Chassis Number: 2410
The Classic enthusiast will behold this Duesenberg at first glance and wonder what looks so familiar. Finally, it will click: The body resembles a Packard roadster of 1930–31. The reason, of course, is that the body is a Packard roadster of that vintage. The body, as noted by prominent Duesenberg historian Ray Wolff, was bought by a Duesenberg Factory Branch “in the white” and installed on this Model J chassis when it was nearly new; sources differ on the date of the installation, 1931 or 1932, and on the location of the Factory Branch, describing it as either Chicago or New York. All concur that Duesenberg did indeed perform the work.
Only a new cowl, which effectively lowered the windshield, was required to make the marriage of Packard body and Duesenberg platform work — and work they do, masterfully. The result is, by Duesenberg standards, relatively lightweight and dramatically fast on its feet. Most significantly, it is one of very few true roadsters — 2-passenger open cars, without side windows — to have been constructed on Model J chassis, offering a more-dramatic alternative to the slightly more-common convertible coupes.
