La Dolce Veloce

Duesenberg, the car company whose name became synonymous with quality and refinement (not to mention cost, being the most expensive cars in the world back then) in their era (1910-1937) might be returning to a showroom near you. While lately the name has been stuck onto fancy golf carts and rebodied Ford chassis, The Duesenberg Torpedo Coupe concept is being readied for a production release in January of 2007. Their goal is to ‘bring the United States back into the top segment of the World automotive marketplace’, a goal which I question given that company’s apparently limited experience with production cars (though I wish them well!). My personal fear is they’ll stick that body atop a Ford chassis and permanently scar a glamorous part of automotive history. However, that’s pure speculation – the only technical tidbit known is that the car will use a new type of engine known as a CEM engine – the result being a compact (18″ diameter by 24″ long) 100 pound motor producing 300hp and 70mpg. Lots of ‘ifs’ here, it’ll be interesting to see if this project ever hits the road. (source: Pistonheads)