Turns Out Duesenberg Is Best of the Best, at Least It Was in 2023

Say you’ve won Pebble, or El Quail, or Villa d’Este, or some other of the world’s greatest concours. Where do you go from there?

Up!

The Peninsula Classic, driven by ultra-car-guy The Honorable Sir Michael Kadoorie, has once again chosen the winner of winners among classic restorations.

A select group of world-renowned car enthusiasts created the Best of the Best award 10 years ago, and the judges are guys like Nick Mason and Jay Leno and designers like Ferrari chief design director Flavio Manzoni and Mercedes-Benz design director Gorden Wagener.

A dapper Belgian gentleman named Christian Philippsen took what had been known as the Louis Vuitton Classic and, with the help of Kadoorie, William E. (Chip) Connor, and Bruce Meyer, came up with Best of the Best.

In a smoke-and-possibly-smoked-salmon-filled room in Kadoorie’s newly opened The Peninsula London hotel today, September 3, the judges gathered and picked the Best of the Best from the eight winners of the world’s eight greatest concours.

It wasn’t easy.

“It is difficult as a judge to choose a winner for The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award because each vehicle has already been selected as one of the best and most prestigious in the world and they’re all immaculate,” said Jay Leno of the judging five years ago.

“The calibre of the 2023 finalists is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Kadoorie after this year’s voting. “Each vehicle exemplifies an extraordinary feat of automotive engineering and design. Consequently, selecting a single winner becomes increasingly difficult as the years pass. Nonetheless, I trust the judges’ choice will resonate as truly spectacular.”

Other judges included notorious car designer Chris Bangle, Dassault Systèmes designer Anne Asensio, two-time Pebble winner and fashion great Ralph Lauren, and Ford board of directors member and possibly nicest guy in America Henry Ford III. Even Cobra Daytona Coupe designer Pete Brock was a judge.

The cars from which they had to chose a winner were:

• 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster, winner of the The Trofeo BMW Group, AKA Best of Show at Villa d’Este.

• 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aerodyne by Voisin winner of Best in Show at the 2023 Amelia Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island, Florida. It also won the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

• 1937 Bentley 4¼-liter Rothschild Sedanca Coupe by Gurney Nutting that won

  Best of Show at the 2023 Goodwood Cartier Style et Luxe Concours of Elegance.

• 1937 Bugatti 57S Roadster by Corsica that won Best of Show at the 2023 Salon Privé Concours.

• 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster by Sindelfingen that won the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Best of Show.

• 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta by Pininfarina that won Best of Show at the 32nd Palm Beach Cavallino Classic at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

• 1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spider by Frua won Best in Show at the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace in west London.

• 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica “Superfast” Coupe by Pininfarina that won the Rolex Circle of Champions “Best of Show” award at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering in Monterey.

The winner, after what we can only assume was much back and forth between the Ferrari guys and the Duesenberg guys and everybody else, was the 1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Speedster from the collection of the late US Air Force Major General William Lyon, “whose lifelong passion for automotive and aviation design prompted him to establish a museum celebrating both in Orange County, California.”

“It is a great honour to receive this award on behalf of my father,” said Bill H. Lyon, who now represents Lyon’s classic car collection as well as the Lyon Air Museum. “Among elite collectors, The Peninsula Best of the Best Award has long been known as a pinnacle of recognition.”

As noted above, the Lyon Duesenberg won the Trofeo BMW Group, also known as “Best of Show,” at the 2023 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. The car was part of a special class that celebrated the motoring indulgences of the Maharajas.

“Considered one of the most powerful and luxurious American cars of its era, the Model SJ Speedster was built as one of just 36 models out of 487 to be fitted with a supercharger,” noted Peninsula Classic organizers. “The car was also the only example delivered to Gurney Nutting’s senior coachbuilder (and namesake) John Gurney Nutting, acclaimed for his beautiful coachwork, innovative engineering and glamorous mystique. (A predominant customer of Nutting’s coaches was Edward, Prince of Wales—later to become King Edward VIII).”

More on the Duesy: Maharajah Holkar of Indore originally ordered this one-of-a-kind SJ. As the car was destined for a royal career, it received various special touches like chrome flagsticks and red and blue lights on the front fenders to indicate whether the Maharajah or the Maharanee was driving the car.

Upon completion at Nutting’s workshop, the car was shipped from London to New York and driven back to Indianapolis by Duesenberg employees. After a final tune-up, the Gurney Nutting Speedster was delivered to the Maharajah's Santa Ana, California, mansion due to concerns about Japan invading India.

After the regional tensions dropped, the Duesenberg was shipped from Los Angeles to Singapore and then to India. It remained there until the 1950s, when it was brought back to the United States, where it remains. This is the highest-numbered Duesenberg chassis and has been meticulously restored with all the royal details retained. The car now resides in the Lyon Estate Car Collection in Southern California.

So that was the 2023 Best of the Best winner. Now work gets under way to pick a winner from all the 2024 concours, which just concluded with the Preservation Class Bugatti Type 59 that rolled over the ramp as Best in Show at Pebble Beach just two weeks ago. Something tells me they won’t pick that one for next year’s Best of the Best. But then, who would have guessed they’d have picked it to win Pebble?

See ya next year when the season gets under way again at the Cavallino Classic January 23-26 in Palm Beach. Bring the GTO, okay?