The winner of the Best of Show award at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance contest held in Pebble Beach, California, was a magnificent and luxurious Duesenberg Model J Figoni Sports Torpedo 1932. As a curiosity, since 1934, with a Packard Twelve, this award has not was attributed to an American car.
This elegant car owned by Lee and Penny Anderson of Naples, Florida, the Duesenberg received praise from Concours President Sandra Button who described it as; “this rare Duesenberg marries American power with European style”.
Some of its features are already familiar as Duesenberg's 420-cubic-inch in-line 8-cylinder. Its elegant design, marked by a long hood that extends to a V-shaped windshield. The tapered and elegant tail that flows around the cabin, flanked by large fenders. All this elegance is the product of French builder Joseph Figoni, one of the greats in car design, but who only built this Duesenberg body, all the more reason for this vehicle to become so exclusive.
Some of the history of this car in 1932 was driven by Sadovich at the Paris-Nice Rallye before being handed over to first owner Antonio Chopitea, a Peruvian sugar heir and Bugatti fan. He later showed the car at Cannes and in the 1960s the car went to America, at which point they separated the chassis from the Figoni bodywork. It took several decades for the current owner to find the two parts and return the car to its original glory, the car was painstakingly restored in a time-consuming job that lasted about three arduous years.
The owners' excitement was visible when their 1932 Duesenberg J Figoni Sports Torpedo was named the winner of the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Best of Show.
