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Have you ever heard anyone say "that's a real duesy" when they're
talking about something that outdoes other things of its kind? What you
likely don't know is that the term actually comes from an old American
luxury automobile, the Duesenberg. The company and its cars were
lovingly given the nickname "Duesy" which was instantly grafted into
English slang.
Even more-so than today, in the early 1900s European cars were revered for their refinement and luxury while American cars were looked down upon as more "common" and therefore inferior. Despite what I was taught in school (thank you public education system) Henry Ford was not the inventor of the automobile -- that honor is usually reserved for German engineer Karl Benz. So Europe was home to the first automobile, giving Europeans a little bit of a jump start on the development of automotive technology. Henry Ford was the one who figured out how to make cars more affordable through assembly line manufacturing.
Even more-so than today, in the early 1900s European cars were revered for their refinement and luxury while American cars were looked down upon as more "common" and therefore inferior. Despite what I was taught in school (thank you public education system) Henry Ford was not the inventor of the automobile -- that honor is usually reserved for German engineer Karl Benz. So Europe was home to the first automobile, giving Europeans a little bit of a jump start on the development of automotive technology. Henry Ford was the one who figured out how to make cars more affordable through assembly line manufacturing.
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In any case, American cars couldn't get any respect since the Model T
and other cars from the US weren't exactly high-class. That's where the
Duesenberg changed things. The first car produced by the company, the
Model A, produced between 90 and 100 horsepower with the first
mass-produced straight-eight engine from the United States. The Model A
came with a chrome nickel steel frame and four-wheel hydraulic brakes
among other amenities not found on other American cars. The Model J,
which was produced several years later, represented the pinnacle of
engineering and design success for Duesenberg and was the car that
cemented "Duesy" into our everyday language. The car produced 265
horsepower with a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder engine, but a
supercharged version was available for those who wanted even more power.
It was the most expensive American automobile to date, costing up to
around $250,000 in today's dollars. Car aficionado Jay Leno owns several
Duesenbergs, which he says perform like modern cars when it comes to
acceleration, handling and braking. Really the Duesenberg set out a
blueprint for where the auto industry was to go, even though the company
went under during the Great Depression.
