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Automodello 1:24 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster Mormon Meteor

Reviewed by: Automodello

This model is the 2012 *Model of the Year* by the Diecast Zone.

The Mormon Meteor was based on a production car and its roots lie in the dawn of the Duesenberg Company. By the 1920s, Fred and August Duesenberg were at the top of their game; they setup one of America's great automotive companies in 1913 and would go on to firmly establish themselves in racing. One of their first feats was to break America's land speed record in 1920. The following year, the first American Grand Prix victory was won in a Duesenberg. This set the trend for many more stateside accolades including the 1924 and 1925 Indianapolis 500s.

Saving the Duesenberg from financial ruin, Errett Lobban Cord purchased the company in 1926 and helped Fred Duesenberg design the seminal Model J. With its 320 bhp supercharged engine, the car transcended all competition and caught the attention of Ab Jenkins, who had a need for speed. In addition to being a building contractor in Utah, Ab was a pioneer racer at the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting records and hungering for a new era of endurance racing.

Ab had used a Pierce Arrow to set the 10 mile, 100 mile, 3-hour, 6-hour, 12-hour and 24-hour records. To beat these, he was offered a Duesenberg chassis and the help of Augie Duesenberg. The design had a minimal frontal area including a single cyclops headlight and heavily raked radiator. The rest of the body resembled an oversized but quite narrow speedster. The long sloping tail reduced drag. Just behind the wheels sat small sponsons to reduce air turbulence along with integrated fairings to cover the suspension and chassis.

In 1935, raced around a ten mile circuit marked by a black line around Bonneville, Ab and Tony Gulotta proved the Duesenberg SJ Speedster Mormon Meteor one of the fastest cars in the world by covering 3,523 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 135.47 mph. The name Mormon Meteor reflects Ab’s active membership in the Church of Latter-day Saints and his abstinence from tobacco, alcohol, and coffee which he said gave him necessary endurance for the grueling trials.

Ab and future Mormon Meteors succeeded in recapturing future records, some of which were not broken until the 70s.

(01/10/2013)