It’s A Duesy…

Text and Contemporary Images
by
Rodney Kemerer
Friends of Robinson Gardens Board Member

Sometimes the lives of other people sound and feel like fiction. The best lives always do. Imagine going out to your garage and finding a Duesenberg. Now imagine finding two Duesenbergs. Wait, try to imagine your choice of three Duesenbergs. If you were Virginia and Harry Robinson, circa 1930 in Beverly Hills, that was your garage and your life, not fiction but automotive royalty.

At the turn of the twentieth century Los Angeles was booming. The population was exploding and the city was rapidly expanding. Many of the early pioneers and visionaries found opportunity in this young city and, at the same time, created personal wealth. Virginia and Harry Robinson were among those pioneers, but they also raised the bar for a standard of grace and elegance in a city on the edge of the wild west. As owners of the famous Robinsons Department store in Beverly Hills, they became the style and tastemakers for many generations of Angelinos.

Both Virginia and Harry had exquisite taste and nothing demonstrated that more than their choice of automobiles. After building a wonderful home and planting a soon-to-become world famous garden on fifteen acres, they went “car shopping.” But not very much like you or me. Since they had practically invented luxury shopping in Beverly Hills, they knew how to shop for themselves.

In the spring of 1929 the couple purchased a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy bodied disappearing top convertible coupe (Engine No. J-108, Serial No. 2134), complete with reptile skin interior and a white frame and body. Very sporty. In August, feeling the need for more cars, they purchased a 1930 Derham bodied five passenger sedan on a short wheelbase (Engine No. J-171, Serial No. HA-2193).

With still more room in their garage, in October they purchased a 1930 Duesenberg Town Car with another Derham body (Engine No. J-114 Serial No. 2137). Now try, for a moment, to imagine the life of that car salesman. One year, three cars with a total 1929 retail price of $44,500.00 or $610,000.00 in today’s dollars.

In reality, these were three very different automobiles that were used informally (The Coupe), functionally (The Sedan) and very formally (The Town Car).

With the early death of Harry and the Great Depression, the automobiles were eventually sold and two of the three remain today very prized by collectors and enthusiasts. For example, the 1929 Model J Murphy bodied coupe, fully restored, sold at auction in 2013 for $2,365,000.00. Remaining in Beverly Hills today are the Robinsons beautiful home and gardens which are open to the public (www.robinsongardens.org). There you can see the garage that held the cars, including a separate service garage complete with its own grease pit.

I suggest a visit. While your significant other is strolling through the stunning Italian Garden or smelling the roses, you can step away into the garage, close your eyes, and smell the heady aroma of automobile history, gasoline, oil, leather, chrome and elegance.

This essay is a chapter from “Tales From The Garage” by Rodney Kemerer, now available from Amazon. Please visit the website: Talesfromthegarage.com.