The beautiful 1933 Deusenberg SJ "Twenty Grand" was another of Gordon M. Buehrig's designs from the Depression years. It's ironic that some of the finest examples of automotive design, innovation, and luxury were born out of this nation's collective misery. This particular car got its nickname from its cost of $20, 000, a king's ransom in 1933.

This 1:24 scale die cast model is another of FM's "Oldies but Goodies." There's a decent amount of fine detail on the exterior, undercarriage, and under-the-hood: gobs of chrome on the double overhead cam, supercharged straight eight, four flex-pipes snaking out from under the long hood, simulated carpeting on the interior floors, soft-touch seats, and two real-wood instrumenot panels front and rear. The chromed parts on the exterior look sharp, with a snazzy hood ornament, decent-looking wire wheels, and even a folding luggage rack. It's of 1989 vintage, however, so the gauges are of the decal ilk, the dogleg-hinged doors show gaps, as does the trunk lid (the hood's okay), and the silver paint is somewhat dull. Some images also have rough spots in places like the doors, so you will want to watch for this. FM's shipping again from their website, so you can still get new stock direct from the Mint. Expect to see a decline in prices on these die casts on the secondary market.

If you're fussy about features, fit and finish, you might pass on this image. Then again, it's a fine-looking older era 1:24 scale die cast of a remarkable piece of automotive history that's unlikely to be recast in an updated version. The choice is yours. The issue price is $135. (11/6/1999)

-Tom Pine