New details on Duesenberg comeback from Torpedo designer

As previously reported, the ultra-luxury Duesenberg brand is set to return to the streets in 2007, after a 70-year hiatus. BusinessWeek sat down with Jeff Teague, designer of the company's comeback coupe called the Torpedo. "How do you bring back a car that was such a statement to drive, a car that was basically a rolling sculpture on four wheels? My dad, who was vice-president at American Motors, ingrained in me that the Duesenberg was the Stradivarius violin of cars," Teague says. "So a newly launched Duesie, I think, has the pressure to turn heads." Teague started with simple hand-drawn sketches that featured the brand's most distinguishing elements, before starting on a computer rendering or working out the engineering details, which are yet to be fully developed. "I was drawn to the 1932 and '31 models, and decided to keep the original grille," Teague says. The $300,000+ car will feature a revolutionary 12-cylinder engine with extreme fuel economy and performance.