The Duesenberg - the Original "Duesy"

Duesenberg Model Y

Have you ever heard anyone say "that's a real duesy" when they're talking about something that outdoes other things of its kind? What you likely don't know is that the term actually comes from an old American luxury automobile, the Duesenberg. The company and its cars were lovingly given the nickname "Duesy" which was instantly grafted into English slang.

Even more-so than today, in the early 1900s European cars were revered for their refinement and luxury while American cars were looked down upon as more "common" and therefore inferior. Despite what I was taught in school (thank you public education system) Henry Ford was not the inventor of the automobile -- that honor is usually reserved for German engineer Karl Benz. So Europe was home to the first automobile, giving Europeans a little bit of a jump start on the development of automotive technology. Henry Ford was the one who figured out how to make cars more affordable through assembly line manufacturing.

Jay Leno with his Duesenberg Model Y

In any case, American cars couldn't get any respect since the Model T and other cars from the US weren't exactly high-class. That's where the Duesenberg changed things. The first car produced by the company, the Model A, produced between 90 and 100 horsepower with the first mass-produced straight-eight engine from the United States. The Model A came with a chrome nickel steel frame and four-wheel hydraulic brakes among other amenities not found on other American cars. The Model J, which was produced several years later, represented the pinnacle of engineering and design success for Duesenberg and was the car that cemented "Duesy" into our everyday language. The car produced 265 horsepower with a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder engine, but a supercharged version was available for those who wanted even more power. It was the most expensive American automobile to date, costing up to around $250,000 in today's dollars. Car aficionado Jay Leno owns several Duesenbergs, which he says perform like modern cars when it comes to acceleration, handling and braking. Really the Duesenberg set out a blueprint for where the auto industry was to go, even though the company went under during the Great Depression.

So remember the next time you or someone else says "that's a duesy!" where the term originates.

The Porsche 917/20 "Pink Pig"

I'm a huge Porsche fan for many reasons. Anyone who knows about Porsche's very accomplished racing program's history will at least recognize the 917/20, a race car that is lovingly referred to as  the "Pink Pig." The car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1970.



Not many cars can pull off pink very well, but the 917/20 wears its race livery with pride. That might be in part because the Porsche 917/20 was like the Superman of endurance race cars for its time. Part of the secret of the Pink Pig was that it incorporated a longer tail to help it travel at high speeds around the track, but it also incorporated the handling characteristics of short tail cars so it was able to stick the corners of the race track better than the competition. Anyone who's raced on a track before knows that if your car doesn't corner very well, you can lose many precious seconds in just one lap, which can result in a loss if the race is tight.

If you want to see the 917/20 Pink Pig in person, book your flight to Germany. The only one made now resides in the Porsche Museum, a place I could likely spend days touring. For now you're just going to have to enjoy this YouTube video that gives plenty of closeups of the car: