The interesting thing about the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum is its location in Auburn, Indiana. It occupies the very building that E.L. Cord built on the 23-acre parcel of land in Auburn, Indiana on which the plants and machine shops existed.
We recently enjoyed a look at the ACD Museum following the RM Auction in May, 2018. See the video below, then see some of the photographs from our prior visits!
Cord had a Fort Wayne, Indiana architect design his corporate showroom in an art deco style which has been preserved perfectly as part of the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg museum.
The most popular factory built Duesenberg is the J Murphy Roadster. Here is a 1931 edition with iconic two-tone paint.
A featured display at the A-C-D Museum, the 1931 Duesenberg J Murphy Roadster has the extremely long body and yet a very low cut windshield.
The 1932 Cord E-1 was a prototype that actually never was produced. It was originally equipped with a 16-cylinder engine, then ended up with a 12-cylinder motor. It was a test car to be the successor to the famous L29 Cord.
The front end of this 1932 Duesenberg J Murphy Roadster was captured in many Art Deco drawings of the day.
An unusual 1932 Duesenberg was built with a boattail style rear valance. A Duesenberg chassis was built at the factory. At that point wealthy buyers would have a coachworks company design a custom body for the finished car.
So often these special Auburn motorcars were built with coachworks-like custom features. This one has a 3-Position convertible top.
A 1937 Cord Supercharged Convertible is displayed in the showroom on the ground level of the Cord building which now serves as the A-C-D Museum.
In the Dean Kruse Gallery is a 1904 Auburn which is the oldest Auburn known to exist. The first Auburns were introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in 1903. This 1904 model is one of only 50 produced by Auburn that year. Auburn was gaining a reputation for being a builder of quality motorcars. The chain drive car produced about 10 horsepower.
This 1911 Auburn Model N Touring car was the largest motorcar that Auburn had produced up to this time. The Model N Auburn weighed 2,700 pounds and has a 120-inch wheelbase. It was rated at 40 horsepower.
One of the greatest contributions to automotive history was Cord’s innovative use of front wheel drive technology. In the engine room of the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum is this Cord L29 chassis showing how the Lycoming engine was matched up to a front wheel drive transmission. It uses universal joints that allow the front wheels to turn side to side and receive power from the engines. The L29 chassis was first used by Cord in 1930.
A 1937 Cord 810 Supercharged engine was on display in the engine room of the museum. Once again the Cord motorcar was ahead of its time with this Supercharged Flathead V8 displacing 289 cubic inches. The front-wheel-drive transmission was a four-speed. This engine was innovative on so many levels. The camshaft operates roller rocker arms.
When E.L. Cord took over the Auburn Car Company the first thing he did was take 100 freshly built Auburns that were all painted black and had them repainted in art deco looking two tone finishes with bright colors. That was what set Auburns apart and contributed to their early popularity under Cord’s guidance. At the time, Cord was only in his thirties.
I am now making plans to visit the Museum soon and very soon . I believe it to be well worth the trip from Nashville to see all that is available and the resources as well . Thanks for having this website up for all to see how incredible all three Brand Name Cars truly were for there day and today as well . Nothing newer compares to these very special Automobiles !