1925 Duesenberg Model A

FROM THE DICK SHAPPY COLLECTION: The 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Body by Brunn

FROM THE DICK SHAPPY COLLECTION:

The 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster by Brunn


Duesenberg

The Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Co., Inc., founded in 1920, was known for their luxury and high-performance racing automobiles. In 1921, founders and brothers Fred and August Duesenberg won a Grand Prix race with an American automobile for the first time, catapulting the Duesenberg into the spotlight. They would go on to popularize the straight-eight engine, four-wheel hydraulic brake system, and become the ultimate means of transportation for the rich and famous of the time. Its logo, a detailed eagle with outspread wings featuring "Duesenberg" in ornate lettering, became a symbol of power and prestige.


The Model A

From Amazing Classic Cars

"Americas first production automobile powered by a straight-eight engine emerged from the Duesenberg brothers Indianapolis factory in 1926, incorporating racing-derived technology that included four-wheel hydraulic brakes with finned aluminum drums.

The 260 cubic inch single overhead cam engine produced 88 horsepower, drawing directly from competition powerplants that achieved success at the 1921 French Grand Prix and dominated the 1922 Indianapolis 500, where eight of the top ten finishers relied on Duesenberg engines.

Following the November 1925 debut at New Yorks Hotel Commodore, production commenced with bodies supplied by Millspaugh & Irish of Indianapolis, Fleetwood, and Brunn, offering touring, phaeton, roadster, and sedan configurations on the 134-inch wheelbase chassis.

Financial challenges limited output to approximately 650 examples through 1927, when E.L. Cord acquired the struggling Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company. The Model A established technical innovations that informed the later Model Js development."


Brunn & Company

Brunn & Company was a renowned American coachbuilding business based in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1908 by carriage designer Hermann A. Brunn. The firm specialized in designing and building high-end, custom, and semi-custom automobile bodies for luxury chassis - including Lincoln, Cadillac, and Rolls-Royce - until the company closed in 1941. While Brunn designed bodies for multiple luxury automakers, they had a deeply established relationship with Lincoln. Edsel Ford was a massive admirer of their work and relied heavily on Brunn to produce exclusive, elegant "semi-custom" bodies for Lincoln's flagship chassis. Perhaps their most famous commission was crafting Franklin D. Roosevelt's legendary 1939 Lincoln K, the "Sunshine Special," which remained in use by the White House until 1951. Hermann A. Brunn's son, Hermann C. Brunn, trained at European coach salons and returned to design for the family business before going to work for the Ford Motor Company after Brunn & Company closed, continuing their historic legacy, as Hermann A.'s uncle ran a separate firm, the Brunn Carriage Mfg Co., before him.

Brunn & Company Duesenberg bodies are extremely rare, as only a handful were ever made. They produced only three examples of the Riviera Phaeton on the Model J/SJ chassis. They also designed a town car and torpedo phaeton, custom one-offs styled by Gordon Buehrig. All examples were highly bespoke and unusual in some way, making each unique.


The 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Body by Brunn

Approximately 350 Model A Duesenbergs were produced from 1921 to 1926, though only 35 are known to survive today. After being discovered in a Long Island junkyard, this stunning example has undergone a meticulous five-year restoration, completed in 2026 at the restoration shop of Dick Shappy in Rhode Island. It made its public debut at the 2026 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in Greenwich, CT, where it drew considerable attention. As America's first production car equipped with four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a straight eight engine, this elegant boattail roadster highlights the pioneering engineering that defined the Duesenberg marque.


ENGINE NO: 1549

ENGINE: 4.3-liter 260 cubic inch single overhead cam straight eight

HP: 88

CHASSIS NO: 1156

BODY: Boattail Roadster by Brunn & Company of New York

BRAKES: Four-wheel hydraulic

TOP SPEED: Over 88 mph