Duesenberg SSJ 1935
The SSJ was a short-wheelbase sporting version of the SJ, of which 36 were built. The SJ made 320bhp from its supercharged Lycoming 6.9-litre straight eight, but the SSJ dialled up 400bhp – an outlandish amount of power for a road car in the 1930s. Indeed, the SSJ claimed the title of the world’s fastest pre-war production car, leading to it being dubbed ‘America’s first supercar’. Only two were produced. One was sold (on very easy terms) to movie star Gary Cooper while the other was loaned to another, Clark Gable. They apparently liked to race them on public roads in the Hollywood Hills. Cooper’s sold for $22 million at auction in 2018 and still holds the record for a US-built car. Demand for Duesenberg’s super-luxury cars was seriously dampened by the Great Depression, and the company went out of business in 1937.