At the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2022, the Best of Show award went to a 1931 Duesenberg J Figoni Sports Torpedo. Duesenbergs won several awards that day, making them the name that stood out the most at the well-known event. A Duesenberg will likely be in the news again this year, but this time for its fantastic story. This is because the 1931 Duesenberg Model J Tourster that will be sold at RM Sotheby’s Pebble Beach sale made it through World War II. The first person to own the beautiful metallic two-tone green Duesenberg was Butler Hallahan, a Philadelphia playboy, and socialite who received his parents’ money. Because he was rich, he could often take his Duesenberg back and forth between New York and Europe. Hallahan had to leave Europe quickly in 1939 after taking a trip to Italy because the war had broken out. Hallahan’s Duesenberg was kept hidden from possible claims by an unknown Italian who hid it in a barn under hay bales. It stayed there during the whole battle until the Italian Brigadier General Niblo found it. After a series of bad things happened, American Captain R.W. Schreck sold it in 1946 to Milanese fan Dore Leto di Priolo. After being sold to Anthony D. “Tony” Pascucci in Connecticut in 1968, it went back to the United States. Pascucci had Ted Billing, an expert at fixing old Duesenbergs from Massachusetts, rebuild and re-paint the Model J because he loved Duesenbergs and cars. Terence E. Adderley bought the Model J from Pascucci in 2013 after he had owned it for 45 years. Even though the paint has some flaws, the car is in excellent technical shape and has all its original parts. The engine, gearbox, and Derham coach-built body are all original. This Monterey Model J is much like the one that hid in a haystack during World War II in Italy. It’s also one of the few Duesenberg Model Js with Derham bodies for sale. Only eight were made. Two are in museums, and the other five are in fixed collections. When the other five owners find out how much this goes for at auction, they might start coming out of their garages.
