The Model J with short-wheelbase chassis number 2192 and engine number J-169 was likely originally supplied on the East Coast with one of roughly 45 convertible sedan bodies produced for Duesenberg by the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California. These cars were unusually beautifully proportioned, with simple, classic lines inspired by earlier Murphy bodies created for Hudson and Packard. Based on its body number, this example appears to have been ordered for Duesenberg stock, yet it was equipped with several interesting features, including a lockable compartment in the rear seat floorboard.

The earliest known owner of J-169 was a William Robinson of Connecticut, who was the car’s second owner, according to the notes of Duesenberg historian Ray Wolff. After two further intervening owners, Julius Reale purchased the car and stored it from 1949 to 1960, after which it was sold to the early collector Tony Pascucci of Meriden, Connecticut. At the time, Pascucci was having Ted Billing of Massachusetts restore his original LeBaron “barrelside” dual-cowl phaeton; J-169 was used as payment for the work on that car.

In February 1967, Billing sold the car to Al San Clemente of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, a longtime collector and trusted personal friend. San Clemente spent nearly two decades on the Duesenberg’s restoration, electing to convert the car to the ultimate supercharged “SJ” specification. A single-carburetor supercharger was assembled, using the original top “pot” portion of a factory supercharger; this aluminum piece was porous and had remained unusable until the technology arrived in the 1970s to impregnate and seal it. The inner gears and other componentry for the “blower” were supplied new by renowned Duesenberg authority Leo Gephart. It is significant that, in an era when full reproduction superchargers were coming into their own, this car’s owner went to the lengths of using what original pieces he could find, thus ensuring a higher-quality, better-operating, and more authentic final product.

Following eighteen years of ownership, the San Clementes sold the freshly restored Duesenberg in 1985 to a new owner in the Pacific Northwest. It soon passed to the flamboyant and colorful Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who kept it along with several other Duesenbergs in his vast and diverse collection in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During Monaghan’s ownership, the car was exhibited at the 1987 Meadowbrook Concours d’Elegance. It was eventually sold from The Monaghan Collection to a longtime enthusiast in New Jersey and was featured in Beverly Rae Kimes’ 1990 book The Classic Car, in which the owner, asked to describe why it was special, noted, “Because it’s supercharged!”

In 1990, J-169 was sold by RM Classic Cars to German collector Rainer Grebe in the first major “deal” completed by the burgeoning company that now offers it today. It would be largely tucked away for the next three decades, seldom shown.

When at last acquired in 2020 by the consignor, a longtime enthusiast of Full Classics, it was noted that the Billing restoration, while older, was well-preserved, with the two-tone green finish and complementary interior remaining very attractive as they still are today. Nonetheless, flaws due to the age in the finish were professionally corrected and repairs made to some of the floor wood and running boards. The brakes were correctly rebuilt, as were the steering box, ignition system, fuel gauge, fuel sender units, starter, and distributor; new stabilator straps were installed on the front axle. RM Auto Restoration performed all of this work, receipts for which are included in the accompanying file.

A fine Duesenberg now well-prepared for enjoyment, it would be a most ideal touring automobile for its new caretaker, who will enjoy looking after it and savoring its thrilling supercharged performance on the open highway.