Sydney-based couples Jennifer Scott and Chris Langton
(front) and Cameron Langton and Chloe Stevens travelled
from Australia to see this rare 1934 Model J Duesenberg
car, which went on display at the Warbirds and Wheels
museum at Wanaka Airport earlier this month. Photo by Lucy
Ibbotson.
A group of Sydney-based car enthusiasts who travelled to
Wanaka to see a rare Duesenberg car at Wanaka's Warbirds and
Wheels visitor attraction yesterday said it was well worth the
trip.
Getting the opportunity to sit inside the vehicle for an
Otago Daily Times photograph made it even more memorable.
''Sitting in that was a privilege,'' Cameron Langton said,
after his up-close appraisal of the 1934 Model J Duesenberg,
which went on display earlier this month at the Warbirds and
Wheels museum, at Wanaka Airport.
''It's just pristine. It's probably better than it was.''
It was an exciting day for Mr Langton, who moments before his
Duesenberg viewing proposed to his partner Chloe Stevens (she
said yes). The couple were at the museum with Mr Langton's
brother Chris and his fiancee Jennifer Scott, also of Sydney;
the siblings' father Tim Langton, of Auckland, and other
Wanaka-based relatives.
The brothers closely followed news of the Duesenberg's
restoration, having inherited their love of cars from their
father - a former mechanic, car salesman and classic car
collector.
The museum's Duesenberg is one of only a handful of the cars
outside the United States and the only one in the southern
hemisphere. It has been attracting attention from around the
globe.
''Since the car was publicly unveiled we have had lots of
visitors saying they have come specifically to see the
Duesy,'' Warbirds and Wheels manager Ed Taylor said.
''We had one guy who rang from Turangi in the North Island to
say he had been waiting more than 50 years to see a
Duesenberg. He's now organising a trip to Wanaka to see the
car.''
Calls had also been fielded from Australia and the United
States.
''For classic car enthusiasts, the Duesenberg Model J is
probably the finest car to be made in the United States and
to see one in showroom condition in little old Wanaka is a
real treat,'' Mr Taylor said.
Warbirds and Wheels director Robert Duncan has declined to
say how much the car cost. A similar model sold at auction
this year for $US10.34 million.
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