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Chassis:
Murphy bodied more Model J chassis than any coach-builder and offered a wide variety of designs. One of the largest was the Gordon Buehrig penned 'Beverly' sedan body of which Murphy built eight examples. One of them was the body fitted on the featured chassis, which had originally been mounted on an earlier chassis. When Powel Crosley Jr. ordered a new SJ chassis in 1933, Murphy was already out of business, so the only way to obtain his much desired Beverly style body, he had to use one of the existing eight. As a result, this is the only SJ fitted with a Murphy Beverly body.
Before the new chassis and existing body were mated, the coach-work received some updates including new wheels and fender skirts to match the 1933 model line. Although the interior featured a second row of instruments for the back-seat passengers, Crosley preferred to drive the potent Duesenberg himself. He owned the car for about five years after which it passed through various hands before it was eventually acquired by Fred Benson, who was a very active member of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club. Many moons later it passed into the hands of noted collector Lee Herrington, who managed to acquire one of the 36 original superchargers built in the 1930s to perform a complete and correct restoration of the car.
Herrington did not get around to it and he sold the car and supercharger to the current owner in 2006. He immediately handed the Duesenberg to RM Restorations, who carefully restored the Beverly, using as many original components and materials as possible, of course including the very valuable supercharger. Once the work was completed, the car was made its post-restoration debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It has since been shown at various other major events in North America. The rare Duesenberg SJ has now been consigned to the Art of the Automobile sale on November 21st, where it is estimated to change hands for $2 - $2.5 million.
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SJ Murphy Beverly
