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The Famous " Mormon Meteor "
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,321 Major grins
What you see here is a 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster.
In the world of unique, rare, exquisite Duesenberg automobiles, this one stands alone. Created as a pure race car, it was the last effort by Augie Duesenberg in that regard. In a project spearheaded by a gentleman named Ab Jenkins, the sole purpose of this car was to set speed and endurance records. It came to be called the Duesenberg Special.
Ab Jenkins was an accomplished mechanic and successful businessman. High-speed endurance racing was his passion. He is the one person most credited with putting the Bonneville Salt Flats on the map as the venue for this type racing. In the mid 30's, there was a flurry of activity at the Flats as several big-name ventures focused on setting world records. No effort was more intense than the one Jenkins and his crew mounted.
A Duesenberg designer, Herbert Newport, was appointed to design the body work. Working with a stock model SJ chassis, he created the body you see here....sleek and aerodynamic, purpose-built for racing. Augie Duesenberg created the engine himself. It was the most powerful engine Duesenberg ever made. The engine is a 420 C.I. straight-8 design. It produces 400 HP at 5,000 RPM. It has dual overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder and is supercharged with twin carburetors.
At a time when records were being made, only to fall to a new challenger just days later, this car held its own. Interestingly, when it was racing, the fenders were removed and only the special fairings remained to aid aerodynamics. 1935 was a successful year for Jenkins and crew. 1936, though, was to be the real thing.
1936 was when this car became the " Mormon Meteor ". Working with the Lycoming Company, a Curtiss Conqueror V-12 engine of 1650 C.I. was fitted to the car. It literally stormed the competition. At the end of a very successful year, this car had established a record of running an average of 148.641 MPH for a 48 hour period....a record that lasted for decades.
In 1938, Jenkins had the original engine put back in and the car was, again, the Duesenberg Special. Over the years, it has had a number of owners. It last sold in 2004 at auction for slightly over $ 4 million. This year's Amelia Island show....where these pictures were taken....was the first public showing for the car after having undergone a major restoration.
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In the world of unique, rare, exquisite Duesenberg automobiles, this one stands alone. Created as a pure race car, it was the last effort by Augie Duesenberg in that regard. In a project spearheaded by a gentleman named Ab Jenkins, the sole purpose of this car was to set speed and endurance records. It came to be called the Duesenberg Special.
Ab Jenkins was an accomplished mechanic and successful businessman. High-speed endurance racing was his passion. He is the one person most credited with putting the Bonneville Salt Flats on the map as the venue for this type racing. In the mid 30's, there was a flurry of activity at the Flats as several big-name ventures focused on setting world records. No effort was more intense than the one Jenkins and his crew mounted.
A Duesenberg designer, Herbert Newport, was appointed to design the body work. Working with a stock model SJ chassis, he created the body you see here....sleek and aerodynamic, purpose-built for racing. Augie Duesenberg created the engine himself. It was the most powerful engine Duesenberg ever made. The engine is a 420 C.I. straight-8 design. It produces 400 HP at 5,000 RPM. It has dual overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder and is supercharged with twin carburetors.
At a time when records were being made, only to fall to a new challenger just days later, this car held its own. Interestingly, when it was racing, the fenders were removed and only the special fairings remained to aid aerodynamics. 1935 was a successful year for Jenkins and crew. 1936, though, was to be the real thing.
1936 was when this car became the " Mormon Meteor ". Working with the Lycoming Company, a Curtiss Conqueror V-12 engine of 1650 C.I. was fitted to the car. It literally stormed the competition. At the end of a very successful year, this car had established a record of running an average of 148.641 MPH for a 48 hour period....a record that lasted for decades.
In 1938, Jenkins had the original engine put back in and the car was, again, the Duesenberg Special. Over the years, it has had a number of owners. It last sold in 2004 at auction for slightly over $ 4 million. This year's Amelia Island show....where these pictures were taken....was the first public showing for the car after having undergone a major restoration.
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I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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Comments
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Interestingly, I feel you're dead right about shooting the color yellow. Yellow cars can give me fits. There's probably a technical explanation for that, but I don't know what it is.
Looking at the exhaust system on this car, you can appreciate that, when it is fired up, you actually feel it as much as you hear it....and the sounds it makes are stupendous.
Tom
http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
Tom is correct, when this car drives down the road, it's an awesome sound. I might even have some video of it when it was in a parade in Auburn... "might".
Mormon Meteor in 2007
Look how popular the car was in 2007 in Auburn, Indiana...
linkage has brief history of car when shot was taken in 2007.
gotta love those orange wall tires.....
Tom,
If you would like some shots of ACD cars taken thru the years in Auburn (1950's and 60's), let me know. I have some of the Meteor from the 50's. A club member gave me tons of cd with cars on them. I've copied to my external and the cd's are up for grabs.
Photos | Blog | Youtube
This copy has the Conqueror engine in it, and the current owner gives the history of it...... This one is called the Mormon Meteor III
Another great pic and story.......
Thanks, Jiro, for the nice comments. It's always great to hear from your quarters.
Tom
Amazing feat
of record. I tend to agree given looks alone and associated date.
Nice photography Tom. Yellow can be tough, as is the ever challenging red.
But your no stranger to that management
show what light direction can do with color. Alas
the sun
Your mention of engine sound for this vehicle set me to wondering and I
turned to YOUTUBE for what if... and some things were there. This video
has a modest bit of engine sound for exact car.
At videos end there is another clip with some engine rev but justice isn't done from the recording device.
Too bad but they tried. Didn't dig in too deep with the vids. Might go back and visit Jay Leno and his 1932 Duesenberg SJ.
Hi David,
Thanks for looking in and for the kind comment. I'll be in touch about the CD's.
Tom
Thank you, Gary, for the kind words and your support. I also appreciate the link you included.
Take care,
Tom
Yo Michael,
It's truly great to hear from you. I always appreciate it when you look in.
If I remember correctly ( no guarantee to that as the years pile on ), the protocol in making a run, like the Meteor was doing, called for stopping every 350 - 400 miles for fuel, vehicle inspection, etc. Regardless of the circumstances, establishing a record like that is simply amazing. And, as I said, that record lasted for decades.
Talk about a coincidence!!!! During that video clip you provided a link for, I was standing behind the video shooter the whole time. It was early in the morning and they were staging all the cars on the exhibition field....a golf course fairway. If you picked up on it, you saw that the Meteor has a turning radius akin to a semi truck. Speaking of sound....on a couple of occasions when they reved up the Meteor, you had to check and see if you still had your teeth.
Take care buddy,
Tom
That about sums up my reaction the first time I saw this machine. Thanks for looking in.
Tom