This Restored 1932 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton Carries Decades of Blue-Chip Collector History

A car this rare rarely needs an introduction, but its paperwork certainly helps. Chassis 2185, factory number J-156, is currently listed by Kruse Auctions ahead of the Auburn Fall 2026 sale, and the file that comes with it reads like a who's who of pre-war American collecting. Underneath the striking two-tone blue coachwork sits one of the most desirable body styles ever fitted to a Duesenberg Model J: the LeBaron-designed dual cowl Sweep Panel phaeton, instantly recognizable by its low windscreen, raked roofline, and the sweeping crease that runs the length of the body.

The Model J itself needs little explanation to serious enthusiasts. Built after E.L. Cord's Cord Corporation acquired the Duesenberg brothers' company in 1926, the J debuted at the New York Auto Show in December 1928 as an unapologetic answer to the question of what a truly finest car in the world should be. A bare chassis alone commanded roughly $8,500, and with coachwork from the era's top outside builders factored in, a finished car could easily run past $20,000, a genuinely staggering figure heading into the Great Depression. Buyers were not shopping on value; they were shopping on straight-eight power, a 420-cubic-inch engine, and bodywork built to be seen.

J-156's own story took a detour early on. Records indicate the car suffered a serious accident in Pennsylvania not long after it left the factory, and rather than face a costly repair bill, it was tucked away rather than scrapped outright, sitting largely untouched for decades. It resurfaced in the 1970s in the hands of Leo Gephart, one of the sport's pioneering Duesenberg dealers, before moving on in the 1980s to the late Rick Carroll, a collector who would eventually own eighteen separate Model Js over his lifetime. Carroll's team determined the original chassis was beyond safe repair and sourced a correct replacement, while a new body was faithfully recreated to the original LeBaron Sweep Panel design after the existing coachwork proved too far gone to save.

Carroll showed the finished car at the AACA Special National Fall Meet in 1987, and after his passing in 1989, J-156 passed through his estate sale into the hands of fellow Duesenberg devotee Carmine Zeccardi. Under Zeccardi's ownership the car earned an AACA Senior National award at the 1990 Eastern Division National Spring Meet and later landed on the cover of Antique Automobile magazine in early 1991. From there the car surfaced at Auburn auctions in 1996, changed hands again in 2005, and settled into a private North American collection in 2011, where it has remained for well over a decade.

Today the phaeton wears a medium blue body and fenders set off by a lighter blue sweep panel, along with color-matched side-mount covers, dual Pilot Ray driving lamps, wire wheels, and a honeycomb radiator shell true to the era. A freshly fitted convertible top rounds out a car that looks every bit as sharp today as it would have rolling out of a coachbuilder's shop in 1932. Beyond its looks, ownership of a Model J opens the door to the tight-knit world of ACD Club events, including the annual Duesenberg tour, a perk that matters just as much to serious buyers as the car's provenance.

Cars with this kind of pedigree, having passed through the hands of Gephart, Carroll, and Zeccardi, rarely come up for sale, and the Auburn Fall auction puts it in front of bidders who understand exactly what they're looking at. For anyone chasing a genuine Grand Classic with a documented history rather than a good story stitched together after the fact, J-156 is about as strong a case as the hobby offers.