In Search of H. Dieter Holterbosch and his W.C. Bird’s Duesenberg
In 1962 H. Dieter Holterbosch purchased W.C. Bird's 1931 Duesenberg Speedster at the "Car Auction of the Century" on Long Island. I thought it would be fun to find out more about H. Dieter and what ever happened to his Duesenberg.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
The first step in the search was to confirm that the gentleman in the above photo was H. Dieter Holtersbosch. Fortunately, my friend and automotive historian Walt Gosden stop by my garage on Monday. Walt actually went to the 1962 auction and later on met Dieter while working for Henry Austin Clark, Jr. Walt confirmed that it was in fact Dieter in the the 1962 photo.
Second step was to discover more information on H. (Hans) Dieter Holtersbosch who passed away at the age of 95 in 2016. His New York Times obituary is posted online:
HOLTERBOSCH--H. Dieter,
95, of Cove Neck, NY passed away peacefully at home on July 28, 2016 after a brief illness. Born on July 26, 1921 in Dusseldorf, Germany to Marta and Hans Holterbosch, he immigrated to the United States with his parents and sister at the age of five. Raised in Manhattan, NY, he attended Columbia Prep and then went on to attend Penn State University. He served his adopted country proudly in the Coast Guard during World War II, stationed primarily in Brussels.
A self-made man, he built a business empire in the years following the war that included running a family vineyard, importing and building the Lowenbrau beer brand and the starting the largest beer distributor ship of major brands in New York State.
A life long connoisseur of the fine and rare, he was known for his pinnate good taste. His first major collection of European royal carriages became the foundation of the permanent collection at the Museums at Stony Brook.
He subsequently amassed one of the world's finest private collections of vintage automobiles. Recognized as a respected authority on vintage cars, he served as the chief Mercedes judge at the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach for 20 years. Howard Kroplick Note: See 1991 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Program on the left.
A wonderful raconteur, he was known by his friends and colleagues for his integrity, generosity and great good humor. A loving husband to Mary Kathleen (died in 2011) father to Heidi Holterbosch and step-daughter Lyn Barlow and to grandchildren Dieter Addison, Holt Haynsworth, Alic and Mary Kelso, he was a true giant among men and remain forever in our hearts. der Lowe schlaft in Frieden.
H. Dieter Holterbosch's private automobile museum, Cove Neck.
A further search found H. Dieter's private automobile museum in Cove Neck designed by Bentel and Bentel.
I believe the maroon auto was the Bird Duesenberg.
1934 Duesenberg Walker-Grande Model J Convertible Coupe
Finally, I was able to track down H. Dieter's 1931 Duesenberg which turned out to be a 1934 Duesenberg Walker-Grande Model J Convertible Coupe. The current owner restored the Duesy back to its original color.
Albert Walker started his coachbuilding firm in 1934 in the old Weymann American Body plant. Walker built three of these stylish cars, known as Walker-LaGrande Convertible Coupes, on the Duesenberg J chassis, and this Model J Convertible Coupe is the only one of the three that retains the original open fender design. It has an 8-cylinder, twin cam engine equipped with factory-fitted dual Winfield carburetors. This car was first purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the founder of General Mills, Inc. She was a businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist and collector of fine art - and the wealthiest woman in the world. She sold the car to Wallace Bird of Long Island, New York, in 1962, and it was later sold to Hans Dieter Holterbosch of New York City. Its current owner has restored the car to its original color and specification.
This automobile won first in class at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
Comments
Marjorie Merriweather Post was not the founder of General Mills. She inherited from her father, C.W. Post, the company that would become General Foods. General Mills was founded in 1928 in Minneapolis, when several mills merged.
Oh, wow! I was at the auction, know the car, knew (periferally) Dieter, and know the building! I even drank Lowenbrau with Austie. Then, one of my finest employees at Pall was Mrs. Posts’s personal secretary before coming to work with me. Not content with all that, I worked directly with Bentel and Bentel (not always pleasantly) on the Sunday school at the North Shore Unitarian Church in Plandome. Nostalgia galore! I’d love to know what the other cars in the collection were. Looking good, Walt! Sam, III
I had the pleasure of going to Mr H.Dieter Holterbosch’s house in Belle Tarre a few times in the 1960;s along with another collector of cars J.P.McAlister also of Bell Tarre At that time he Lived in Belle Tarre and had the Duesenburg there along with a wooden body boat tailed Isatta.speedster and a Coranation Coach made in Europe which he had purchased..After the Bird’s Auction he as quoted as saying ” I purchased the car to go down to Port Jefferson to pickup the Sunday Papers” His home in Belle Tarre overlooked the Port Jefferson harbor…
Also a note that Finley Robertson Porter who produced the F.R.P. car in P;J. also lived in Belle Tarre in the 1920’s along with other car collector o of 1920’s Lincoln’s and a neighbor across the street with a 1930’s Maybach automobile.
In the 1960’s Dieter’s cars are aften seen at the harbor parking lot in Port Jeff and around town.
Sorry to be an oodge, Bob, but it’s “Belle Terre” (which is much of the peninsula immediately north of Port Jeff.). What I find funny is that that’s all of one mile from downtown and can you imagine firing up such majestic beasts just to run a mile and back for the paper? Sam, III
The quote came from the Port Jefferson Record the local newspaper..
The village of Belle Terre was started in built in 1908 and was a gated community selling 5 ac lots and bigger . The Railroad sta and gate house built to match,and the road from the gate house to the railroad is Bell Terre Rd and I believe the road to the long Island sound is Cliff rd.
Some of J.P McGallister’s collection of cars were a 1916 Packard twin_6 ,some Franklins and German Staff Car ,Mercedes Benz and a Alfa Romeo with two engines I am 84 years old and remember them well and also Lived in Port Jefferson and the area for years
Actually Bird’s first name was Wallis. He owned 2 Duesenbergs, one of which I regularly service and just finished an engine rebuild. He could not have bought the Walker LeGrande in 1962 as I believe he died in 1940. His wife kept the cars until her death as often times happened back then. Contrary to that, my wife often says, Funeral at 10, Lunch at 12, Auction at 2. Thanks for the great work with his website.
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Howard Kroplick,
Great to hear from you Steve. Hope all is well!
Bob, I gotta ask - did the Alfa have two engines in one car or a spare? Steve, Wallis Clinton Bird died at 40 in a Catskill plane crash on 04 June 1940 (ref.: 01 and15 Jul 2014 and 24 Oct 2018 blogs); he’s buried in his own mausoleum in the Prospect Plot, Section 10, of the Hillside Cemetery, Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County. These blog posts just keep getting better and better! Sam, III
Merriweather Post Pavilion, midway between Baltimore & DC in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland (where Jackson Browne recorded, ‘Running On Empty’) was named after Marjorie Merriweather Post. More here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriweather_Post_Pavilion
There’s some confusion of which Duesenberg is what? The winning Duesenberg in front of the other two, was all black (with the later looking ‘34 headlight), was shown having a maroon body with the black fenders and headlight and having whitewalls in the Cove Neck garage? When was the photo taken, before or after the Pebble Beach win? At the start of your article there’s a blue Duesenberg posted that was at the third spot on the Pebble Beach runway. Howard, please sort this out.
Hi Mark,
The first Pebble Beach Concours photo was a “parade” of the three Walker-Grand Model J’s being shown that year.
From Josh Ruff, Deputy Director/Director of Collections and Interpretation, The Long Island Museum
H. Dieter Holterbosch lived both in Cove Neck (at the end of his life, he died in 2016 at the age of 95) and in Belle Terre, which was how he knew the Melvilles. He did not own many carriages. The donations we received from him in the 1960s included 5 vehicles from Prince Adalbert’s family of Bavaria, including our Grand Duc, Chariot, Dress Coach, and two sleighs (one of which was deaccessioned and sold at Martin’s in 1978; I’m not sure where that one wound up). Holterbosch was an antique car collector, primarily, who owned beautiful vintage early Duesenbergs, etc. About 15 years ago, he had the architectural firm Bentel and Bentel design and build a structure for his private automobile collection in Cove Neck.
He also donated a beer wagon to the museum in the late 1960s but his company somehow “misplaced” it, thus it was never truly here for very long.
Holterbosch’s father had started the company that he ended up running, which distributed Lowenbrau beer. Holterbosch frequently traveled back and forth to Germany and ended up visiting the stables at Nymphenburg Palace in 1958 and purchasing these vehicles from the family. They are rare escapees of the fantastic Bavarian vehicle collection that is held by the Marstallmuseum in Munich. In 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting curators there and comparing notes. Truly a fantastic collection.
Joshua
Are Holterbosch’s garage and cars still in place, or have the cars been moved or sold? I’d love to see them and perhaps get one in my Newsday column if anyone can share a family contact.
My dad worked briefly for Holterbosch after he absorbed what had been Ballantine Beer’s largest distributorship in the early ‘60s. I think I met him once as a kid, but I had no idea at the time of his interest in classic cars.
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Howard Kroplick
David, they were all sold at the 1962 auction and spread across the world.
Someone wanted to know about the To engine Alfa that McGallister one ..It was just thet ro engines bolted together uder the hood..By the way J.P.McGallister was the owner of the Port Jefferson and Oreint Point ferry and also had a fleet of tug boatt in new yaor harbor and hudson and east rivers all Named after family .
What’s a little confusing to me is that Josh Ruff says above that Bentel & Bentel designed Holterbosch’s garage to house his cars about 15 years ago and the color photo of the garage looks far newer than 1962. So while the big auction was in ‘62, I was wondering if Holterbosch retained or added some cars in his later years and up to his death, and that’s what is shown in the photo. Also wondering if his heirs retained any cars.