Its a Duesey!

September 11, 2012

Yesterday we arrived in Auburn, IN.  Nice trip, tow went smooth, got about 10.5 mpg which is about par.  So today we visited the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, an interesting place.  From the turn of the century (19^th that is) Indiana, and specifically, Auburn was quite the auto building meca.  There were tons of upstart car companies, 11 in Auburn alone, most lasting less than 5 years.

One of those cars was the Auburn Auto Company (named after the town) founded in 1900 by Charles and Morris Eckhart.  They only sold about 100 cars per year, and in 1919 Morris and his brother Frank sold the company to William Wrigley, Jr from Chicago, owner of Wrigley gum.  He totally screwed up the company, and in 1924 it was bought by E.L. Cord.



1932 Cord



Errett L. Cord brought out a new Auburn with an 8 cylinder engine, and a new design, at a more competitive price.  Now the Auburn Automobile Company, was quite successful.  Cord learned of hard times in Indianapolis for the Duesenberg auto company, so he bought that one in 1926.


 



Duesenberg Model J



The Cord was a front wheel drive car, first of its kind, and sort of a mid-level priced car. It was stated that its cost was about equal to 1 year’s wages for the average Government worker.  The Duesenberg was top of the line, many were custom built.  The Auburn, on the other hand, was more targeted at the “Ford” crowd.  It was a much nicer car but cost twice as much as Model T.

While the Depression wiped out most of the companies, ACD made it though, but ceased operation in 1937 due to changing tastes, bad economic climate, and corporate discord.









Auburn Speedster



The museum is housed in the ACD corporate headquarters.  There are 3 floors with cars, covering history, art, and engineering of their cars.  It would take several visits to soak it all in.  The showroom is restored to it 1930s appearance. We learned lots from our brief stay.  I’ll tell you, the Cord 810, Duesenberg Model J, and any post 1932 Auburn Speedsters were art on wheels.  That Duesey with a 16 cylinder engine was an impressive vehicle.  

1903 Auburn



Restored Showroom



All for now, heading to St. Louis tomorrow.