Topic: Monty102 - Solved: "1939 Duesenberg Coupé Simone Midnight Ghost" - Franklin Mint model by R. Hardnoc

[el_monty]

Fellow Autopuzzlers, here is a picture of a scale model. For a point please tell me the name of the car and the story behind it.

Don't be naughty! Stay away from Google Search by Image, kids

[el_monty]

Up to the Experts

[kwgibbs]

hello,this is the 1939 duesenberg coupe simone,it was a one-off and based on a duesenberg type-j model.

[el_monty]

You are right, it is the Duesenberg Coupé Simone. But... there is a still an important bit missing from the story. LOCKED for you to find it.

[kwgibbs]

this unique car was created by Emmett Hardnock&Armand Minasian at the request of costmetics man Gui De Larouche,I hope my info is correct?

[el_monty]

Well, the info is not quite correct, but you have many of the elements that form the story, it's just that they are all strangely jumbled... I'll let you keep digging a bit more. Still locked of course.

[kwgibbs]

sorry,your right its rather scattered about.apparently it all started in 1936 when the French cosmetics king Gui De LaRouche always believed a man should succumb to his passions,so he commissioned Emme-armand to design and create an exotic bodied coupe on a duesenberg model j chassis,it would be a gift for his lover Simone.the color was lilac and silver and the engine was a 420 CID inline eight with 265 hp.It took 3 years to build and finalize it.I hope this is a better presentation of it.I happen to have a franklin die-cast model this car.

[el_monty]

There's still a bit of information missing but I think I have tortured you enough. I'll give you the point!
Here's what's missing: This story is fictional. Designers/Coachbuilders "Emmet-Armand" didn't exist, and neither did "Gui De LaRouche" (his name is obviously inspired by real French fashion designer Guy Laroche, but he was born in 1921 so he would have been far too young at the time). The story was invented in the 90s by two designers who worked for the Franklin Mint, Roger Hardnock and Raffi Minasian, as the basis for this collectible scale model. It seems at one point they jokingly claimed to be direct descendants of the original coachbuilders (I didn't know this tidbit, that's why I said your info looked jumbled to me) and having found the plans of the original car stashed in a old chest somewhere.
You can read Minasian's account of the creation of the Coupé Simone here:
http://www.automotive-art.com/how-franklin-mint-rocked-scale-model-collectors-with-fictitious-model/