Thirty-eight-year film and TV veteran Eddie Paul is the guy Hollywood calls when they need a car. The Q to their James Bond, if you will. Among his credits: Grease, Cobra, E.T. and The Fast and Furious.
And now he’s been tasked with reviving luxury carmaker Duesenberg more than 70 years after the marque took off for the great junkyard in the sky.
If Paul — who used to jump the General Lee on Dukes of Hazzard while working as a TV stuntman — can pull off his plan, the resurrection for the current Duesenberg Automotive Company will be spectacular. His revamped version of a Duesenberg convertible model from the ‘30s will use a hefty GM truck chassis and feature a 430 HP, 6.2-liter V8 LS3 Corvette engine with 424 foot-pounds of torque.
The 2017 Duesenberg Torpedo Phaeton will also have an updated top that stows away in the truck when it’s not up. “It’s called the six-man top, originally because it took six people to put the top up and down,” Paul says. “We’re gonna redesign that and make it a push-button electric thing.”
Since original Duesenbergs were driven by stars like Gary Cooper and Clark Gable, enlisting Paul to assist in the brand’s second act is a match made in Hollywood.
It’s unknown if he will bring back classic touches like running boards, side-mounted spare tires and rear brake lights that say “STOP,” but we should find out next year, when the first prototypes are due.
Photos from Gizmag
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