Car 2563
1935 Model J Duesenberg 2563, Walker-LaGrande Convertible Coupe
Engine No.:	J-530 (originally J-515 according to Automobile Quarterly)
First Coachbuilder:	Walker-LaGrande
First Body Style:	Convertible Coupe
Wheelbase:	Short
Current Coachbuilder:
Current Body Style:
Original Owner:
Owner in 1968:	Nathan M. Derus, 3704 Moore, Mar Vista, CA 90066
Current Owner:	Sam Mann; sold in March 2013
References:	Malks, p. 82; Roe, p. 206; Elbert, pic. 140

 Notes:
Display picture from Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 2, pg. 136 (1972), which includes close-ups of the engine.  The owner at the time was Leo
Gephart.  One of three Walker Convertible Coupes; the other two are 2560 & 2568.  Derus bought the car from Tom Magee, who was involved
in the discovery and acquisition of the Kirchhoff Berline Convertible, car 2208.
Notation from Newport Collection: "Model J-530-#2563-SWB (original SJ) (now J-515-2563-SWB)"
Sold for 4.1 million in March 2013.

From youtube (excerpt):

Production of this body style was handled by the A.H. Walker Body Company, of Indianapolis, one of several firms that produced bodies for Duesenberg under the classy pseudonym of "LaGrande." With Duesenberg's days waning and the Great Depression still largely at its zenith, Walker built only a mere three examples of the Newport-designed convertible coupe.

Of the three cars, 2563/J-530 was the only example built with a factory-supercharged engine—the power plant today famously referred to by enthusiasts as "SJ." The engine bore a centrifugal supercharger, which was constantly engaged, and produced whizz that is music to the ear of the Duesenberg enthusiast, as well as an additional 60 horsepower. That made the final brake horsepower rating of an SJ Duesenberg something near 320 horsepower, allowing it to get ever-closer to a top speed of 140 miles per hour, over 20 miles an hour faster than a naturally-aspirated example.

Perhaps it was that added performance that prompted Chicago banker John Nichols to trade in his earlier Duesenberg Murphy Convertible Coupe, 2475/J-405, for this car. Nichols chose to part with his second Duesenberg only two years later, trading it in at South Shore Buick of Chicago in February 1937, with 50,899 miles showing. The car then passed to a Packard dealership in Evanston, Illinois, and for well over a decade, it would remain largely within the Chicago area, including time spent in the care of legendary used Duesenberg purveyor John Troka. In 1940, it was involved in an accident, which resulted in the frame being replaced with the current unit, 2405. At some point, the car's original bell-housing, J-530, was replaced with J-515, thus renumbering the engine; importantly, the original engine does still remain in the car today.

In 1957, the Duesenberg showed up on the opposite coast of the United States, incongruously parked on a used car lot in "Glitter Gulch," Hollywood, California. Early enthusiast Thomas Magee, of nearby Inglewood, spotted the car and picked it up for $1,500, and he then took it home and began its restoration. As so often happens with restorations, life intervened, and Magee sold the car and another Duesenberg to his good friend and fellow collector, Nathan Derus.