The famed Bauer Duesenberg, a.k.a. The Last Duesenberg, added to its list of accolades and honors over this past weekend when it took Grand Prix d’Honneur at the 7th annual Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance in Westport, Connecticut.
The 1937 Duesenberg SJ, now owned by Gary Bahre of Alton, New Hampshire, is remarkable not only for being the last Duesenberg ever built, but also for being one of 36 factory supercharged cars, for its extremely low mileage and unrestored condition, and for its provenance, having been designed by German artist Rudolf Bauer and not having been completed until 1940.
The Fairfield County Concours’s Grand Prix d’Honneur for a foreign vehicle this year went to the 1931 Bugatti Type 54 Roadster owned by the Mullin Automotive Museum of Oxnard, California. The Bugatti, a class winner at the 1999 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is the only convertible out of the eight Type 54s that Bugatti built.
Special exhibits at the concours this year included displays dedicated to the 24 Hours of LeMans, to vehicular aerodynamics, and to the cars of Howard “Dutch” Darrin.