Duesenberg

US, 1920 – 1937, 1966

(1) Duesenberg Motor Co, Indianapolis, Ind., 1920 – 1937

(2) Duesenberg Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind., 1966

Fred Duesenberg began by making bicycles and designed his first Duesenberg car, the Mason, in 1904. He and his brother August made engines with horizontal overhead valves for the 1912 Mason racing cars, and founded Duesenberg Motors in the following year in order to produce marine engines and complete racing cars bearing the Duesenberg name. The most famous of the latter appeared in 1920: a 3-litre Bugatti-inspired Duesenberg straight-8 with single overhead camshaft and three (vertical) valves per cylinder. This Duesenberg won the 1921 French Grand Grand Prix. In the 1920s the Duesenberg racing cars were the great rivals of the Millers at Indianapolis, and victory was assured in 1924 by the adoption of a centrifugal blower on Duesenberg cars. Though a two-stroke 1½-litre 8-cylinder racing engine capable of 7.000rpm was made in 1926, this was not proceeded with. The horizontal-valve Duesenberg engine was taken over in 1920 by the Rochester Motor Manufacturing Co Inc and was used in various sporting and luxury cars.

Meanwhile, at the end of 1920, the first Duesenberg production car made its debut. This Duesenberg Model A was an extremely expensive, if very advanced, luxury car, embodying an 8-cylinder in-line engine – the first to be seen in an American production car – of 4.2 litres, basically similar to the Duesenberg racing unit, but with only two valves per cylinder and developing about 100bhp. There were also hydraulically-operated front wheel brakes – another ‘first’ as far as America was concerned. The Model A was current until 1926. A handful of its little-altered successor, the Duesenberg Model X, was made in 1926-1927, but in the former year E.L. Cord of Auburn acquired control of the Duesenberg company. He stipulated that Fred Duesenberg’s next car should be completely new, and a quite exceptional machine. In fact, the Duesenberg Model J, which made its bow at the end of 1928, was the most remarkable automobile in America: bigger, faster, more elaborate and more expensive than any other, yet also superior to them in refinement and good looks. Its 6.9-litre, 8-cylinder engine, made by Lycoming (a firm which Cord had also bought), had two chain-driven overhead camshafts operating four valves per cylinder; a layout of racing type unique among American cars at the time and said to develop 265bhp at 4250rpm – more than double the output of any rival. Although the complete Duesenberg car weighed more than 4980lb, it was claimed to be capable of 116mph in top gear and 89mph in second. Only Duesenberg Model J chassis were made for which $8500 was asked in 1929. Immensely long and strong and lowbuilt, Duesenberg cars were very popular with all the leading coachbuilders. The Duesenberg company preferred to sell cars complete with bodies designed by them but made by approved builders, such as Murphy, Bohman & Schwarts, Judkins, Derham and Le Baron. In this form, catalogued Duesenberg models cost up to $17.950. The transmission – apart form the double dry-plate clutch – was conventional, as was the suspension by half-elliptic springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. The brakes, of course, were hydraulic, with vacuum servo assistance from late 1929.

In 1932 a supercharged version of the Model J, the Duesenberg SJ, was added. To cope with the 320bhp now alleged to be available, bearings, reciprocating parts and valve springs were strengthened. Usually, the shortest Duesenberg J chassis was used, with the highest axle ratio and stronger front springs. A maximum speed of 129mph was attributed to the Duesenberg SJ, with an acceleration figure of 0-100mph in 17 seconds.

Duesenberg survived the Depression, but died in the collapse of the Cord Corporation in 1937. Attempts to revive the Duesenberg name were made in 1947 and in 1966. The first Duesenberg was unsuccessful, and in 1966 only one Duesenberg car was actually made, powered by a 7-litre V8 Chrysler engine with push-rod overhead valves, developing 431bhp at 5.000rpm. Transmission was automatic, front suspension was independent, and there were disc brakes. Body styling was by Ghia. This Duesenberg venture, too, collapsed.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN 

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Mercury

US, 1904

Mercury Machine Co, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Mercury car was a two-seater with a 2-cylinder water-cooled engine of 7hp. A liding-gear transmission was used and the weight of the Mercury car was 1.250lb. The price of the Mercury car was $295 and a top cost $100 extra.

GB, 1905

Ivanhoe Motor Co, Cricklewood, London N.W.

The Mercury car company made a small number of 24hp 4-cylinder Mercury cars which they also called Ivanhoes. In 1906 they became agents for Weigel and planned to show these cars on their stand at Olympia, but permission was refused because they had said in their application that they would show Ivanhoes. In fact, only second-hand Mercury cars were shown on the stand, but they stressed that the Weigel could be seen at the works.

GB, 1914 – 1923

(1) Medina Engineering Co Ltd, Twickenham, Middlesex, 1914 – 1920

(2) Mercury Cars (production) Ltd., Twickenham, Middlesex, 1920 – 1923

The Mercury car was a conventional light car with a 10hp 4-cylinder monobloc engine and shaft drive. One Mercury car model only was made before the war, but in 1920 there were three Mercury cars, a 9.5, 10.2 and 11.9hp. Bodies were the usual two- and four-seaters.

US, 1914

Mercury Cyclecar Co, Detroit, Mich.

The Mercury cyclecar differed little from other of that breed, except that Mercury car had a self-supporting body which eliminated the chassis frame; in other words integral construction. The engine was a 9hp 2-cylinder air-cooled unit, and the Mercury car used friction transmission and belt final drive. Body styles were a monocarp, a tandem two-seater and a light van.

US, 1918 – 1920

Mercury Cars Inc, Hollis, N.Y.

A small, assembled car of limited production, the Mercury car used a Duesenberg or Weidely 4-cylinder engine and the Mercury car was equipped with a door in the floor to give the driver ready access to the service brake mechanism.

US, 1938 to date

Ford Motor Co, Detroit, Mich.

The Mercury car, a product of Ford’s Lincoln Division, was intended to rival GM’s Oldsmobile and Buick, and widen Ford penetration of the American market. The Mercury car was in effect an enlarged Model 91 Ford V8 with a 3.9-litre 95bhp engine. At $957 the Mercury car cost $230 more than its smaller sister, but the Mercury car was $40 less than Buick’s cheapest 4-door sedan. Hydraulic brakes were standard from the start on Mercury cars and evolution followed established Ford lines, with no drastic changes until 1949, when the new low silhouette, hypoid rear axle, and coil-spring independent front suspension were incorporated on the Mercury car. Capacity of the engine of the Mercury car went up to 4.2-litres and the front-end styling of the Mercury car emphasized the association with Lincoln. Mercury cars, like Ford, progressed to overhead valves and oversquare cylinder dimensions and in 1955 buyers of the Mercury car had a choice of two V8 engines of 188 and 198bhp. An inexpensive Mercury Medalist series was added in 1956 and in 1957 the standard power unit was a 255bhp. Mercury cars became bigger and more expensive in 1958 and 1959 to avoid clashing with the Edsel range from the same stable, and a 6.3-litre, 360bhp engine was available in Mercury cars.

In 1961 Mercury cars broke with tradition, and offered for the first time something other than a V8; not only was there the option of a 3.6-litre six in the regular Mercury car range, but there was also a semi-compact Mercury car, the 2.4-litre Mercury Comet, a Mercury car with a 9ft 6in wheelbase parallel with Ford’s Falcon. The Mercury Comet sold for $2.084 in 1962, when the largest of the standard V8s was a rather modest 4.8-litre. 1963 saw a return to bigger things on Mercury cars, with 6.4-litre and 6.8-litre engines available in the top-price Mercury Monterey models, which also included a Breezeway sedan with forward-sloped rear window as already used on Ford of Britain’s 1960 Anglia. Though the Mercury Comet was retained for 1966 with a 3.3-litre engine, the biggest Mercury cars looked like Lincoln’s Continental on a reduced scale; the wheelbase of the Mercury car is 10ft 3in, with 6.4-litre, 6.7-litre and 7-litre engines available. For the more sporting motorist there was the Mercury Comet Cyclone with compact dimensions and a 6.4-litre V8 unit. A 1967 sports coupé version, the Mercury Cougar, heralded a return to the waterfall-type radiator grille on the Mercury car so generally popular in the early 1950s.

Subsequent Mercury car developments were aimed at keeping station in the tricky medium-priced market, with the sporting element represented by the Mercury Cyclone and Mercury Cougar coupés (with V8 engines of up to 390bhp) and the luxury sector covered by the Marquis Brougham, which in 1969 form aped the Lincoln with its concealed headlamps, and came with 7-litre V8 unit and automatic as standard. Regular family Mercury cars were the Montego on a 9ft 9in wheelbase, and the stock Mercury car of 10ft 4in. In 1971 there was a Mercury edition of Ford’s Maverick compact, the Comet. Wheelbase was 8ft 7in, and engine options of the Mercury car were sixes of 2.8-litres, 3.3-litres or 4.1-litres, or a small 4.9-litre 210bhp V8. Basic price was a low $2.217, and it was continued into 1972 along with the Cougar, Montego, Monterey, Colony Park and Marquis lines, though new Federal regulations took their toll for Mercury cars, and the most powerful engine option gave only 266bhp, as against 375 in 1970. Mercury Montegos had front disc brakes as standard,  as had 1973 Mercury Cougars, which came with a traditional radiator grill in Humber-Sunbeam style. Most of the 1973 improvements on Mercury cars concerned safety (e.g. reinforced bumpers and radial-ply tyres as standard on the big sedans). Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury Division also distributed the German Ford Capri with 2-litre or 2.6-litre engine.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; GMN, GNG, KM, MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com