1935 Mormon Meteor Duesenberg SJ Speedster

Prior to the auction, guesses as to its eventual selling price were rampant, and the result was a staggering achievement for a Duesenberg.

In an era of record-setters, Ab Jenkins and his Duesenberg Special surpassed them all. Racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats, he performed landmark miracles of speed and endurance. The Model J Duesenberg is the pinnacle of American automobiles of the classic era, a triumph of design, materials and construction. But only one such car is the most powerful, the fastest and the most recognized. It is the car on offer here, the Mormon Meteor. During the 1920s, David Abbott Jenkins was a successful building contractor in Salt Lake City who loved to drive. He had set two cross-country records before turning to closed-course runs at the Bonneville Salt Flats. His first record attempt there came in 1932 in a Pierce-Arrow V12, in which he drove 2,710 miles in 24 hours, an average speed of 112.92 mph. He later raised this mark to 127.229 mph in 1934, as Jenkins worked to bring other land-speed racers to Utah. Jenkins and Augie Duesenberg, the unassuming engineering...