Derham Body Company

As was the norm at the time, the Derham Body Company came about through the evolution of a carriage building company into an automobile coachbuilder, primarily because of the similarity of the skills required and the changing nature of the demand. Derham was founded by Joseph J. Derham and was, at various times, managed by his four sons, Joseph Jr., Phillip, Enos and Jim. Unfortunately, after the three oldest brothers’ return from the First World War, Joseph Jr. died unexpectedly, leaving his three brothers to manage the firm with the assistance of their father.

After their father’s death in 1927, a family dispute arose, and Phillip left to form the Floyd Derham Body Company. The two remaining brothers, Enos and Jim, were able to overcome their problems by offering to finish incomplete projects and to address outstanding complaints. Before long, Enos (who managed the plant) and Jim (who was responsible for sales) were even more successful than before, with strong demand for their product and more than 200 employees to build it.

By the end of the 1920s, Jim had recognized the benefits of building series customs – unique designs made in small quantities ranging from five to 40. The company’s designs were in many ways similar to Hibbard & Darrin’s work in Paris, to the point that Tom Hibbard once recalled having licensed features to Derham, something Enos Derham disagreed with. Regardless, Derham managed to carve out a niche as a quality coachbuilder in the Philadelphia area, a city known for its cosmopolitan tastes and large population of wealthy citizens.

J116/2136

J116 was one of just two short-wheelbase Dual Cowl Phaetons by Derham. It was shown at the West Coast Auto Salon in 1929 and at the Duesenberg display at the Kansas City Auto Show in 1930 before being sold new to Charles Hooper Crosby of Piedmont, California.

John Thorpe, a later owner, wrote to Bing Crosby many years ago, asking if the original owner was any relation. Bing replied that he had been to many parties at the Crosby home in Piedmont and had ridden in the car but was no relation. Nevertheless, Thorpe later received a letter from Everett S. Crosby, the brother of the original owner, who said he and his brother were second cousins of Bing Crosby and that Dixie Lee, Bing’s first wife, had often attended their parties in Piedmont.

In 1933 or 1934, Crosby sold the car to George Pasha of San Francisco, California. The next owner was another California man, Thomas H. Crawford. A number of other California owners followed, including Bruce Kellog of Hollywood, Al Gerard of Culver City, and a Mr. Zoll. Afterwards, the car was relegated to a wrecking yard, where it was rescued by Morris and Ken Derringer in 1948.

The car passed through a known succession of owners before it was restored in the early 1960s, most likely by Gil Cartwright of Los Angeles. John Thorpe, also of California, acquired it from Cartwright and gave the big Duesenberg to his son Nelson as a 16th birthday gift. Nelson was quite familiar with the J since he had learned to drive at the wheel of a Duesenberg at the age of twelve!

This beautiful one-of-a-kind Duesenberg was rented by the studio from Nelson and driven by Elvis Presley in the 1966 movie Spinout. Elvis’s character, Mike McCoy, used the Model J to tow around his race car in several scenes.