1930 Duesenberg Model J ‘Butterfly’ Dual-Cowl Phaeton
America’s most powerful production car commanded a staggering $8,500 for the chassis alone, with complete examples reaching $20,000 when most family cars cost around $500.
Franklin Q. Hershey’s brilliant design work helped define California coachbuilder Walter J. Murphy’s distinctive “look” for Duesenbergs, featuring elegantly curved cowlings with windows that disappeared into cuts in the doors.
The dual-cowl phaeton design incorporated Murphy’s signature “butterfly” windshield (a vee’d rear windshield mounted on a two-piece tonneau, hinged in the middle). This innovative feature allowed one passenger to exit without disturbing the other by adjusting one side of the windshield to lift that section of the tonneau.
Only three original Murphy dual-cowl phaetons with the “butterfly” windshield were produced for the Model J on the standard (short) wheelbase chassis.
The mighty 420 cubic inch DOHC inline eight-cylinder engine produced 265 horsepower from dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, paired with a three-speed Warner manual transmission. This powerplant enabled a remarkable top speed of up to 119 mph, making it one of the fastest cars of its time.
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