How much is a masterpiece worth?

"JR1" (type35bugatti)
10/22/2015 at 18:39 • Filed to: Masterpieces, duesenberg ssj

A masterpiece is an ultimate superlative. Something of absolute outstanding quality. A craft, perfected. A masterpiece is a tangible or intangible object not to be had for love or money. Or is it?

The Duesenberg SSJ is an excellent example of a masterpiece. The SSJ has no equal. At the time of it’s creation no other vehicle so perfectly combined speed, luxury, and rarity. Clark Gable and Gary Cooper were the lucky two individuals that got to drive these masterpieces directly off the showroom floor. Even then the name Duesenberg suggested excellence. The company had been successful not only at Le Mans but countless times and Indianapolis and other motoring events. Unknown to Duesenberg at the time, the SSJ would be provide the perfect swan-song for the companies exceptional history.

Since the company went out of business Duesenberg has become a name few are aware of. Those who know however, plus rushes a little quicker every time they see one. In death a normal Duesenberg Model J sells for a million or more.

The SSJ though is not a normal Duesenberg by any stretch of the imagination. As stated it is a masterpiece of design and that begs the question what is it worth? Ten million? Twenty? Or a car such as the SSJ too special for something as common as money? Perhaps one masterpiece must be traded with another such as Bugatti Royale?

What say you on the matter? Is the SSJ indeed a masterpiece? Should a car such as the SSJ be in a museum for all to see? Can automobiles be masterpieces if they are constantly surpassed by new engineering techniques?

DISCUSSION (29)

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > JR1
10/22/2015 at 18:47

I’ll give you tree fiddy for it.

Sam > JR1
10/22/2015 at 18:54

If I had 500 million dollars to spend, I would probably buy it for maybe 3 million. Maybe 4. Also, once I have a substantial car collection, it’s going to be open to the public* whenever I have the time to show them around.

* small groups of people who contact me through an online registration

My citroen won't start > JR1
10/22/2015 at 18:54

A masterpiece is worth what people are willing to pay for it, therefore making it priceless.

Steve in Manhattan > JR1
10/22/2015 at 18:57

One of my great daydreams is a huge car collection. I think you hire someone to maintain the cars and to drive them every other week. The SSJ might or might not be a masterpiece, but it should be driven. If it winds up in a museum, they need to maintain it and drive it.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Sam
10/22/2015 at 19:04

* small groups of people who contact me through an online registration

so strictly your friends here at Oppo you mean?

Sam > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
10/22/2015 at 19:05

Pretty much. I’d probably put up a website with pictures and extremely detailed info on each car, too. Basically a virtual tour on the collection.

PS9 > JR1
10/22/2015 at 19:07

Bloody right shame it is, the Duesenberg name being done in by time and what not. Bet a 100 quid a modern American Dusey would really put the stick about your P1s and your LaFerraris it would!

Note: The poster above has been stricken with spontaneous cockney syndrome. SCS affects millions of Top Gear viewers every year. If you exhibit symptoms of SCS after consuming large quantities of british media, please consult your local ‘murican biker bar or cowboy tavern for treatment.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Steve in Manhattan
10/22/2015 at 19:23

Yeah... you don’t want to be the person who has money to buy them, but then is too cheap to hire someone to maintain them...

RallyWrench > JR1
10/22/2015 at 19:29

Inexplicably (to me), the SSJ sells for a bargain-basement price compared to just about any pre-1967 V12 Ferrari, yet is every bit as much a piece of art, if not more. I’d argue the detail and inherent quality of the SSJ or comparable prewar Rolls-Royce stands head and shoulders over practically any car every constructed.

People pay insane, unjustifiable money for paintings, and all they ever do is hang on a wall while people discuss them to death. I grew up in an artsy household and can appreciate what goes into a piece of art, but any computer can surpass the human hand. It’s the artist’s mind, inspiration, subject, and style that gives value and life to a canvas. But the painting doesn’t do anything. It just sits there, in a box under some lights, while people talk about it in hushed tones.

Old hand-built cars are kinetic art, creating sights, sounds, and nostalgia for anyone in earshot to enjoy. They can execute a beautiful 4-wheel drift among their peers on track, they can bring grown adults back their childhood on sight. I’ve seen my dad’s awe-struck, visceral reaction upon seeing old Trans-Am and Can-Am cars on track at Laguna, the very same ones he watched at Riverside 45 years ago. You can hear them fire up a quarter mile away and more. I’d argue that no painting will elicit a similar reaction. It won’t physically shake your bones. Their history gives them life for such reasons, and drives their value. You can build a replica Cobra Daytona Coupe, but only one of the original six will sail into 7 figures.

Cars can absolutely be masterpieces, and the best examples are valued as such. This is what’s happening to the market now. This is why truly “classic” cars are generally defined as pre-1973, before emissions controls, regulation, packaged options and fully modern mass-production techniques robbed them of their soul. There have been great cars built since then, but they can’t properly be viewed as pieces of art. No 1961 Ferrari 250SWB is exactly the same. No SSJ is the same, for that matter. Conversely, not every old car is really special. Some are just old. I like my Fairlane, but it was a stripped base model family sedan, the Camry of its day. It’s only ticket to the party is style. But it doesn’t make it valuable.

I don’t know if you read Sports Car Market, but Miles Collier often expounds on this topic in his column, about the convergence of art and automobiles, and the role of owners as stewards of history.

Wow, I kind of rambled. To answer more concisely, cars like the Duesy should not be held captive in museums. They should be taken on tours, taken to local car shows, be out in the sun showing the world what they really mean. Museums are like Woods Humane shelters for cars, they all seem sad to me, because a car that isn’t moving doesn’t tell the whole story. As car enthusiasts age and prewar cars wane in popularity, they’ll need to be kept in the public eye to tell their story. Let a kid sit in the driver’s seat, explain how to set the timing and oiling, how to double-clutch and why it was necessary. Operating these things properly is an art in itself. This is why Jay Leno is doing it right. He gets it.

JR1 > Sam
10/22/2015 at 19:38

I wish more collectors would do that. If they don’t drive them around at least show them off with a tour you know? But really only 3/4? This car is worth more than that I would think.

JR1 > Steve in Manhattan
10/22/2015 at 19:40

Driving is the key phrase here. If it is you or our hired hand it should be seen on public roads. That is what a car is all about.

RallyWrench > PS9
10/22/2015 at 19:44

‘Struth, it is! Oyve suffer’d it meself, royt nasty bug, that.

JR1 > RallyWrench
10/22/2015 at 19:46

I could not agree with you more on all your points. I would not want automobiles to explode in price as art has however. Maybe one day it will, automobiles are still young when comparing them to artwork.

As for the price of a Duesenberg SSJ I have yet to understand why it would be less than a comparable Ferrari. Yes it did not race but it is so very special in every other way. I am of the belief that a SSJ should run the same price as a 35 million dollar Bugatti Type 57. It is the American car to own.

Steve in Manhattan > JR1
10/22/2015 at 19:46

If I saw this coming down Broadway it would be one of the best moments in my life. I just hope I could get the camera out quickly enough.

JR1 > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
10/22/2015 at 19:47

We have 350,000,000 million dollars laddies and gentleman. Do I hear 400,000,000?

JR1 > PS9
10/22/2015 at 19:48

I want to share this on Oppo but the little drop down arrow doesn’t have a share feature dammit!

JR1 > Steve in Manhattan
10/22/2015 at 19:50

I feel the same way. But why get the camera out and spoil the moment? Just enjoy it and keep it as a happy memory.

Trying to get get photos and videos of everything is all fine and well but I say enjoy the moment. Not every moment needs to be wasted with technology.

Sam > JR1
10/22/2015 at 19:50

It’s worth 10-15m like you said, but 3-4m is about how much I like it. I absolutely love normal Deusey roadsters, but I just think the SSJ is kinda stubby and strange looking.

To give you a bit of perspective, I’d pay about 5m for this in a heartbeat, even though it’s only worth about 3m -

Kinja'd!!!

JR1 > Sam
10/22/2015 at 19:53

We have differing tastes. The Zagato is stunning but to me it isn’t a 5 million dollar car. I’ll let you have that one if you let me have the SSJ

RallyWrench > JR1
10/22/2015 at 19:56

The good news for those of us under 50 is that the values of prewar cars are likely to fall as their demographic dies off. Sad for them, but true for us. I don’t know many other 35 year olds that could be bothered about anything built before 1940, but I at least plan to buy a nice Model A someday. Postwar stuff is just nuts though, and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Unless the world explodes into conflict first (which is entirely possible), I predict we’ll see a $100m car in the next 20 years, and it’ll probably be a 12-cylinder Italian with a horse on it.