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Duesenberg SJ Still Kills It 74 Years Later

To most drivers today, “American” and “luxury” seem more mismatched than R. Kelly and a grown woman. But way back in the day, Americans used to have the luxury game on lock. Seriously. One of the hottest automotive nameplates was an upstart out of Iowa founded by two German brothers called Duesenberg. At the 2008 Meadow Brook Concours D’Elegance car show, one of Duesenberg’s craziest models, the SJ, made an appearance and basically stole the show, reminding everyone what America used to be capable of…

The yellow, phallic roadster was built in 1934 for the sole purpose of breaking a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. In order to do that, the “Mormon Meteor,” as it was called, was equipped with a 1,650 cubic inch Curtiss Conqueror V12 engine. That’s the equivalent of like, 10 Honda Civics. The body, in turn, was streamlined to allow this beast to run at an average speed of 148 mph over 48 hours. Suffice to say, they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Check out more photos and a video (which should be watched with the volume cranked up) of this beauty/beast below.