Collection

On September 15, 1930, William S. Rupert of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, took delivery of Model J Duesenberg J-338, chassis 2350. J-338 had been used previously as a factory demonstrator. When new, the car was bodied as an Arlington sedan by Derham. In 1933, the sedan was purchased by William Ferguson, also of Philadelphia. Near the end of 1944, Mr. Marion Roberts of Grand Island, New York, purchased J-338/2350 as well as J-127/2152 which, following a previous chassis renovation, had been fitted with a new LeBaron convertible sedan body. As notes indicate, the LeBaron body was originally intended to be installed on a Packard chassis. Mr. Roberts allowed both Model Js to languish on his property before finally selling the automobiles as a pair to John North of Maryland in 1965. By mid-1967 Mr. North sold the pair to noted Duesenberg collector Homer Fitterling. During Mr. Fitterling’s ownership, J-338 was treated to a thorough restoration by his collection manager, Keith Brown. It was at this time that the LeBaron Convertible Sedan body was removed from chassis 2152 along with its firewall and installed on the restored chassis of J-338/2350. Mr. Brown reports that once the convertible sedan’s restoration was finished, it was a main attraction of the Fitterling collection and was displayed in the foyer of his museum. ACD records show that in July 1988, J-338 was inspected and certified by Duesenberg historian Fred Roe and was granted ACD Category One status, the original Derham sedan body noted as “gone.” Upon Mr. Fitterling’s passing, his entire collection was purchased as a group for $13 million by collector Ed Weaver. Following Mr. Weaver’s passing in 1995, his estate was sold at auction. J-338 was sold along with 20 other Duesenbergs among approximately 200 collector automobiles. A copy of a judging sheet declares that J-338 was subsequently shown at the 1996 Port Gardner Bay Concours where it earned high marks. In 2001, the convertible sedan was purchased by the Robert Petersen and has been displayed with his collection in the years since.