Do you like cars? If you do, whether you live in Wheeling, West Virginia, Schenectady, New York, or Duluth, Minnesota, you must, someday, visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum in Auburn, Indiana. It is a remarkable place. Even within the Midwest, with such other automotive showplaces as the Henry Ford and the Gilmore Museum, ACD stands apart. For one, the museum is within the walls of where ACD history was actually made–in the factory showroom and administration building built by E.L. Cord’s automotive concern in 1929 and opening in 1930.
Photo by Jessica Jackson. Note all the Curbsiders milling about!
Auburn has an interesting history. A history of which I have only recently been reading up on. It is fascinating. For instance, the stock market crash of 1929 did not hurt ACD; indeed, in 1930 they had their best sales year ever! That same year, this building opened its doors, with the factory showroom front and center on the first floor of the two-story building.
photo by Jessica Jackson
In 1992, my parents took us kids on a family vacation to Indiana Beach, IN. It was a great trip. We rented a cabin with a dock, rented a speedboat, and all in all had a great time. The nearby small town of Monticello had a real circa-1955 downtown vibe, and we went to see Sister Act at the vintage theater there. We also went to Auburn, for the Tucker Club of America was having their meet. So not only did I get to see three different Tuckers at once, we also got to visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. It might well be my all-time favorite family vacation from my childhood.
photo by Jessica Jackson
What a remarkable building. After cars, architecture is a hobby of mine, especially older buildings from the early 20th century through the 1960s. Even if there were no cars in this building, it would still be remarkable.
Left to right: JP Cavanaugh, yours truly, Jason Shafer, PN and Ed Stembridge. Photo by Dave Klockau.
Plans for the second-annual CC Meet-Up had been brewing nearly since the time of the inaugural event in Iowa City.
The usual suspects, at House of Lords. With Mrs. PN and Mrs. JP. Photo by Dave Klockau.
As a matter of fact, I seem to recall discussing the next CC Event at dinner that evening, at the famous House of Lords Restaurant, housed in the basement of the Coralville Best Western. The ACD came up, as did the Studebaker Museum in South Bend.
But as much as I love Studebakers, the ACD is a whole other country! It has it all: Historic building, Classic-with-a-capital-C Classic cars, and even a second museum across the street! So Auburn it was. I drove up with my parents, and my brother and his fiancee came as well. We left bright and early at 6:00, arriving in Auburn right at lunchtime. We had a quick bite at Wendy’s, then headed straight for the museum, missing the other Curbsiders by minutes. Upon entering the hallowed halls of Classicdom, we were greeted by this lovely 1937 Cord Westchester.
Is it the most beautiful car ever? I think so. And while the Phaetons with their disappearing top are remarkable, my favorite is the sedan. It is so sleek, yet so classic, all at the same time.
I have to tell you, upon arriving at about 1PM and leaving at about 4:45, I was on total sensory overload. Each amazing car begat another amazing car, and another…and another…and another. I was bumbling around like Mr. Magoo, so snookered was I by all the amazing sheetmetal and chrome. It is a wonder I didn’t fall off a railing or trip over a Model J and knock myself out! Case in point: This 1931 Duesenberg Model J.
It was really, really hard to pick a favorite–like choosing Miss America difficult–but this one is mine. This is a 1931 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Convertible Coupe. Not only is it amazingly beautiful, but the classic colors of black and maroon, with maroon leather interior, was just perfect.
For those of you not up on your Classics, the Duesenberg factory in Indianapolis did not build complete cars. Instead, they built a complete running chassis, with sheetmetal up to the A-pillar. Said running chassis was $8,500 at a time when a Ford coupe could be had for about $450. After purchasing a chassis, you then selected a coachbuilder, such as Murphy, Willoughby or LeBaron–which would likely run you a similar amount as the cost of the chassis. Yes, there were no easy credit terms or leases for one of these!
Just look at that interior. Maroon leather, gauges aplenty, and solid mahogany door panels. And not a silly touchscreen in sight.
Can you imagine taking one of these for a spin, top down, on a summer evening? Wow, what an experience that would be.
As a Model J, this example does not have the supercharger, or the corresponding pipes snaking out of the hood. This one also has accessory driving lights that actually turned with the steering wheel. Pretty nifty!
Just look at those lines. The curves, the chrome, the lovely colors. Will anyone look at a 2014 Cadillac CTS or Lincoln MKS in a hundred years and say, “They sure don’t make them like this any more.” I don’t think so–and I like modern Caddys and Lincolns.
No, the Duesenberg was in a class of its own. Even against a Cadillac V-16, the Duesenberg stood head and shoulders above the GM product. Hence the term, “It’s a Duesy!”
I almost missed the Murphy coachbuilding plate, which was hiding behind the fender-mounted spare tire on the driver’s side.
Moving forward a few years was this 1936 Auburn. It originally sold for $945, at a time when a Chevrolet was about $500, and the average income was about $1100. So, this was definitely an uncommon sight when new! Even more so, as 1936 was the last year of the Auburn; in 1937 the only ACD product on offer was the Cord 810/812.
I love the front end on these 1935-36 Auburns, due in no small part to a Hot Wheels Auburn Speedster I had as a toddler. Even at age 5, I knew what an Auburn was! This cabriolet was a 654, with the “6” determining number of cylinders.
My brother’s fiancee, JJ, posing with the ACD Museum’s 851 Speedster. Photo by Andy Klockau.
Thus, the Auburn 851 Speedster had a straight eight. All Speedsters featured a supercharger as well, and could certainly scoot: Every Speedster was tested to 100 mph by Auburn before delivery, with a plaque on the glovebox attesting to it.
The lovely hood line, with spare tire-mounted mirrors and that winged lady hood ornament. So sharp!
I also liked the sand-beige color with orange trim and wheels. Color was very important to E. L. Cord, and he made sure his products were as colorful and attractive as possible. It shows in every single product that came out of the Auburn and Connersville, Indiana plants.
Here’s the interior of that ’36 652 Cabriolet. Very cushy! Despite the Auburn being a middle-priced make, the luxury and style of big brothers Cord and Duesenberg certainly showed.
Here we have a 1936 Auburn phaeton. This was the second car I noticed after the blue Cord sedan. The red and white paint was certainly cheerful, and the red leather interior was great.
These cars have such detail. For instance, this lovely hood ornament.
But there was a surprise in store upon peering into the front seat: This is a factory right-hand-drive car!
Yes, among so many other things, E.L. Cord was a big believer in export sales, and Auburn had a presence overseas right up to the end of the marque in 1936.
This was an early Duesenberg Model A. Everyone remembers the Classic Model J and SJ, but those did not appear until after E. L. Cord bought the company from the Duesenberg brothers. I do not recall the year of this one, but the Model A was made between 1921 and 1927.
While the Model J and SJ get all the love, this Model A held its own in style and beauty. Just look at that chrome!
Although narrow compared to cars of a couple decades later, it was very luxurious and fitted to a very high standard. The steering wheel not only had a wood rim, but wood spokes. It reminded me of something you would have seen on a ’20s Hacker-Craft or Chris-Craft speedboat.
Here we have a 1933 Auburn Model 12-165, resplendent in yellow with coffee-colored fenders.
The instrument panel is no less impressive, with full gauges set in an attractive trim panel.
And the seats! Very comfortable. This was not your usual Dodge or Buick, and was priced accordingly.
The back seat was even better, with ample stretch out room. I can imagine some captain of industry riding in the back. “Cavendish! We’re out of gin! Please stop at the next liquor establishment for replenishments.” “Yes, sir.”
Out back, we can see the standard trunk rack bearing a–ta da!–trunk. Yes, when men were men, and trunks were trunks.
You honestly didn’t think I was going to show you just ONE Model J, did you? Perish the thought! This one is a 1932 Model J, again by Murphy.
Soft tan beige leather was the prominent interior material. One of the docents (all of them extremely knowledgeable, by the way) told my folks and I that the lights at the edge of the instrument panel served the auto-lubrication system. The top-left one illuminated red when it was time. At which point, the automatic system engaged. The light below lit up green, indicating the lube had been completed. Neat, huh?
I liked the wraparound effect of the front seat back, again reminding me of then-contemporary speedboats.
What an amazing car. What else is there do say?
Right next to the ’32 Duesy was this 1930 Cord L-29 convertible. This was the first front-wheel drive car made, and with no central driveshaft, the cars were remarkably low in their day. All the better to accentuate their lovely lines.
In the history book I picked up in the museum gift shop, I read that initially the designers wanted to cover up the front driveshaft cover, but E.L. Cord insisted it be made a prominent design feature. I think he made the right call.
Cord crest on top of the driveshaft cover. Beautiful.
Owing to the front wheel drive, the transmission was a slide-out affair sticking out of the instrument panel. If you open the hood of a Cord L-29, you will see the cable cruising over the top of the engine block and down to the transmission, way at the front of the car. As a result, the gear pattern was reversed, so you would select what would ordinarily be reverse for first gear, and so on.
Any Cord L-29 is beautiful, even a four door sedan. But this convertible in black and copper stopped me in my tracks–like so many other cars in the museum!
Ever seen a Cord hardtop? If you have, you’re lucky, as only three were made, and this one is a one-of-a-kind. It was originally custom built for the then-President and founder of Champion Spark Plugs, Robert A. Stranahan, Sr.
This car began as a Cord Phaeton, with a permanently fixed, padded leather top installed, LaSalle hood vents fitted to the hood, chrome Auburn headlights replacing the hidden units, and an Auburn hood ornament to finish things off.
The interior was very luxurious, with pleated leather. Note the preselector for the transmission on the right side of the steering column, common to all Cord 810/812s.
The hardtop used the same rear glass as the sedans, at least they appeared to be. Very sharp, but I do wonder why one of the defining features of these Cords–the hidden headlights–were removed at the owner’s request? Maybe he was worried about them freezing shut during the Midwestern winters.
Here we have what was the museum’s Automobile of the Month, a 1934 Auburn 652Y Phaeton. Auburns were totally redesigned for the year, with a streamlined nose, sweeping fenders and laid-back grille. The curved hood side panels were particularly fetching to your author, as were the chrome wheel spats and blackwall tires.
According to the information sheet, this car sold for $945 brand new. Sounds a bargain today, but back then, it was a very high-end car, well above the Low-Priced Three.
A look at the sweeping line of the convertible top, rear fenders and metal fairing for the spare tire. Very elegant.
To finish things off, here is a 1933 Auburn 8-105 Salon. I regret only getting one shot of this one, but I think this is a common lament of visitors to the ACD Museum. You see, there are so many amazing cars that some of them that would garner a crowd at a cruise night, are missed here, because of the sensory overload a car nut experiences when he or she walks into this Art Deco palace of Classics. And this was just the first floor! Stay tuned for Part 2, as we climb that grand staircase to the second floor, for even more Classic goodness. Until then, stay groovy, folks!
Added to my bucket list .
-Nate
Unbelievable. I really have to visit – and if it’s part of the CC event next year I’m gonna try as hard as possible to make it out for that!
When you guys first started posting these pics it was that ’29 Cord that really caught my eye. I’ve always been way into the 810/812, but never really took a good look at the earlier cars. That exposed diff and the way it’s integrated into the design of the bumper is F-ing magical! I love stuff like that, and it’s especially cool to know that E.L. Cord did too.
Was that car actually the first commercially-available front-driver? I always thought it was but remember coming across mention of FWD DKWs and/or Tatras from the 20s as part of CC-related reading. I know Christie built FWD vehicles at least a decade prior too, but I think they were all racers and/or trucks.
That gets into some complicated questions about what constitutes “commercially available” or “series production,” but my impression is not.
There may have been FWD Euro cars prior to the Cord Front Drive (as it was called new, the L-29 designation came after the cars began finding favor with collectors), but the Cord is definitely the first FWD production American car.
I know its a tad predictable, but that 851 Speedster is absofrigginglutely gorgeous. I love the upright cabin line on the L29. I also love that Stranahan Cord, even with the headlights. The orange detailing on the 36 Auburn, the wooden tiller on the Model A… dang thats a great selection of cars.
I’m with you Don! You might like this CC I did a while back: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-classic-1935-auburn-851-speedster-the-most-beautiful-car-of-the-30s/
Beautiful cars, though not crazy about the beige and orange Auburn. Don’t get me wrong, these colors look pretty good together (of course, being so near to Halloween, my color “sense” might be clouded), I’m just thinking there is a bit too much orange. Same for the beige and red car.
I consider myself a “car nut” and yet, there are many famous museums I haven’t hit yet. Hope to hit both Indiana museums, Henry Ford, and Saratoga, N.Y.
I don’t disagree, although to be fair, digital photographs often do odd things to colors, particularly reds. (I’ve read that some point & shoot cameras intentionally oversaturate reds in the belief that non-pro consumers are impressed by the vividness.) I wasn’t there, but now that you mention it I wonder if the orange would really look that intense to the eye, particularly in more natural lighting.
…digital photographs often do odd things to colors, particularly reds.
Yup. I’ve noticed. If I shoot a red car from an oblique angle, reds come out orange. Think maybe I should get a better camera than what you find in a box of Cracker Jack?
The lighting made photography challenging; I didn’t really bother with my crappy camera and lack of skills. That Auburn was a bit unusual, but the colors in the shots here don’t do it justice.
All I can say is: It looked wonderful in person! 🙂
One I will add to what Tom said is that all of the cars featured here are within eyeshot of each other. It is sensory overload, and this is only part of the first floor. The showroom had the full spectrum – even a hearse.
Speaking of exports, there was a second right-hand drive Auburn on the floor. It makes me wonder how many exported units are still in those locations, much like the Iraqi Thunderbird we saw last week.
Tom, I do have a bone to pick…seeing oneself stare back at them from a computer screen is a jolting proposition so early on a Monday morning. 🙂
Hopefully things looked better after a healthy dollop of coffee! 🙂
Great shots, I didn’t bring a camera so glad someone did.
The 851 Speedster plaque certifying 100mph was signed by Ab Jenkins.
On thing that occurred to me on the long drive home is that it’s a bit of a tragedy that none of these cars ever get driven. A museum staffer told me that one car had been bequeathed to the musuem on the condition that it got driven once a year. So once a year they take it out, change the oil and drive it around the block.
Surely if the Canadian Warplane Heritage guys can fly a Lancaster with 4 Merlin V-12s to England and back, they can use some of these 100 or so cars regularly?
There used to be an old-car museum within 2 miles of my home in Indy, kind of a motley collection of this and that. They had 30 cars, maybe. They didn’t advertise, but through word of mouth I learned that the collection’s mechanic would wrench on your car, too. So I had him fix my cars for a few years just so I could go visit.
Point is, every last one of those cars got driven on a regular basis. The owner was staunch: no point owning them unless you could use them.
JB Nethercutt insisted that all of his cars had to be roadworthy and driven on a regular basis and that practice continues today. If you’re ever on the west coast, this collection is not to be missed:
http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/Museum.aspx
If you want to see these under power, you have to come back on Labor Day weekend when the ACD club has its annual national meet. It’s been a few years, but they always have a parade through town, and at the end, the cars all park around the town square for tourists to gawk at. There is simply no sound like one of those 32 valve Duesenberg straight 8s.
and then, on the same weekend, you can go to the Auburn auction, a five day extravaganza well worth attending. You see cars there that never even get to a museum…
Earlier in the year I saw a 1936 852 cabriolet that has done over 300,000 miles. The paint was a bit faded, but still very clean and presentable.
Another person who needs to get out there one of these days. How far is the museum from the Indianapolis Speedway? The one time I could see getting out there is when Maggie and I head down for the MotoGP races.
As someone who’s actually driven a Model J, they’re a man’s car. By modern standards, you either have a strong left leg (or will develop one), and just try to visualize parking something that big without power steering. Although its been over 40 years since I had the chance, I still remember what that car is like on a modern four lane highway – absolutely magnificent. However, I could see driving in on the back streets of, say, Beverly Hills being a serious physical workout.
ACD and the Depression: Everything I’ve read (although not in the kind of detail I’d like to get, say, day-to-day) says the 1934 Auburn was the car that killed the company. For some reason, it just didn’t sell. Yeah, it’s a bit mundane looking compared to the ’33 and ’35/36 (although that’s the same body as the latter), but I’m still not sure why the sales resistance. The ’34 four-door sedan is quite mundane looking compared to the open cars, which seems to be why so few have been restored. Or maybe it was just that The Depression hit the Auburn clientele later than everybody else?
I tend to favor the latter. Keep in mind that Auburn was the BMW 3-series of its day: A car you owned to show how stylish you were. And you kept pushing the image well after it was fiscally intelligent to do so. But, like everyone else, reality eventually caught up. (And given there was no leasing, like BMW in the current decade and a half . . . .)
Auburn is around 140 miles from Indianapolis so roughly 2.5-3 hours, depending on traffic. From Indianapolis just take I69 north thru Fort Wayne and get off at the Auburn exit, I think it is Indiana SR 8. I last went to the ACD Museum in 2000 and need to get back, it is well worth the trip.
Auburn is right at 2 hours north of the northeast corner of Indianapolis where I-69 comes into the city, and probably another 30 minutes from the Speedway area, which is on the west side of Indy.
Thanks for your fine report reminding me of my experiences both times I visited: reeling from extreme sensory overload and loving every minute of it! Adjectives just fail to convey how magnificent are all the cars on display and the building in which they’re housed. Truly “The Art Deco Palace of Classics!
The model A was the “real” Duesenberg, a sideline product of racing-obsessed engineers, with its SOHC straight-8 & (I believe) the 1st 4-wheel hydraulic brakes on a street car, predating Chrysler by several yrs. The Model J was an even more fantastic, over-the-top halo car insisted on by Cord. The Duesenberg bros. were a classic case of engineering genius with no market sense; even the model A cost a fortune & sold poorly in good times. The prez. of GE had one.
Rear trunk racks have come back as an accessory for Sport Utility Barges.
I believe you are correct that the 1921 Model A Duesy was first to market with 4 wheel hydraulic brakes. The 1924 Chrysler was not far behind, which was quite a selling point on a medium priced volume-produced car at the time.
Four wheel hydraulic, yes. But the 1903 Spyker 60/80HP had four wheel mechanical brakes, full-time four wheel drive(!), as well as the first six cylinder engine. It was very far ahead of its time.
If you want to see that Spyker (and many other cars form the early 20th century) “in the metal” then I suggest a visit to the Louwman Museum in The Hague. The Louwman family has been the Dutch Toyota importer since the beginning. The museum, and a stunning collection of vintage cars, is Evert Louwman’s passion.
The Spyker above was built for the 1903 Paris-Madrid race. The family’s name is actually Spijker.
But “ij” is strictly Dutch, hence the more international “y”.
The current museum opened in 2010 and it’s the work of the American architect Michael Graves.
http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/
The 1903 six-cylinder, four wheel brakes and four wheel drive Spyker racing car as shown on the museum’s website.
As strange as this question may seem, as it concerns a car which is A/C/D only peripherally: Does the Auburn museum have a Graham-Paige Hollywood or Hupmobile Skylark, which were built from the Cord 810/812 body dies in the Graham factory? When I was in the seventh grade in California, one of these was along the route we would take to school. I first thought it might be a Cord sedan but a little research revealed what it really was. It was tan, not in concours shape but not neglected, either. It was parked on the street and could be found anywhere within a block, moving from one space to another every few days for about a year, after which it disappeared. It was hard to imagine a 1940 daily driver at the time but it really would have been only 21 years old, younger than a lot of cars still used daily today, at least where the tin worm doesn’t eat them. Still, only a few hundred were built and to use such a rare car daily doesn’t make sense!
I have never seen a real Cord 810/812 outside a museum, but this rare “bastard child,” I did, so it made more of an impression!
Then there was the “Cord 8/10”, an 80%-sized replica made of U.S. Rubber Co. “Expanded Royalite” plastic. Cord 810 designer Gordon Beuhrig was instrumental in this one, even suggesting the Chevrolet drivetrain, a Corvair engine and transaxle (it was rear-engined, rear wheel drive). It appeared briefly and caused some excitement not long after that Hupp/Graham disappeared from the street, but “investors” in the new “Cord Automobile Company,” impatient for dividends, brought down the operation before many cars were built.
They do have a couple of Graham-Paiges. They are noticeably more low end than the Cords, even though they strongly resemble them. RWD, too.
There was one of each in the museum, in the room directly behind the showroom. If memory serves, there is also a Graham-Paige Hollywood at the Tupelo Automobile Museum in Tupelo, Mississippi.
There was one of each in the museum,
They used to be in the large gallery on the top floor, along with a Cord, so you could see they used the same body.
Auburn didn’t have the stamping ability to make such an advanced body, so they bodged it together. iirc, the roof alone is 7 pieces that had to be assembled in a jig and soldered together.
Hupp was broke, but needed a new car, so bought the tooling when Cord was in liquidation. Hupp used a bodybuilder in Grand Rapids, MI, but the bodybuilder charged more to build the bodies than Hupp wanted to sell the finished car for.
Graham’s “Spirit of Motion” model, which had used the last of Graham’s development money, failed, so Graham, being in the same boat as Hupp, offered to build the bodies for both of them.
Hupp and Graham, being more practical than Cord, modified the platform for rear wheel drive, which was Gordon Buehrig’s original intention.
In the room across the hall from the board room and Cord’s office, is a presentation of the development of the 810, which talks about how Buehrig had a mule running with off the shelf Auburn powertrain, but some honcho decreed front wheel drive, so time and money they could ill afford, went into developing a clean sheet powertrain.
Personally, I prefer Hupp’s first restyling attempt on the front of the Cord, but apparently it was rejected for looking too much like a Cord. With the fixed headlights, it looks a lot like the special Cord built for the President of Champion.
Those Cord “8/10s” from the ’60s actually were FWD – the early ones, anyway. I just learned of them a few years ago, but they’re probably the most interesting replica ever done by a long shot. The drivetrain and chassis are from a Corvair, turned around and extensively modified to drive the front wheels. I’ve never been able to find a good picture of their guts or an explanation of how, exactly, that was done. They predate the Toronado by a few years, so nobody else in the U.S. was doing FWD at the time. Most of the press they got when new centered on the unique body material. The company building them (who did Auburn replicas, too) ran out of money within a few years and sold the tooling for the bodies to another builder who then dropped them onto a conventional front engine/rear drive chassis of unknown (by me) origin.
Does the A-C-D museum have one?
1964 Cord 8/10 Sportsman:
I don’t remember one, but I was blundering around, tripping over my tongue, most of the time, so I could have easily missed it! 🙂
Sean; think about it: they didn’t turn the Corvair drivetrain around (which would have been massively difficult); they kept it as it was, with the engine behind the front wheels, and the transmission in front, just like the Cord had it. They just moved it to the front. Just what they did for its suspension is another question.
Aside from the difficulty of turning it around, which would have required at least a new camshaft and fan to run in reverse direction, there’s no room for an engine in front of the wheels.
Oh god that makes so much more sense… I’ve thought about this a lot of different ways before and that just never occurred to me. I was actually thinking more like a Corvair chassis was turned around (going backwards) and then the drivetrain was re-mounted in “reverse” within it. For some reason it seemed like an easier task to make the front end of a backwards Corvair steerable than it did to just adapt the drivetrain to the front of a normal one. Why? I don’t know, but for some reason that seemed “obvious” to me; I’ve got a tendency to go right for the most ridiculous explanation sometimes…
I dug into the darkest recesses of Google and found some old Popular Mechanics articles on the Cordvair – totally different than I’d imagined, in fact not a Corvair chassis at all:
August, 1963
November, 1964
That article brings it all back, as I read it! Yes, a custom chassis and plastic body; just the recipe for something like at the time. This project was pretty high profile, and a fair few of these were made. I’d take one! 🙂
The green one is a Graham and the yellow is a Hupmobile
Beautiful and amazing cars! I assume they are all original and have not been restored.
Most have been restored, though some were older restorations that dated back to the 1950s or 60s. There were a couple of originals that come to my mind, one that was in stunning condition.
With every photo I see of this fantastic place, I desire more and more to actually get there. Curses to it being half a country away…maybe it could be part of that cross-country trip I’ve always wanted to undertake (though the wife has made it clear I’d be doing that trip solo as the can’t stand to be in the car for more than a day or so). Each vehicle featured is magnificent in its own right (the two phaetons and the L-29 are catching my eye in particular) , and to see that many in one place…plus that building, which is enthralling on its own…wow.
Thanks for sharing these photos until I can one day actually get there myself!
As a kid growing up in Fort Wayne (about 20 miles or so south of Auburn) I first went there in 1972 when this was still a quiet little car hobby thing. Through the 70s and beyond, I would attend the ACD Festival every Labor Day weekend. I wish I had paid more attention to the individual ACD cars, but there would always be so much to see that I would be on total info-sucking overload.
I have quite a few snapshots at home of cars from those years, and published a short piece with a few of them in 2011. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtakes/cc-nostalgia-curbside-classics-1972-edition/
The Model J Duesenberg was an ungodly impressive piece of machinery in 1929. Going from memory, I believe it was a 420 cid inline 8, 4 valves per cylinder, and wrung 265 horsepower out of 1929-era fuel and compression ratios. The SJ (supercharged) upped output to about 320 horses. In comparison, the Ford Model A put out 40, and the 1932 Ford V8 put out 65. The Duesenberg SJ was said to be good for 100 mph in second gear. It was not a big lugging torquer like so many other cars of the era, but a genuine performance engine.
Jay Leno’s Garage has a wonderful video on one of his Duesenbergs.
I was blessed to be able to go there this July. As has been said many times, it’s a mandatory destination if you have any interest in Full Classic cars. If you don’t, you may walk out of there with a new found love!
It looks like they have moved the cars around quite a bit in just the few months since I was there. So many amazing cars, but my favorites were the L-29’s. So unique and striking. There was a blue limo in the Main showroom on the far side from the ticket entrance that I just couldn’t take my eyes off of. I must have spent at least 20 minutes staring at that car. And then I came back later to stare some more. I’m not sure why that one made so much of an impression in a museum full of superlative classics, but it did.
I’m not sure I know enough about classics to say that the Duesenburgs are clearly better looking and superior to Cadillac V16 ‘ s. I think I would be salivating just as much in a beautiful building full of those. Maybe the ACD ‘s do tend to be more colorful. The colors were entrancing.
If I lived in that part of the world I would be a very committed volunteer. They would probably have to get a restraining order.
Tom, Thanks for sharing these photos.
My first trip to the ACD Museum was in 1980 and it made a huge impression on me (my initials aren’t really ACD) and I still have the large “Cord Front Drive” porcelain sign from the gift shop in my office. The building itself is magnificent even without the stunning cars; they are the icing on the cake. I’ve probably been there a dozen times and its always exciting. Its hard to believe that this small town in Indiana could have given birth to some of the most amazing cars ever made in the US. More often than not in the 1980’s my family made the trip to Auburn for the Labor Day parade and Kruse auction that was originally held on the track at the DeKalb County school complex just north of town. The parade on the Saturday before Labor Day with well over 100 Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs driving through Auburn and then parking around the square gives you the chance to see these beautiful cars on the road where they were meant to be.
Thanks for the pictures and for reminding me that its time for another visit.
Its hard to believe that this small town in Indiana could have given birth to some of the most amazing cars ever made in the US.
iirc, Indiana is second only to Michigan in the number of automakers that were there. Both Duesenberg and Stutz were in Indy. Allison, of WWII aircraft engine fame was also in Indy. The two plants that Auburn used in Connersville were both built by other automakers that had failed, but they were larger and more modern than the plant in Auburn.
Don’t forget Elwood Haynes in Kokomo, one of the real old-timers. And Marmon was also in Indianapolis, which certainly deserves a spot among the top tier of U.S. companies.
It was pretty easy to get into the car business in the first 20 years. Running gear was readily available from several manufacturers. Grab some people with experience building horse drawn carriages and you are in business.
Even Kalamazoo had automakers, besides Checker. The Gilmore has a section dedicated to the automakers of Kazoo, with a couple very rare Barleys.
a Kalamazoo built Roamer in the Gilmore collection
Indiana is still a major player in the automotive industry; Toyota has an assembly plant in Princeton, Honda has one in Greensburg and Subaru in Lafayette. This is in addition to the GM plant in Fort Wayne which has been extensively modernized. Chrysler has a huge presence in Kokomo; I know they build transmissions there, not sure what else. Indiana is either #2 or #3 in autmotive industry revenue; it tends to go back and forth with Ohio as to who is number two.
I think transmissions is it for Chrysler in Indiana, but I think it’s 100% of them. We used to have a foundry and an electrical plant in Indianapolis and a components plant in New Castle that went back to Maxwell before Chrysler took over, but those have been gone for awhile. Ditto with several GM and Ford plants.
I read recently that Indiana is no. 2 again.
I’ve visited the museum probably a half dozen times since 1996, and every time I visit, I can always find something new to catch my eye. I will say that this years trip was the best because I got to spend the day with all of you!
Tom, once again, you did a wonderful job of telling the story of this lovely place! You know, if the regular job thing ever falls apart, you would make for a fine museum curator 🙂
Richard, I agree on all counts. This was my third time to the museum; the first two times I kept hearing “Are you done, yet?” whereas this time it was “Oh crap, they’re about to close!”.
*Click*
Attention, the museum is now closing. All you Curbside Classic people get out, you are NOT invited to the wedding reception. You, hiding in the back of the Phaeton, we can see you on the security camera. We are releasing the hounds in five minutes..
*Click*
All you Curbside Classic people get out, you are NOT invited to the wedding reception.
I was charging down the stairs when they were closing and nearly did a header as I stopped, because the wedding crowd was taking pix on the stairway.
That would have made for an interesting wedding picture. “Oops…” “Hey!” CRASH! THUD! “Oooof!” *click*
I became obsessed with ’30s cars kind of by accident, by picking up a bargain-bin book on them in second grade. I drew a lot of loooong fenders, side-mount spares and chrome exhaust pipes on the back of my worksheets.
My Dad and I visited Indiana in 1990, and saw James Dean’s house, Indy Speedway, the restored Union Station, and the ACD Museum. The last two made by far the biggest impression on me! And I remember that it was hard to take pictures in there. A new digital would do a much better job than my ol’ Pentax K1000.
I’m finally getting around to adding my $0.02 to this article. Like others noted, the first floor of the ACD Museum was exhilarating, the second floor was complete overload! And this was *after* NATMUS, which really needs a whole day to itself!
By the time they were kicking us out of the door, I was in total sensory overload. I drove the 2.5 hours home to Grand Rapids without making a sound, just listening to the radio and remembering the conversations we’d had throughout the day. It was a great day and I hope we can do it again next year.
Now, I have to go back to Auburn and do just *one* of the museums at a time; I think if I did that to myself again, I’d be one of those catatonic, drooling fools you see in some old horror movie. Well, I think I could fit a visit to Mad Anthony’s again, too… 😉