would return the Duesy before his dad came home from work. But one day he had a close shave: He ran out of gas a couple of miles from home.

With no money and no driver's license, White begged a friend whose dad owned a nearby gas station for a gallon of gas. He made it home just in time.

Years later, White told his dad, Gordon, about his after-school joy riding.

His dad replied: "You don't think I knew what you were doing?"

* * *

Auto historian J.L. Elbert called the Model J Duesenberg, which weighs more than 5,000 pounds, the "Mightiest American Motor Car."

People who bought a new Duesenberg got a "rolling chassis" with fenders and other basic parts. The hand-built body -- including accessories like bars, vanity cases and custom instrument panels -- would be built to the owner's specifications.

In 1930, a Model J Duesenberg sold for about $17,000. Today, a Duesy can sell for as much as $1 million or more. It is one of the most desirable cars for collectors.

Roughly 480 were built between 1929 and 1938. Famous movie stars like Clark Cable drove Duesenbergs. Alfonso XIII King of Spain owned one. Comedian Jay Leno collects Duesys.

The luxury car was a favorite of gangsters, too.

Gordon White's Model J was once owned by Owney "The Killer" Madden, a notorious New York City mobster who ran the famous Cotton Club and was pals with infamous bootlegger and murderer Dutch Schultz. Madden also helped bankroll the Hollywood career of his one-time girlfriend, Mae West.

* * *

Gordon White found the Model J convertible sedan in Vallejo, Calif., where the White family lived in 1949.

The Duesy had been sitting on blocks outside of an upholstery shop during World War II and was not in running condition. How it got from New York to California is a mystery.

Gordon White traded his 1934 Chrysler Airflow coupe even up for the Model J and brought it home -- much to his 12-year-old son's delight.

His wife was not so impressed.

The rag top had long disappeared, leaving only the bows. The worn tires barely held air. The cream-colored car needed a paint job, and the chrome was bad. The engine needed work, too.

But Gordon White got the Duesy running and later enlisted his son to help restore it. The family bought a more dependable 1941 DeSoto to drive in the meantime.

Gordon White was service manager at a Chevrolet dealership, so he got the body shop to help out. They stripped the Duesy down and repainted it dark maroon. They also re-did the upholstery in two-tone Naugahyde, put on a new white canvas top and painted the wheels yellow.

The engine came next. Gordon White asked his son, who had spent his after-school time at his dad's new repair shop, to do the work under his supervision.

Steve White was living his dream.

Duesy parts were hard to find and expensive, so progress was slow. Eventually, they got most of the job done.

The final touch was repainting the engine block. Duesenberg engines are painted green from the factory.

Steve White had a different idea.

He thought the engines of fast cars should be painted red, and his dad said that was OK with him.

* * *

Steve White's joy-riding days were over by 1955.

His dad decided to sell the Duesy to Jack Doney, who lived in San Jose, Calif.

In return, he got a 1937 Packard V12 four-door sedan and $1,200.

Steve White was heart-broken, and through the years he often daydreamed about the Duesy.

In the early 1970s, he found Doney and was glad to hear he still owned the car, part of a collection that included a Bugatti. Doney even sent Steve White some photos of the Duesy.

Later on, White heard Doney had died, and he lost track of the car. By then he had started to collect his own vintage cars and had gotten involved in racing.

But the Duesy was still his first love.

* * *

In October, Steve White was thumbing through his copy of "The Duesenberg" by Herb Newport. Inside the cover of the old book was the 1954 California registration card he had taped there during his teens. The card had an identification number for the engine: 2231.

He had an idea. He would try to find his Duesy.

White contacted the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Automobile Museum, and one of its archivists gave him the answer via e-mail the same day.

The White family's Duesenberg was part of the Bill Smith Collection: Museum of American Speed in Lincoln.

It had been donated to the collection by another Californian, Laurence Dorcy, who had bought the car from Doney for $73,000 in 1973.

* * *

Steve White is 73 now, and he lives in Falls Church, Va. Early this month, he and his wife, Judy, flew to Lincoln to visit Smith's vast collection of vintage cars.

"I was amazed at how good it looked," White said of the old Duesy. "When I last saw it, it was a presentable car but not a museum show car."

Said Judy White: "I think it's gorgeous. Duesenbergs are all gorgeous. ... This is like re-visiting an old girlfriend."

White spent a lot of time with the car, looking it over -- even crawling under the chassis -- to see what had been changed and what was still there from when he and his dad worked on the Duesy.

The maroon paint job has been replaced by a very dark blue body and black ragtop.

But the Duesy still had the bronze "knock-off" nut that held the right spare tire. A skilled neighbor back in Vallejo, who worked at the shipyard, made it to replace a missing piece.

Someone repainted his red engine back to Duesenberg green.

"It's a wonderful feeling," said Bill Smith's son, Clay, who helps run the family business, Speedway Motors. "These memories, they're as important as remembering loved ones."

After 50 years, White got to sit in his long-lost Duesenberg, with his wife.

"That's a long time," White said. "The seats feel familiar."
http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/article_18fbe549-e24e-53fe-9e00-28fef1444e35.html