Auburn - Arizona Classic Car Club

Auburn’s 100th Anniversary
If It Had Been More Expensive,
Auburn Might Have Sold More Cars
By Les Jackson
Many who have studied the classic car
era have opined that if Auburn automobiles had had a higher price tag they
would have sold more cars. The concept
was that price was a determinant of value
and a car as inexpensive as the Auburn
couldn’t possibly be as good as Buicks,
Nashes, Hupmobiles, and Studebakers
and certainly not comparable to PierceArrows, Packards, Lincolns or Cadillacs.
It was not unusual then for one to be
judged by the car in the driveway. And it
was well known that the Auburn was
inexpensive (the advertising often
stressed price!).
It’s a lot easier to look back on a long
ago period and make these value judgments than it would have been to be a contemporary in
the late 1920's and the early to mid 1930's.
It was in 1900 that brothers Frank and Morris
established the Auburn Automobile Company in the city
of that name in Indiana. The company went through
some rough times in the following years, but there was a
big change in the situation in 1924 when E. L. Cord
became General Manager. His arrangement was that he
could buy control of the company if he turned it around.
He did.
1930 Auburn Phaeton Model 125. Owned by Ken
Kenewell of the Arizona Region. Original factory
price $1,695. One of the most powerful 8 cylinder
Auburns ever built at 125 horsepower.
Above: 1927 Auburn Sport Sedan, 8-77.
1925 Auburn Touring 8 cylinder, 8-63.Original price
$1,895, a 65 horsepower model.
Two Arizona Region members own Full ClassicTM
Auburns: Gene Wheeler’s 1934 850 series phaeton, shown
on the cover, and Ken Kenewell’s 1930 8-125 convertible
sedan limousine, pictured on this page.
1926 Auburn 5 passenger sedan, 8-88. Price $1995.
1929 Auburn two place Cabin Speedster.
The full 3/4 front view below is of the one
and only ever built. It was a sensation in
the New York Auto Show and later
1928 Auburn Sport-Sedan Model 115. Factory price $2.095. This year burned at the Los Angeles show along
Auburn introduced four wheel hydraulic brakes and Bijur lubrication with many other cars. The rear view
above is of a replica (Modified ClassicTM)
on some models, really advanced features for the time.
shown at Pebble Beach in the mid 1980's.
8 and 12 Cylinder Auburns
1925-1937 Are Full Classics®
The first year of the Classic Era was 1925 and
Auburn rolled out new eight cylinder cars to go
with their sixes. The Classic Car Club of
America recognizes all eight and 12 cylinder
Auburns as Full Classics®. The company had a
dramatic increase in sales in the years that
followed, to a peak in 1931. After that the drop
off was dramatic as the depression deepened. In
its last year, 1936, Auburn sales dropped to
about 1,263 from a high in 1931 of more than
31,000. There may have
been a few 1936’s sold in
1937 before the bankers
closed Auburn.
The company had introduced a 12 cylinder version
in 1932 which won races,
but which never achieved
high volume production. In
1932 the lowest priced 12, a
coupé sold for $975. The
cheapest Cadillac 12 was
$3495 and the least
expensive Packard 12 (The
Twin Six) was $3,650. The
least expensive Lincoln 12
was $4,300. (Franklin’s 12
did not appear until the
1929 Auburn Phaeton Model 8-90. Original price $1,695. Shown at the Ford Museum
1933 model year.
Semi-Technical Notes
The Auburn 1931 Transmission
Auburn’s 1931 transmission: SILENT-SECOND:
Secured by helical gears for the master and second-gear
trains. SILENT-MESH. The outer and inner shift
sleeves drive each other through iternal-external teeth
instead of splines. When the gear shift lever is operated,
the two shift sleeves first slide as a unit, being held
together by the shift lock. But as soon as the cone
surfaces contact, the dogs are brought to the same
speed. Then the inner sleeve, obviously, can slide no
further, but the outer sleeve continues until the dogs are
meshed–silently, since they are traveling at the same
speed.
FREE-WHEEL: The L.G.S. free-wheel, at rear of
transmission, has three major parts, namely, driving and
driven sleeves within which is a strong coil spring with
smooth outer face. When engine drives car, the
frictional drag between the spring and the sleeves
causes the spring to expand with great pressure, locking
the sleeves together. But when car tries to drive engine,
the frictional drag contracts the spring and the engine is
free. Free-wheel is locked out by moving lock-out
sleeve to rear so its internal teeth mesh with external
teeth on driven-sleeve member. When reverse is
engaged, free-wheel is locked out by shifter yoke
pushing plunger (shown dotted) against lock-out-sleeve.
1931 Auburn two door five passenger
brougham. Horsepower was 98 at 3400 rpm.
All 1931 Auburns were model 8-98 as the six
cylinder (nc) was dropped.
1932 Auburn cabriolet model 12-160, first year
of the 12 cylinder Auburns. Original price
standard model $1,095, Custom Dual Ratio
model, $1,225. Engine 160 horsepower at
3400 rpm, wheelbase 133".
(Below) 1933 Auburn phaeton model 12-161
shown at Pebble Beach. Original price
standard version: $1,345; Custom Dual Ratio:
$1,495; Salon Dual Ratio: $1,848.
(Left) 1933 Auburn Speedster Model 8-101 at the
Auburn Museum in Indiana. Original price for the
standard version: $945, for the Custom Dual
Ratio: $1,095. Horsepower 101 at 3400 rpm.
The Last 12 Cylinder Auburns
Were Produced as 1934 Models
The Auburn 12 continued through the following year.
In 1934 the company no longer pretended to compete in
the luxury market and emphasized low prices. A few
1933 12 cylinder chassis were left over and were fitted
with bodies to be sold as 1934 models.
E.L. Cord had used style and performance to help
Auburn’s sales. The style was epitomized by the
Speedster and the Cabin Speedster models as well as
the supercharged cars.
In 1928 a stock Auburn Speedster covered a measured
mile at more than 108 mph. By 1935 Auburn promised
the super charged Speedster would go 100 mph, and Ab
Jenkins drove one an average of more than that for 12
hours. But 1936 was Auburn’s last year.
Above: 1934 Auburn Phaeton Model 1250
Salon Dual Ratio 12 cylinder. This is the
same design as the prior year. Auburn used
left over chassis from 1933 for what was the
last year of the 12 cylinder Auburns. Below:
1934 Auburn Cabriolet Model 850, eight
cylinder. Original price: $1,175. Horsepower
100 at 3400 rpm.
Many Non-Classics Cost More Than
Auburn 8’s and 12’s in the Early 1930’s
Some examples of prices in the 1930's:
* 1931: Auburn 8-98 Standard Coupé: $995. Other (nc)
Coupés: Buick Series 8-60 $1,285; Nash 8-80 $1,295; Elcar
75-A $1295.
Auburn 8-98 Custom Sedan: $1,195. Other (nc) 4 door
sedans: Chrysler 70 $1,295, Studebaker Commander 8
$1,585; Elcar 96 $1,695; Buick 8-80 $1,565; Reo 20 $1,295.
* 1933 Auburn 8-101 Standard Coupé $745. Other (nc)
coupés: Nash Special 8 $1,015; Studebaker 6 $1,020; Franklin
Olympic $1,385; Studebaker Commander 8 $1,075.
Auburn 8-105 4 door sedan: $1,245. Other (nc) sedans:
Buick 33-80 $1,540; Hupmobile 326 $1,445.
* 1935 Auburn 8-851 Coupé $1,085. Other (nc) coupés:
Studebaker President 8 $1,245; Buick 8-60 $1,375.
Auburn 8-851 4 door sedan $1,268. Other (nc) sedans:
Studebaker President 8 $1,345; Buick 8-60 $1,425; Nash
Ambassador 8 $1,290.
Sources: Auburn, Cord Duesenberg, Don Butler,
Motorbooks International, 1992; Standard Catalog of
American Cars 1805-1942 Third Edition, Beverly
Rae Kimes and Henry Austin Clark, Jr., Krause
Publications, Inc., 1996; The Classic Car, edited by
Beverly Rae Kimes, CCCA, 1990; Olympian Cars
Second Edition, Richard Burns Carson, Beaver’s
Pond Press and Upper Midwest Region, CCCA,
1998; The Compete Encyclopedia of the American
Automobile Revised Edition, Karl Ludvigsen and
David Burgess Wise, Chartwell Books Inc., undated;
and the author’s files.
1935 Auburn Phaeton 8 cylinder Model 851. Factory price 1936 Auburn Super-Charged Coupe model 8-852.
Factory price $1,545. 150 horsepower at 4000 rpm.
from $1,275 to $1,448 for non-super-charged models.