1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Body by Brunn

• ENGINE NO: 1549
• ENGINE: 4.3-liter 260 cubic inch single overhead cam straight eight
• HP: 88
• CHASSIS NO: 1156
• BODY: Boattail Roadster by Brunn & Com­pany of New York
• BRAKES: Four-wheel hydraulic
• TOP SPEED: Over 88 mph

Duesen­berg

The Duesen­berg Automobile & Motors Co., Inc., founded in 1920, was known for its luxury and high-performance racing automobiles. In 1921, founders and brothers Fred and Aug­ust Duesen­berg won a Grand Prix race with an American automobile for the first time, catapulting the Duesen­berg into the spotlight. They would go on to popularize the straight-eight engine and four-wheel hydraulic brake system and became the ultimate means of trans­port­ation for the rich and famous of the time. Its logo, a detailed eagle with outspread wings featuring “Duesen­berg” in ornate lettering, became a symbol of power and prestige.

The Model A

From Amazing Classic Cars

“Amer­ica’s first production automobile powered by a straight-eight engine emerged from the Duesen­berg brothers’ Indianapolis factory in 1926, incorporating racing-derived technology that included four-wheel hydraulic brakes with finned aluminum drums.

The 260 cubic inch single overhead cam engine produced 88 horsepower, drawing directly from competition powerplants that achieved success at the 1921 French Grand Prix and dominated the 1922 Indianapolis 500, where eight of the top ten finishers relied on Duesen­berg engines.

Following the No­vem­ber 1925 debut at New York’s Hotel Commodore, production commenced with bodies supplied by Millspaugh & Irish of Indianapolis, Fleetwood, and Brunn, offering touring, phaeton, roadster, and sedan configurations on the 134-inch wheelbase chassis.

Financial challenges limited output to approximately 650 examples through 1927, when E. L. Cord acquired the struggling Duesen­berg Automobile and Motors Com­pany. The Model A established technical innovations that informed the later Model J’s development.”

Brunn & Com­pany

Brunn & Com­pany was a renowned American coachbuilding business based in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1908 by carriage designer Hermann A. Brunn. The firm specialized in designing and building high-end, custom, and semi-custom automobile bodies for luxury chassis—including Lincoln, Cadillac, and Rolls-Royce—until the com­pany closed in 1941. While Brunn designed bodies for multiple luxury automakers, they had a deeply established relationship with Lincoln. Edsel Ford was a massive admirer of their work and relied heavily on Brunn to produce exclusive, elegant “semi-custom” bodies for Lincoln’s flagship chassis. Perhaps their most famous commission was crafting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legendary 1939 Lincoln K, the “Sunshine Special,” which remained in use by the White House until 1951. Hermann A. Brunn’s son, Hermann C. Brunn, trained at European coach salons and returned to design for the family business before going to work for the Ford Motor Com­pany after Brunn & Com­pany closed, continuing their historic legacy, as Hermann A.’s uncle ran a separate firm, the Brunn Carriage Mfg. Co., before him.

Brunn & Com­pany Duesen­berg bodies are extremely rare, as only a handful were ever made. They produced only three examples of the Riviera Phaeton on the Model J/SJ chassis. They also designed a town car and torpedo phaeton, custom one-offs styled by Gordon Buehrig. All examples were highly bespoke and unusual in some way, making each unique.

The 1925 Duesen­berg Model A Boattail Roadster Body by Brunn

Approximately 350 Model A Duesen­bergs were produced from 1921 to 1926, though only 35 are known to survive today. After being discovered in a Long Island junkyard, this stunning example has undergone a meticulous five-year restoration, completed in 2026 at the restoration shop of Dick Shappy in Rhode Island. It made its public debut at the 2026 Greenwich Con­cours d’Elegance in Greenwich, Conn­ecticut, where it drew considerable attention. As Amer­ica’s first production car equipped with four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a straight-eight engine, this elegant boattail roadster highlights the pioneering engineering that defined the Duesen­berg marque.

View the five-year restoration of the 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Body by Brunn

See the 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Wins “Best in Show” Award at the John Martins Foundation 10th Annual Car & Tow Truck Show in Lincoln, Rhode Island on October 18, 2026.
View award photos: 1925 Duesenberg Model A Boattail Roadster Wins Best in Show Award.