Image by Pawel Litwinski, courtesy Gooding & Company
The automobiles of Auburn, Indiana, drew a coterie of flamboyant buyers, but few of them went so far over the top as George Whittell Jr., who inherited two gigantic California fortunes that underpinned his life as a rake and adventurer. George loved cars. He especially loved the Duesenberg. At one time, he owned six of them, purchases enabled in part when he liquidated his vast stock holdings just before the October 1929 crash, which some still say his sell-off did a lot to precipitate.
This is one of them, perhaps the most uniquely styled traditional style Duesenberg of all, known for years as the Whittell Coupe. Gooding & Company will be offering it at its Pebble Beach Auctions on August 20-21. Delivered in 1931, it’s a long-wheelbase Model J fitted with Murphy bodywork that was modified by former Murphy stylist Frank Q. Hershey. Its fillips include a brushed-aluminum roof, polished strakes inside and on the decklid, and an interior of contrasting black patent leather and turned aluminum. More about the auction is at www.goodingco.com.