Modern Duesenberg GT Is An American Rolls-Royce Rival

Sep. 12, 2020 4:41 PM ET by Jared Rosenholtz Luxury / 33 Comments

Is America ready for its world-class brand to return?

The United States only has a few luxury automakers left, including Cadillac, Lincoln, and recently, Tesla and from time to time, the country will branch out to compete with high-dollar exotic marques like Ferrari and Lamborghini with supercars like the Ford GT or SSC Tuatara. Still, it's been nearly a full century since the country produced a world-class luxury car to rival Rolls-Royce or Bentley.

Models like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator ooze excess, but no one in their right mind would call either a rival for a Rolls-Royce Cullinan. In order for the US to compete with brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, it would have to bring back the most exclusive marque from its history, Duesenberg.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1TNeOJuHh/

If a company like General Motors or Ford purchased the rights to the Duesenberg name, the US could finally compete on the world luxury stage. Russian senior car designer Alexander Opanasenko imagined what a modern Duesenberg revival could look like on his Instagram page, and the result is pretty stunning. Opanasenko's rendering pays homage to the Duesenberg brand by retaining the massively long hood and short rear decklid found on many of the company's models, like the SSJ pictured below.

The creation is called the Duesenberg GT, and with such a long hood, we imagine that engineers could stuff a sizable engine under the hood.

Duesenberg's most popular engine was a straight-eight, though we could imagine a modern interpretation using a turbocharged V8, V12, or even a V16. As rendered, the Duesenberg GT looks like it could be an interesting alternative to a 2020 Rolls-Royce Wraith.

It's been more than eight decades since Duesenberg last produced a car, but the company's name is still known today. The expression 'it's a Duesy' is still used by many to describe something extraordinary, even if the people using the phrase don't know its origins. A name with that much cachet deserves more recognition, even if just from a cool rendering like this one.