A 1931 Duesenberg Model J Ragland coupe. A visit to Jay Leno's garage.

Jay Leno is a big fan of Duesenberg and has amassed quite a collection over the years. But the great thing about Duesenbergs is that they are all a little different. The 1931 Duesenberg Model J Ragland coupe featured in this edition of "Jay Leno's Garage" is one example.

This large coupe has the same running gear as the other Duesenbergs in Leno's collection, but with custom bodywork by Gordon Buehrig. In the 1920s and 1930s, luxury car bodies were coachbuilt. Buehrig was not kidding when he named this design the Ragland Coupe.

The 153.5-inch wheelbase extends behind the familiar Duesenberg grille, but there are only two seats in the cabin (with an additional pair of rumble seats behind it). Leno seems to like the shape, but the proportions of such a small enclosed cabin on such a long wheelbase seem a bit odd to us.

Like all Duesenbergs, this huge coupe is powered by a 265-horsepower inline 8-cylinder engine; although it is labeled a 1931 model, Leno says it was most likely built in 1928 or 1929. Because of the Great Depression, it took several years to sell such an expensive car. At the time, the model year was the year the car was first sold, not the year it was manufactured.

The bodywork seen here is not original to the car. Duesenberg built two Ragland coupes, but both bodies were destroyed. Reno found a crudely designed replacement body for this car's chassis and had the original body reproduced. Most of the metalwork was done by a father-son team using the original blueprints, and some small items were made using a 3D printer.

The advantage of this car being a recreation rather than a restoration is that it gets more use. Leno feels that the Ragland Coupe is easier to drive because it is not as valuable as his rare, all-original Duesenberg. It's also powerful enough to keep up with modern traffic, he says. Watch the full video to see how it's done.