Images: RK Motors

In the annals of automotive history, the 1930s is the greatest of decades. This was the time when engineering and style began to converge and give us the most distinguished automobiles ever: Bugatti, Delahaye, Alfa Romeo, Isotta Fraschini, among others.Among the esteemed are a few American brands. None are greater than Duesenberg.

Duesenberg first got its start in Iowa with German-born brothers Fred and August. After producing aviation and marine engines, they established their Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. in Indianapolis. Not only was their 1921 Model A America’s first mass-produced straight-eight motor, but it had an overhead cam and four valves per cylinder. For such an advanced and expensive car, is it any wonder that Rudolf Valentino was a customer? Only 650 Model A’s were built through 1927.

Duesenberg’s pièce de résistance came in 1928. Automotive entrepreneur E.L. Cord had bought the brand for the brothers’ engineering skills and to give the Auburn Automobile Company a prestige companion make, so he gave them free reign on creating something to compete with the best of the best. The 1928 Model J was the result.

Of course, being that it was a Duesenberg, the engine was the crown jewel of the whole thing: 420 cid straight eight putting out 265 horsepower from dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. Engine and chassis alone were $8,500 when a Model A Ford cost around $400 and your basic Cadillac V-8 cost $3,300. The finished product (after selecting a body in-house or from any coach builder) would exceed $13,000 without a problem.

Duesenberg later introduced the SJ in 1932 with a supercharged 420 putting out 320 horsepower, which was an honest-to-goodness 135-mph car when most cars couldn’t even reach 100. Then, in 1934, the JN was introduced to refine the aging model whose fortunes were being scattered even by Depression-era standards.

This 1934 Model JN by Rollston short wheelbase convertible sedan is one of 10 JNs built. Only three of them were convertible sedans like this one. The first owner was the owner of Sequoia Oil Company, William H. Dunning of Ft. Worth, Texas. Having been through the Imperial Palace and the Blackhawk Collection in the past, this car’s pedigree is beyond reproach (it is a Duesy, after all). Offered as an eBay “Buy It Now” for a hair under $1.3 million, viewing is by appointment only.