Model J

Coachwork sets the value

Duesenberg sold the Model J as an $8'500 chassis; Murphy, Derham and LeBaron determined the car it became. Its 420-cubic-inch twin-cam straight-eight made a factory-rated 265 bhp. Value follows chassis, engine and body.

View details

Market value · road

$1.0M–$3.0M

Typical $1.7M · 58 sales · +117% vs ’19–’20

$242K$5.9M
Open Market & Price

Market value · road

$1.0M–$3.0M

Typical $1.7M · 58 sales · +117% vs ’19–’20

$242K$5.9M
’03’26
Market history · in the terminal
Open Market & Price
Power
265 bhp (factory rating · 4'200 rpm)
Engine
6'882 cc (DOHC inline-eight · 32 valves)
Top speed
187 km/h (116 mph · period figure)
Transmission
3-speed (manual · rear-wheel drive)
Wheelbase
3'620 / 3'899 mm (standard / long chassis)
Chassis price
$8'500 (1929 · body not included)

Market & Price

The price and the proof

A terminal for one car: the model curve over the documented record, the benchmarks it is measured against, and the instruments that read it.

Records: 1931 Model J Whittell Coupe by Murphy — $10,340,000 · Gooding & Company Pebble Beach · 2011; 1935 Model J Torpedo Phaeton by Walker-LaGrande — $4,405,000 · RM Sotheby's Monterey · 2025. 92 documented road sales on file · 2003–2026.

HCN:MODELJLive model
$1'653'832-34.3% · 12M
$500K$1M$2M$5M20182020202220242026CovidRate shockS&P 500
Model curve · anchored to 92 documented salesnot investment advice
The readouts · model figures against the benchmarks92 documented anchors · last sale 4 mo ago

Compound annual growth

WindowThis car*S&P 500Gold
1Y-34.3%+18.8%+21.9%
5Y-13.5%+11.4%+17.6%
10Y+0.7%+13.3%+11.8%

*Modeled price CAGR · S&P is a price index, no dividends

Deepest drawdown · model window

This car*-99.8%May 2003 → Aug 2004 · recovered Jan 2008
S&P 500-50.8%Oct 2007 → Mar 2009 · recovered Mar 2013
Gold-39.3%Sep 2011 → Dec 2015 · recovered Jul 2020

Forecast ladder · model quantiles

HorizonP10P50P90
+6M$1.4M$1.6M$2.0M
+12M$1.3M$1.6M$2.1M
+24M$1.1M$1.6M$2.4M

Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice

Transaction ledger · documented sales

92 of 92 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record

Price range · road · openConfidence · mediumSeven direct auction records document a wide USD market from 2011 through 2025. The band covers accepted, non-supercharged Model J cars with established coachwork; body style, originality, matching components, restoration and provenance can move one car far outside it.

Floor

$1.0M

Typical

$1.7M

Ceiling

$3.0M

Estimate band for good road cars. 58 documented sales since 2019 plotted below.

$237K$1.0M$1.7M$3.0M$6.0M
Hover the spectrum to read a value, or a dot for the sale behind it.

Band and axis shown in USD. Sale positions use indicative fixed-rate conversion to USD; sale readouts retain recorded currencies. Indicative USD range for standard Model J cars. Factory-supercharged SJ and SSJ cars, singular bodies and major provenance require chassis-specific valuation.

Road record

$10,340,000

1931 Model J Whittell Coupe by Murphy

Gooding & Company Pebble Beach · 2011

Road record

$4,405,000

1935 Model J Torpedo Phaeton by Walker-LaGrande

RM Sotheby's Monterey · 2025

The wider market · Duesenberg at auction · median per year · modeled between anchors96 lots · 2003–2025 · exact yearly anchors · modeled line
20032025Explore all 40,882 results

Instrument calibration for this file is in progress — the terminal above reads the documented record directly.

Published auction totals are recorded as stated by each house. Price semantics were not added where the house page did not state whether buyer's premium was included.

Overview

A racing engineer given an unrestricted brief

E.L. Cord acquired Duesenberg in 1926 and directed Fred Duesenberg to build a car beyond the established American luxury field. The Model J appeared at the New York salon in December 1928 with its engine and chassis doing the selling; the finished body still belonged to the buyer's chosen coachbuilder.

The stock-market crash arrived before the car's first full production year. Duesenberg continued supplying chassis through the 1930s while Murphy, Derham, LeBaron, Rollston, LaGrande and European houses produced open and closed bodies in small runs or as single commissions.

The company dissolved in 1937, but unbodied chassis and later completions make the end date less tidy than the corporate record. For collectors, the durable identity is the combination of chassis, engine, firewall and coachwork, supported by period records and subsequent ownership.

Built
481
Power
265 bhp
Body
Coachbuilt to order
Debut
December 1928
Assembly
Indianapolis

Reference

Technical specifications

Powertrain

Engine
420 cu in / 6'882 cc inline-eightwater-cooled, naturally aspirated in standard J form
Valve gear
Twin overhead camshafts, 32 valvesfour valves per cylinder
Power
265 bhp at 4'200 rpmfactory rating
Carburetion
Single updraft carburettorSchebler on documented early examples
Gearbox
3-speed manualtwo-plate clutch and torque-tube drive
Drive
Rear-wheel drive

Chassis

Frame
Ladder chassissupplied with engine, grille, hood, cowl and dashboard
Wheelbase
142.5 or 153.5 in3'620 or 3'899 mm
Front suspension
Solid axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
Rear suspension
Live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
Brakes
Four-wheel hydraulic drumsvacuum-assisted on documented examples
Coachwork
Independent body to customer orderMurphy, Derham, LeBaron, Rollston, LaGrande and others

Performance and instruments

Top speed
116 mph / 187 km/hperiod figure; body and axle ratio matter
Second gear
up to 90 mphperiod figure
Dashboard
Tachometer, chronometer and brake-pressure gauge
Service warnings
Battery, oil-change and chassis-lubricator lampsoil reminder every 750 miles

The records

0bhp

Factory-rated output

0valves

Twin-cam straight-eight

$0

Whittell Coupe auction result

Gooding & Company · 2011

HICON BID

Buying interest, silently.

A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Duesenberg Model J file — never public, never shown to other members. It is not a binding purchase, and HICONIUM holds no funds.

Sign in

HICON Bids are a member instrument. Sign in to place one.

The vault

Open a file on yours.

You keep one? The record starts in your garage — identity, papers, photography, and the market evidence this file already carries, bound to your chassis.

Sign in to open a fileHow membership works

The variants

One badge, 4 executions

The register separates the Model J into its documented executions. One reference silhouette per execution — each opens as its own file as the archive fills.

Duesenberg Model J J — reference silhouetteJ01
Reference in preparationSJ02
Reference in preparationSSJ03
Reference in preparationJN04

4 executions on file · references drawn to the house standard

The cars

The Model J register

Documented individual cars — chassis, colour, ownership and sale history. Open one for its full provenance. Public records only; members see the complete registry.

42 documented · public records

24 of 42 shown

The hands

The people behind the car

The people whose work shaped the Duesenberg Model J.

Fred Duesenberg

Chief engineer

Led the engineering programme that put a 420-cubic-inch, twin-cam, 32-valve straight-eight into the Model J chassis.

No free period portrait on record

E.L. Cord

Owner and programme sponsor

Acquired control of Duesenberg in 1926 and set the commercial brief for a car above the existing American luxury market.

No free period portrait on record

Gordon M. Buehrig

Staff designer

Drew factory-associated Model J bodies including the Derham Tourster and Torpedo Phaeton designs.