It can be said that many of the greatest things in life begin with a humble beginning. The same goes for the Duisenberg Motor car. You may have heard the expression out of time: “That’s a Doozie” or “It’s a Doozie.” All of these are references to a big, reputable car and automobile manufacturer – the Duisenberg.
The Duisenberg began life as Auburn-Cord-Duisenberg. Ernest Lobban Cord began his career in the automobile industry in the most humble way, as a simple repairer of Ford Model T cars. It could be said that this beginning of the Duisenberg line was met with fortunes even quite mixed. Cord said he had become a millionaire three times even before reaching the mature and experienced age of 21, completely losing his fortune each of the three times. Finally, at the ripe old age of 30 and with real and lasting wealth, Mr. Cord joined the bankrupt Auburn company as its “CEO.” He purchased a substantial stake in the company and proceeded to bring Auburn back to the path of financial security and wealth.
Besides being obviously a smart engineer, Cord had the greatest ability and abilities to spot great talents and talents in others. As a result, he discovered, hired, and employed notable classics and famous legends in the automobile trade such as Gordon Buehrig, Harry Miller, and Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. Later, Mr. Cord quickly bought control of the Lycoming Engine Plant and the Duisenberg Company itself.
The Deisenberg brothers, Fred and August, had originally started making bicycles in their adoptive “hometown” of Des Moines Iowa, before turning to the sport of motorsport, building their first racing car in 1903. The Duisenberg Company itself was formed in 1912 to build race cars, and their success inevitably led to the manufacture of standard road cars. The first in the Duisenberg line of standard cars for the road and a non-racing driver was the Model A tourer. The Model A “Tourer” has been dated to the year 1920. It can be rightly said, truthfully and knowingly, that Duisenberg’s road cars were largely based on the knowledge and experience gained from motor racing themselves. and they were excellent examples of advanced engineering and automotive mechanical technologies of the time. Duisenberg’s automotive product line quickly established a more than solid and well-earned reputation on the roads, just as Duisenberg’s race cars had accumulated a host of speed and racing records. Surprisingly, Duisenberg’s racing group had taken the venerable Indianapolis racing victories in the years 1924, 1925, and 1927.
It can be said that Mr. Cord’s tough leadership and empire-building ambitions had resulted in an extremely vital and effective combination, and Auburn-Cord-Duisenberg proceeded to flourish in no uncertain terms. Unfortunately, Cord’s timing was particularly bad, and all of his projects came to fruition in the same fateful year: 1929, the same year that the great “crash” of the stock market occurred. Miller himself patented his version of “Front Wheel Drive”
The following year, 1929, when the Cord nameplate was first used, the L29 was introduced and released for sale. Designed by Carl van Ranst, it carried Miller’s front axle setup. Next in line were cars as fast and volatile as the Auburn Speedster, which had the distinction of being the first line of cars to declare and guarantee that each car had been individually tested at 100 miles per hour.
Hence, Duisenberg’s reputation as cars of great speed and beauty was born, nurtured and maintained. It is no accident that the Duisenberg name has such a reputation and notoriety among car enthusiasts.
The expression “It’s a Doozie” has been well earned.
