1932 AUBURN 8-100A SPEEDSTER

In 1928 Auburn Motor Co. introduced its first boat tail speedster in competition to Stutz, its chief racing competitor. Under a consulting contract with Hayes Body Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the car was designed by a Russian Count, Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, the classic era stylist, who was noted for his flamboyant application of color and line. The speedster sported a split windshield which was raked back at an angle of more than 45 degrees, small slanted doors, and 6 wire wheels with knock-off hubs (two of the wheels were in the fender wells). It was a long, lean and very fine looking machine. Mechanically, it boasted Lockheed hydraulic 4-wheel brakes and a Bijur automatic chassis lubricating system. The Lycoming straight-8 298.5 cubic inch L-head engine was redesigned for greater power (115 hp) because speed was used to attract potential buyers. Lycoming had been purchased by Cord the previous year in September, 1927. Auburn advertised that no other American production car was so powerful.

Four of the newly designed speedsters were shipped to Europe for racing where they did very well. Auburn also won in South America. After a rocky start in the United States, Auburn began winning races and setting new speed and time records. The public began to equate Auburn with performance. At Daytona Beach, a speedster set a new one-mile AAA record of 104.347 MPH.

That same year, 1928, a young designer without formal education named Alan "Al" Huet Leamy, left the Marmon Motor Car Co. and joined Auburn as the chief designer for a new front wheel drive car envisioned by its president, E.L. Cord. This car, which came to be known as the Cord L-29, was introduced in mid-1929 and designated as a 1930 model. In 1928 Leamy stated, "Mr. E. L. Cord was one of the first executives to sense and foresee the sales possibilities of artistically designed automobiles and instead of depending on engineering force for designing the body of the new Cord front drive, he created a special department upon whom the responsibility of the car would depend." Leamy believed that American cars were too conservative and far behind in the design and engineering features of foreign automobiles. He also believed that a successful car must be designed as a unit. Instead of making the body fit the chassis, Leamy made the technological advancements part of the body design.

Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, who had previously executed an award winning concept design for a Cord L-29, disliked the Leamy-designed Cord L-29 immensely and decried its "atrocious body lines, poor proportions, stiff vertical windshield and flat body sides". Leamy subsequently resigned from Auburn in 1930 when Count de Sakhnoffsky was appointed counsel to the design staff of Auburn and Cord cars. Before he left, however, 28 year old Leamy redesigned the Auburn boattail speedster. The new 8-98 design was introduced on October 26, 1931. Leamy started his body lines with the radiator shell, fender and hood. The radiator shell blended in with the hood line and instead of being plated, was painted body color. The ornamental design of this radiator shell was patented by Auburn on July 14, 1931, having been filed December 8, 1930. The beltline molding continued to sweep across and down the hood to meet the high waistline. The front bumper dropped to match the curve at the base of the radiator shell. The headlights and parking lights were divided by a thin vertical chrome strip to reflect the radiator shell treatment. The hood louvers now sloped backwards rather than forwards as in the de Sahknoffsky designed speedster. Strother MacMinn, an automotive designer, said that Alan Leamy's design for the Auburn demonstrated a unification of form and proportion which had, until then, not been expressed in the mechanically oriented automotive field. In executing the Auburn design, Leamy conferred frequently with those who were involved in high speed performance testing and modified his original designs to reflect what he learned from these people. The car's overall appearance announced the presence of high performance, particularly in the speedster. The new design gave the 1931 Auburn boat tail speedster the look of speed even when stationary.

The car not only looked fast- it was fast. The 1932 Auburn boat tail speedster, won the American Stock Car championship in 1932 at speed in excess of 117 mph. It also won the championship in 1933.

Sometime after his initial resignation and after de Sakhnoffsky had been dismissed by Auburn, Leamy returned to Auburn at the encouragement of Roy Faulkner, Auburn Vice President, and a $50 per month salary increase where he remained until 1934. He then went to work for General Motors as a designer. He remained there until his death in 1937 at the age of 35, the result of accidental septicemia from a medical injection.

Initially the 1931 Auburn body design intended to be similar to the Cord L-29. When Chrysler chose to adopt the L-29 look, Auburn rushed back to the drawing board, missing the new car summer introductory period. Al Leamy worked day and night on a new design. When it was introduced in January, 1931, MoToR wrote, "Even the most casual observer must instantly recognize it [Auburn] as a new model and will not mistake it for some other make . . . much imagination tinctured by sound common sense has shaped its development. It is novel without being radical." Automobile Topics added, "[A] conspicuously new and arresting type of car, its very low and somewhat exotic lines give it arresting prominence."

The 1931 speedster had a 268.6 cubic inch straight-8 Lycoming GU engine that developed 98 horsepower at 3400 RPM. It also had a free-wheeling device at the rear of the 3-speed synchromeshed transmission made by a Cord subsidiary, L.G.S. Manufacturing Co. Free-wheeling was a coasting effect which reportedly increased fuel and oil economy by approximately 15%. One of two ratios could be selected by the driver using a vacuum control.

Because of the lateness of the introduction, very few of the newly designed speedsters were actually sold in 1931. There were only 63 speedsters built for the introductory year.

Randy Ema, a noted Auburn historian, believes that this particular car, which was known as an 8-100 in 1932, was one of the earlier boat tail speedsters built for the depression year of 1932, and was probably one of the 6 8-100A speedsters built in February 1932. It sports 1931 style bumpers and 1931 ride control, the early version split-ring wheels rather than the later drop center wheels, and the very early and short-lived Schebler TX 1 ½ inch carburetor (which developed 10 horsepower more than the Stromberg carburetor that replace it later in 1932), all of which place it in the very early production phase of 1932. Finally the engine has its original motor tag still affixed to the block. This tag was used by Auburn to identify its engines until February 23, 1932. At that point Auburn changed to a different style tag. This Auburn was hand built at Auburn, Indiana and is one of 84 8-100 speedsters built for that model year. This 1932 speedster was sold as a Custom Deluxe 8-100 A model.

The "A" in the name indicated the car had a 2-speed differential. Another Cord subsidiary, Columbia Dual Ratio, manufactured the rear axle. It was controlled by a high-ratio, low-ratio lever on the instrument panel for manual selection with actual shifting being accomplished by using the intake manifold vacuum and actuated by the clutch pedal. With the car going between 20 to 60 MPH, the changing of the axle from low to high ratio did not alter the speed of the car but reduced engine RPM by 1/3. The ratios were 4.55:1 and 3.04:1. While continuing to have 268.8 cubic inch displacement, the horsepower was increased to 100 at 3400 RPM. The car was capable of speeds in excess of 100 MPH. Fuel economy was reported to be about 18 MPG. Ride control, which adjusted the shock rate via a dash mounted lever, was also standard. The Bijur chassis lubrication system continued to be offered as standard equipment; however, mechanical brakes replaced the hydraulic brakes.

As a Custom Deluxe model, this car sported steel covers for the side-mounted tires. The tires were held in place by locks and side-wheel strap eliminators. A Pines Winterfront with automatic shutters was also standard equipment. Activated by a built-in thermostat, the shutters would open and close automatically depending on the radiator temperature, thus allowing the engine to run more efficiently. The Winterfronts were either chrome plated or painted depending on the desire of the customer. This car has a painted Winterfront. Pilot Ray lights mounted on the front bumper which turned with the front wheels were also installed on Custom Deluxe models. This car has the optional two lights rather than the standard single Pilot Ray light. The optional chroming ($65) of the wire wheels were manufactured by Dayton Wire Wheel Company and sported an exclusive knock-off hub design. The "home plate" logo on the hubcaps was created by Bruce Gilford, a body striper at Auburn. A lug wrench was included with the custom deluxe model. This car also has a dealer-installed stone guard to protect the radiator, a heater, and (new for 1932) an $89.50 Philco Transitone cathedral head car radio which cost $4.00 for factory installation. The latter was powered by a dry cell battery located under the seat because this is an early 1932 car and William Lear did not invent the vibrator to increase voltage until later in 1932. Besides the options mentioned above the car also has side mount tire mirrors, onyx gear shift knob, leather gaiters, and a rear view mirror with a clock in it. Its price in February when the car was probably offered for sale was $1295 plus approximately $285 for the factory installed radio, chrome wire wheels, and special paint. At this price, Business Week said the car was "more car for the money than the public has ever seen." The price for the dealer-installed Tropic Aire heater and chrome stone guard and other options is unknown.

While this speedster was hand built at the Auburn plant in Auburn, Indiana, the body was built by Union City Body Company in Union City, Indiana. As a Custom Deluxe model, the car was finished in whatever paint scheme the customer desired, as noted above. This car is black with pearl grey (silver) trim and lilac pin stripping. The pin striping was accomplished by one of five independent pin stripers who would arrive at the factory each morning and paint the cars which were designated by the factory to be pin striped. Since they were each paid by the hour, the quality of the striping depended on the number of cars the factory required be pin striped on a given day. The top is black canvas with grey piping around the edge which is also a characteristic of the Custom Deluxe Model. The machine turned dash is chrome. The seats are finished in grey leather that compliments the paint scheme. While the deck area in the boat tail was carpeted, the passenger compartment only had a black rubber mat.

Most of the 1932 speedsters were painted "Old Ivory" with a red trim package. Other custom colors were available for an additional $75 except pearl grey, which cost $150. This car appears to have originally been painted black with a pearl grey trim color. It was probably shipped from Auburn to San Francisco, California by boat. There are no records to show who the first owner was or the name of the dealership which sold the car. This particular speedster did not reappear for about 30 years. In the 1960s it was owned by Mort C. Engdahl of Carmichael, California. Apparently it was in need of significant restoration. Engdahl commissioned Joe Costa of Modesto, California to do the work. Among the repairs was the replacement of the windshield frame. A new brass windshield frame was purchased from Glen Prey which was subsequently chrome-plated and installed. Apparently there were several other parts that were missing or had deteriorated beyond repair. The original Schebler carburetor was replaced with a universal carburetor. The engine wiring loom was changed, original bolts were discarded, etc. The car was painted "Old Ivory" with red trim at that time.

Later it was sold to an individual in Texas who used it as part of a display in his Oklahoma restaurant. He subsequently sold the car in 1978 to Rick Carroll in Jensen Beach, Florida, who in turn sold it in November, 1984 to Joseph W. Shawfield and Edward M. Kirkhart, also of Jensen Beach. In 1988 these gentlemen sold this Auburn to Stanley Wanlass of Astoria, Oregon. Wanlass sold the car to H. DeWayne Ashmead of Fruit Heights, Utah in March of 1994. Ashmead has since restored this speedster to its original condition. The car has been certified by the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club as an original 1932 Auburn Speedster (# A-428 Original).