Question of the Day - 28 October 2023

Sold, 37 of them for which records were made public.

Duesenberg was a short-lived but still-celebrated American automobile company started in 1920 in Indianapolis by the Duesenberg brothers. It produced race cars and luxury vehicles and hit the big time when one of the earliest models became the first American car to win a Grand Prix (the 1921 race in France). Duesenbergs also won the hometown Indy 500 four times in the '20s.

The company lasted until 1937 and was dissolved after producing slightly fewer than 1,200 cars in its history. That's why having 37 of them on display in one place in Las Vegas was such a big deal.

The Auto Collection was less a museum than a showroom that sold more than 1,000 cars in its existence, including, as we say, all the Duesenbergs, which were very valuable. One of them was the 1930 J Murphy Town Car that was used in the movie It's a Wonderful Life.

Actually, the owner of Imperial Palace, the late Ralph Engelstad, once owned as many as 52 Dusenbergs, all housed in a dedicated room. Engelstad's collection was "the largest concentration of Duesenbergs anywhere," according to the Las Vegas Sun in a story in the early 1990s. We're not sure what happened to the other 15. In fact, no one knows how many are left. "A Guide to Duesenbergs" on VoloCars.com explains, "Given their cult status, there is also an air of secrecy and exclusivity around the name 'Duesenberg' — collectors can be cagey about the high-ticket items they have collected."

One of the Duesenberg sales that made the news in 1984 was the 1931 Figoni-bodied boat-tail model that fetched $1 million ($3 million in today's dollars). If that was the going rate for a Duesenberg 40 years ago, we're sure the Auto Collection/Engelstad minted a fortune when the Duesenberg room was liquidated.

You, we, and no doubt many QoD readers were very fortunate to see them all while they lasted.