In retrospect, it is difficult to imagine the excitement with which the Model J was received in 1929.

Here was a chassis with an engine that, at 265 horsepower, beat its nearest competitor by more than 100 horsepower.

Coming from a company whose racing successes were legendary, it was the perfect marketing move.

Priced at $8,500 for the chassis alone, the Model J was by far the most expensive car in America.

The timing of the introduction could not have been better: with the economic successes of the 1920s, America's wealthy were ready to indulge themselves with the most powerful, bespoke automobile available.

The Walter M.

Murphy Company, of Pasadena, California, is generally recognized as the most successful coachbuilder on the Duesenberg Model J chassis.

Initially a distributor for Locomobile and Simplex, and later becoming the sole Lincoln distributor for the entire state of California, Murphy acquired the talent necessary to hand-craft bodies that suited the California tast...