Picked up this original picture about 10 years ago at a house sale and just ran across it again today. After looking it over a little closer and reading the names I see it’s Duesenberg and his Race Cars. So I thought I would share. Someone with an ink pen identified all the drivers and co-pilots along with Augie in the center. The guy sitting down in front with the air compressor is the Black and Decker Salesmen. Never knew how successful he was.. August Samuel Duesenberg (December 12, 1879 – January 18, 1955) was a German- born American automobile and engine manufacturer who built American racing and racing engines that set speed records at Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1920; won the French Grand Prix in 1921; and won Indianapolis 500-mile races (1922, 1924, 1925, and 1927), as well as setting one-hour and 24-hour speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1935.
Where's Fred? You know, Fred Duesenberg, who actually designed these cars... Augie was a skilled machinist and practical engineer, but he was Fred's right-hand man, as would have been common among German-born families of that era.
No, not like these were. Bicycles still race on wood tracks in velodromes. I think that is the old Los Angeles Motor Speedway board track that burned down.
Augie and Fred Duesenberg had an amazing story, and I am fascinated by it. They came out of nowhere, with no advanced education, and had a major influence on the automotive world. (like introducing 4 wheel hydraulic brakes, and introducing supercharging to Indy racing)) Pre-WWI, they poured there heart and souls, and all the money they could make into building their racing cars and engine development. They worked 18 hours per day, 7 days a week, and their employees respected then so much, they did their very best to keep up. The stories of their early racing days are great, like the one in the teens, where they had hauled their cars via railroad train to a big race in Iowa. They were so broke when they got there, they only had enuff $$ to buy a bottle of milk to split among themselves and the team. Fred told the drivers that they absolutely HAD to finish in the money because they had no $ left to haul out of there. Eddie Rickenbacker got the job done, winning the race and a huge purse that kept the operation going. In the early 20's, Peter DePaulo, then know as "Wall Smacker", convinced Duesenberg to let him drive a team Duesenbeg car. DePaulo was a perfectionist, and wanted every inch of the car to look beautiful. In the shop, Fred saw DePaulo painting the engine, and made him stop. He insisted that Peter work on drilling holes for safety wire, and other performance stuff, saying "nobody will remember what the engine in the second place car looked like". DePaulo went on to deliver Duesenberg their first Indy 500 win. When you buy the books and do research online, there is a ton of these stories. Here is a couple pics of their 4 cylinder, 16 valve racing engine, from just prior to WW1.
The Jalopy Journal
