Check out this daring Duesenberg restoration

Keeping the faith

There’s an indescribable allure to the Duesenberg Model SJ.

Its four-branch chromed exhaust manifold is a picture of purpose and, in the case of Jack Teberg’s jet-black Murphy Disappearing Top, some considerable menace.

This prized possession has come a very long way from being a box of bits – it has been transformed into an award-winner.

But sometimes, a restoration is about so much more than ‘merely’ the car…

A powerful name

The Duesenberg Model SJ is doubly appealing on home territory, where the marque seems seared into the nation’s psyche as one of the ultimate prizes of the American Dream – a pot of gold sitting at the end of the rainbow so rare and so desirable as to almost drift into the arena of mythology.

Such a rarified position in American history is hardly surprising when you consider both the timing of its arrival and its astronomic price-tag.

At a time when the average home cost $5500 – and the average annual income was $4900 – even an unsupercharged Model J would have set you back a barely comprehensible $8500. And that was before you had bodied it.

The best of the best

By the time your chosen coachbuilder had made your Duesie for you, the final bill could soar beyond even $20,000.

But despite its eye-watering cost and the dire state of the economy in the early 1930s, the great and the good of US society queued up to be seen in ‘The World’s Finest Motor Car’.

However this car was far from that when its now owner first set eyes on it.

Wheel appeal

“It was always Duesenberg,” Jack Teberg says with a lingering smile. Though his lifelong ambition to own a Model SJ was eventually fulfilled, the path to his dream car was long and not without its trials.

“I bought the car about 14 years ago from the Bill Hach Collection in Chicago,” he explains. “Bill Hach had a bunch of cars – maybe as many as 100 – in various states of repair in his warehouse, including six or seven Duesenbergs.”

His future Duesie was definitely at the lower end of the ‘states of repair’ spectrum, being little more than a chassis, assorted engine components and parts of a later body built by Bob Gassaway in the early 1960s, the original Murphy coachwork having been removed and lost decades ago.

Life-changing news

“I had a building in Rochester, New York, that I used to store cars, and the Duesenberg sat there for a long time. “A very long time. I eventually found a restorer to start working on the car and an engine builder who got it pretty well running.”

Despite making some progress, the project only came into sharp relief when the Teberg family was rocked by life-changing news.

“My dad was diagnosed with cancer – stage three – a multiple myeloma,” says Jack’s son Larry. “Basically, he told my dad he was going to die.”

“It became clear we had to put pedal to the metal to get the car built, so we pulled it from New York and brought it out to California in October 2017.”

Supercharged straight-eight

After trouble with one firm, they’d gone backwards from where the car was when they brought it to California – and wasted precious time.

The family’s luck finally began to change shortly after deciding to take back the SJ, when Larry walked into a small workshop in Santa Clarita belonging to Arnold Schmidt.

“He said: ‘Come on Larry, we can do this.’ Arnold came down with his truck to find the transmission on the ground and the wheels removed; it wasn’t running and couldn’t be started.”

Dedication for Dad

With renewed determination to see the restoration through, the Duesenberg was taken back to Santa Clarita while Larry dedicated himself to the cause by taking a sabbatical and throwing himself into the rebuild, spending every day in the workshop.

“It was like a miracle,” says Jack, “the two guys working together, it was magic. I was so interested that I called them every morning at 9am – on FaceTime! It was the highlight of my day, watching what they were doing and how they were doing it. It was just amazing.”

A long road

“Every morning, whoever was in the shop that day would gather around the phone and have a conversation with Pops.

“It always started with ‘yoohoo!’ – that became our thing,” laughs Larry, seen here behind the wheel of the fabulous finished item.

The nitty-gritty

“When we got the car it was a rolling chassis, but the engine hadn’t been reassembled. The body was missing 50-60% of the pieces that made it whole. It was a very ambitious project,” Larry explains.

“There was quite a bit of work done before, but also a lot of work that wasn’t done; it kinda came down to the hard stuff.”

Dedication to detail

“All the small bits and pieces, all the soft goods, the seats, the interior – nothing was there.

“Fortunately, we had a fabulous motor mechanic – Pete Francia – who we brought back from New York to help with reassembly.”

Getting motoring

Teberg believes that the engine started life in a naturally aspirated model, but the decision was taken early on to rebuild it to SJ specification, the ‘S’ denoting the addition of a centrifugal supercharger – mechanically driven at five times engine speed – that took power from 265 to 320bhp.

“The engine was put together using all the best parts, including Arias pistons and Carrillo conrods, with balanced reciprocating gear. Pete did a wonderful job on the drivetrain and was pivotal in us moving forward again – everything had been negative up to that point.”

Pulling in some favours

As well as bringing decades of expertise to the build, Schmidt had a wealth of contacts including upholsterers and painters, not to mention a few famous friends.

“Arnold had restored a Doble steam car for Jay Leno and basically had the keys to his studio in Burbank,” says Larry.

“Leno allowed us to come in and take pictures, and even take parts off his Duesenberg! Using a 3D printer we were able to chronicle the parts three dimensionally, and make plastic resin duplicates that we could then have cast.”

Getting a handle on it

“Doorhandles, for example, are hard to find and were specific to that car. We had to make all those little bits and pieces, and we made them authentically correct.

“Everything from the lash that locks down the folding lid to the locks themselves – all of those components were fabricated by hand. Arnold can make anything out of metal, he’s one of the most incredible fabricators I’ve ever met.”

Six-month surprise

After a Herculean effort, the small team completed the Duesenberg in a scarcely believable six months, much to the delight and surprise of owner Jack.

“It was such a sweet feeling,” says Larry.

Squeeze in?

“I brought it down and delivered it to his front door. But would you believe I got him down to the car and he couldn’t fit in it – he couldn’t drive it!

“In his glory my dad was 6ft 6in – he lost a couple of inches along the way, but even so we just couldn’t fold him up compact enough to use the clutch properly,” says Larry.

A deep connection

“Unfortunately, he couldn’t operate it and never has, but he always says: ‘I live vicariously through you.’

“When I take him out he shouts, ‘You stand on it!’ – he wants to see the thing go. I put my foot down and he says it feels as if the front wheels are going to come off the ground.”

Step up

When this car was new, everyone from Hollywood actors such as Clark Gable and Gary Cooper to confectionery empire heiress Ethel Mars opened their pocketbooks to own a Duesie.

That the Model J even came close to achieving its production run of 500 examples in such turbulent economic times is a measure of its success – although, much like this car, the indelible mark it left in history was a long time in the making.

Automotive art

If ever there was a personification of the sheer joy that classic cars can bring, it’s embodied in Jack Teberg, this car’s owner.

Despite being intimately familiar with his Model SJ, he drinks in every detail like a first-year art student laying eyes upon the Mona Lisa. It is wonderful to behold.

A dream come true

His passion for classics began with a collection of woodies that included a ’49 Chrysler Town and Country Convertible that once belonged to Bruce Springsteen.

But, like many US vintage car enthusiasts, the Indianapolis-built titans were never far from his thoughts.

Heart and soul

But no one could ever have predicted how long this amazing and award-winning transformation would take.

And, of course, it is so much more than ‘just another’ classic car restoration.

Father and son

Though the Duesenberg is unquestionably an exquisite machine, Jack Teberg’s affection and pride are as much a reflection of his love for his son.

More than period-correct bolts and polished parts, the SJ represents the hundreds of hours spent to help realise his old man’s dream.

A new lease of life

“It really is one of the biggest reasons my dad is still alive,” says Larry. “It brought him such joy – it gave him a reason to go on.”

And you can’t put a price on that.