Kess 1:43 1938 Duesenberg Model SJ Special Mormon Meteor

There are only 250 pieces of this model produced world wide

The Duesenberg Model J is a luxury automobile made by Duesenberg. Intended to compete with the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, it was introduced in 1928, the year before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. The Model J, available with a supercharger after 1932, was sold until 1937.

E. L. Cord, the owner of Auburn Automobile, and other transportation firms, bought the Duesenberg Motor Corporation on October 26, 1926 for the brothers' engineering skills, talent and brand name. He intended to produce a car to rival the size, power, and luxury of top European brands such as Hispano-Suiza and Rolls-Royce.

After Cord's takeover, the new company was renamed "Duesenberg, Inc." Fred would continue in the new organization with the title of vice president in charge of engineering and experimental work. Fred's brother August, who had played an important role in the development of the Model A and its variant, the rare X, had nothing to do with the initial design of the J and had no formal connection with Duesenberg, Inc. until later. According to the expert Marshall Merkes, "Cord did not want Augie around." However, all Duesenberg racing cars produced after 1926 were built by Augie in an enterprise that functioned separately, and in a building apart from the main Duesenberg plant. He was also responsible for a number of engineering achievements like the superchargers developed for both the Auburn and Cord motorcars.

The newly revived Duesenberg company set about to produce the Model J, which debuted December 1 at the New York Car Show of 1928. In Europe, it was launched at the "Salon de l'automobile de Paris" of 1929. The first and — at the time of the New York presentation — only example made of the series, the J-101, was a LeBaron sweep panel dual cowl phaeton, finished in silver and black. By the time the Great Depression hit in October 1929, the Duesenberg Company had only built some 200 cars. An additional 100 orders were filled in 1930. Thus, the Model J fell short of the original goal to sell 500 cars a year

With financing from sponsors, Ab Jenkins commissioned the Duesenberg Special as a speed record car. It was built in 1935 on a supercharged Duesenberg Model J rolling chassis with a standard wheelbase, a modified front axle, and a non-standard high rear axle ratio. The engine was highly tuned by Augie Duesenberg. High performance parts developed for the Special, especially the "ram's horn" twin-carburetor inlet manifold, would be used on later supercharged Js. In October 1935, Jenkins drove the car to a one-hour record of 153.97 mph (247.79 km/h) and a twenty-four-hour record of 135.57 mph (218.18 km/h) at a circuit on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The 24-hour record would be held until 1961. The car was renamed "Mormon Meteor" after a Curtiss Conqueror aircraft engine was installed in place of the Duesenberg engine.