You can view the entire collection here at Hagerty My Garage
The museum is located in the former administration building of the Auburn Automobile Company, which operated on this property from the early 20th century until its closure in 1937. The building, along with the adjacent service and new parts building, and the L-29 building now occupied by the National Auto & Truck Museum, were together declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005. This complex was recognized as one of the nation’s best-preserved examples of an independent auto company’s facilities.[2][3] The showroom and administrative buildings were designed by architect Alvin M. Strauss in Art Deco style and were built in 1930. The Auburn Automobile Company had its genesis in a carriage manufacturer, and at its height had more than 18 acres (7.3 ha) of facilities here. After its closure, the administration building housed a business selling original and reproduction parts for a number of discontinued manufacturers, including the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg nameplates, until 1960
This 1934 Auburn 652X Brougham has gone on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum | Museum photo
Only two 1934 Auburn 652X Broughams are known to exist, and one of them will be preserved now that it has been donated to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in northeast Indiana. The donation was made by car owners Tali and Lynn Petersons of Baltimore, Maryland, the museum announced.
“This is the first 1934 Auburn in our collection and it fills an important slot in our museum’s story,” museum curator Sam Grate is quoted in making the announcement.
“Stylistically, it was a departure from any Auburn before it. Being the rare brougham body style with only one other known to exist, we are honored to be the stewards and representatives of this exceedingly rare automobile.”
One of the Chevrolet Corvette’s most popular features traces its roots to an obscure, airplane-like prototype built in 1948. Although the third-generation ‘Vette is widely credited as being the first production car equipped with a T-top roof, the system was inaugurated by Gordon Buehrig’s one-of-a-kind TASCO prototype and patented in 1951.
Born in 1904, Buehrig was an accomplished stylist and engineer whose resume included the Auburn 851 Speedster, the coffin-nosed Cord 810/812, and several variants of Duesenberg’s Model J. Shortly after World War II, he was commissioned by The American Sports Car Company (TASCO) to create — you’ll get no points for guessing this — an American sports car. He drew a two-seater with a long hood and a short deck, proportions associated with grand tourers, but he injected an unusually large dose of aerospace DNA into the design.
Last year the ACDAM made parts of the archival collection available online in a searchable database for the first time. In response to recent school and business closures, the museum staff has decided to release as much of the archive as possible to the public ahead of schedule. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum Archive Database now includes the Photographs Auburn Collection, Photographs Cord Collection, and approximately 1/4 of the Photographs Duesenberg Collection!
2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Company, Inc. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum is celebrating this once-in-a-lifetime occasion with an unbelievable gift of the very first customer-purchased production passenger vehicle built by the Duesenberg brothers, which has been in the same family’s ownership for 100 years.
Donated by CyrAnn and James C. Castle, Jr. of California, the 1921 Duesenberg Model A Coupe features a body built by the Bender Body Company of Cleveland, Ohio and was produced to the order of the car’s original owner, Samuel Northrup Castle, including space for his seven-foot-tall stature. Mr. Castle was from a family of Hawaiian missionaries and was a founder of Castle & Cooke Co., a Hawaiian sugar cooperative, when he ordered the car and received it in 1921 due to delayed production. It was the first production Model A to be built after the prototypes were completed and tested and the first one to be sold to the public.
The Castle Duesenberg would remain in his possession until his death in 1959 when ownership was transferred to his nephew, James Christian Castle, and was transported to San Francisco and placed into storage. Upon his death in 1994, ownership then transferred to his son, James C. Castle, Jr. and his wife CyrAnn. The 1921 Duesenberg Model A Coupe has remained in the Castle family until the decision was made to entrust the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum with the care and preservation of the vehicle and to be its future steward.
“This gift to the museum is one of the most significant donations to the collection in the 45-year history of the museum,” states Brandon J. Anderson, Executive Director & CEO of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. “The Castle’s generosity will allow for future generations to appreciate the history of Duesenberg, automotive design and engineering, the evolution of the automobile, and the legacy of the Castle family in perpetuity.”
This Duesenberg Model A was the first in American passenger vehicles to be equipped with four-wheel hydraulic brakes and an overhead-cam in-line straight-eight engine producing a top speed well over 100mph. In 2010, the Castles commissioned a 10,000-hour, three-year restoration to bring the vehicle back to its original appearance and specifications. In 2013, the Castle Duesenberg would go on to win the Classic Cars of America Trophy at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Best of Show at the Niello Concours at Serrano, and the Automotive Heritage Award at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
Interesting to see that American Pickers are getting involved in the efforts of Doug Pray to keep both his Father’s and the ACD legacy alive.
BROKEN ARROW — Doug Pray has a fixed date in mind that he is working hard toward.
The vehicle will not be a replica, but a manufactured vehicle using 1935 Auburn parts. It will be the first of a series of Auburn G3s to be manufactured in his small Broken Arrow manufacturing plant with a price tag of $750,000.
“The problem with a 1935 new car with 1935 parts is they drive like a 1935 car,” said Pray, 64. “What we are doing is upgrading the engine from 150 horsepower to 250 horsepower with a new supercharger, aluminum billet, pistons and rods along with improved brakes and steering.”
The price tag was derived from how much his firm charges per hour for restoring the Auburns and Cords of clients — $70 to $80 an hour for a usual restoration. Pray currently has four frames to build up into his Auburn Speedster G3 (G3 stands for third generation).
The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival is one of the largest car shows in the U.S. for the past 60 years. Pray believes it is the ideal format for unveiling his new vehicle.
The story of Glenn Pray is very different from that of Harry Shay covered in Part 1.
Glenn Pray was a school teacher when he purchased the assets of the former Auburn Cord Deusenberg company back in 1960. Upon the winding up of E.L.Cord’s company back in 1938 the assets had been originally purchased by a Buick dealer from Flint Michigan named Dallas Winslow. Winslow has continued to offer parts and service from the original ACD building in Auburn. Upon purchase Pray moved lock stock and barrel to a former cannery in Broken Arrow Oklahoma and set up in business.
Pray gained a reputation as the foremost supplier of Auburn and Cord parts saving may valuable vehicles in the process, his cannery site becoming a must visit for all enthusiasts of the marques.
Starting in the 1960’s Glenn Pray also introduced what became the first well known replica cars, Pray preferred to call the cars “second generation” this endeavour was not a financial success. The cars however have gained a cult following and have been recognised by the ACD club fittingly as “The Second Generation Cars”
We visited the wonderful ACD museum a few years ago and I’m very pleased to see that the restoration effort is still going on, read Daniel’s article here
ACD Museum Auburn Indiana
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