Cruising down northeast Indiana automotive memory lane

AUBURN — Take a trip to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, and you might just get the chance to smell the exhaust fumes and hear the low growl of one of the hundreds of classic cars rolling around the streets of northeast Indiana.

There’s just something about that rumble that ensnares the attention of Hoosiers.

It’s been a long while since northeast Indiana was pushing cars off the production line in the droves. The area, which was once an automobile manufacturing hotspot, now is only home to one major automotive production plant, located in Fort Wayne.

It wasn’t always this way.

Before the days of Henry Ford, automotive startups began popping up in Indiana.

Sam Grate, curator of the ACD Automobile Museum, said the earliest known automobile to come out of Indiana would pop up in Kokomo during the 1890s. It wouldn’t be long before others began to follow suit.

As it turns out, the crossroads of America made for a perfect storm for an automotive explosion. According to Grate, the combination of railroad junctions, high levels of immigration and the excess of natural resources and cheap land made for a perfect landing spot for the new automotive industry.

Primitive automobiles popped up all over the state, and the Auburn Car Company out of Auburn, Indiana became incorporated in 1903.

The ACD Museum reports the first Auburn was sold later that same year. The automobile was little more than a motorized wagon, powered by a single-cylinder water-cooled engine that produced about six horsepower. The car would sell for $1,450, which adjusts to approximately $50,500 when adjusted to today’s inflation.

Auburn would continue to produce cars through the 1910s, and in 1912 they would release their first closed automobile, called the Model 40. The company continued to grow, and was sold in 1919 to a group of investors based out of Chicago.

The stomach-clenching roar of motor vehicles was securing its grip on the state; and in particular, two German immigrants by the name of Duesenberg.

“The Duesenbergs were always racers,” said Grate.

The newly christened Indianapolis 500 would have its first running in 1911, and Grate cites this as one catalyst for Indiana’s growth in the industry. Indianapolis would become a hot-bed for hot-rod activities, and in 1920 the capital city would become home to the Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company.

The Duesenberg brothers, Fred and August, had their name on the roads for several years before the ‘20s, including entries in the Indy 500. Their first competition would see them enter three Duesenberg cars. The cars would finish 13th, 16th and 19th. A rather unexciting finish wouldn’t discourage them and the brothers would continue to reenter for years to come.

The brand truly established itself with its commercial headquarters located in Indy.

“Before (racing) cars, it was bikes and motorcycles,” stated Grate. “They wanted to take that race engine and package it in a passenger car.”

The Duesenberg Bros would do exactly that, with the launch of the Model 8 in 1921. The car would be the first Duesenberg to sport the “Straight 8” engine, their iconic inline 8-cylinder engine. The Model A would also be the first car to come equipped with Duesenberg’s cutting-edge 4-wheel hydraulic brakes, which it needed to control the 90 horsepower engine.

While we now have Dodge Chargers in the stead of Duesenberg muscle, the brothers were pioneers.

“They were sort of ahead of the times,” said Grate. “Now, most big American manufacturers have racing departments and adopted the ‘more power in a passenger car’ idea, but the Duesenbergs were one of the first.”

The 1920s would launch the Duesenberg name into the stratosphere of the automotive industry. Racing ran in the blood of the Duesenberg brothers, and that mindset would lead Fred Duesenberg to discover a like-minded, performance-obsessed man by the name of Jimmy Murphy.

The Motorsport Hall of Fame of America reports Murphy had been working as a mechanic in the motorsport sphere for a number of years before the Duesenbergs would bring him on as a mechanic. He would soon be riding with the racing driver in the mechanic’s seat until 1919 when he finally got his chance behind the wheel.

Murphy would seize the opportunity and paired with Duesenberg’s manufacturing, he quickly rose to the top of American motorsport.

So, in 1921 when the Duesenbergs decided they wanted to take their hot-rod overseas to the French countryside for the ‘21 French Grand Prix they selected Murphy as their driver.

According to the Motorsports Hall of Fame, Murphy would take the checkered flag around the iconic Le Mans circuit by a gap of 15 minutes, and with that Murphy would become the first ever American to win a European racing event.

When he returned stateside, he would install a new engine, a Miller 183, in his winning Duesenberg, and would promptly take the checkered flag at the 1922 Indy 500. He dubbed his Duesenberg/Miller hybrid the “Murphy Special.”

The mid 1920’s would be an era of transition for both Auburn and Duesenberg.

1924 saw E.L. Cord take the reins as Vice President and General Manager of the Auburn Automobile Company. This same year, tragedy would strike the Duesenberg racing team when Murphy got involved in a fatal accident during a dirt race in Syracuse, New York when his vehicle was sent careening into a fence.

1926 saw more turn over, this time for Duesenberg, when E.L. Cord purchased a majority stake in the company, effectively bringing Duesenberg and Auburn under the same umbrella.

The late 1920s saw explosions of success for both Auburn and Duesenberg. The Duesy racing team claimed a third Indy 500 victory, and Auburn would expand their means for manufacturing vehicles.

Duesenbergs became synonymous with American luxury, while Auburn slotted in with the upper-middle class crowd.

“These cars were very high-end luxury vehicles,” said Grate. “The Auburn was meant to be more of a middle-ground, but it was still quite an expensive make to purchase even for the time. Cord would begin to produce cars too, but those were essentially high-end Auburns.”

“Cord didn’t innovate as much as one might say Duesenberg did, but they were responsible for the very first American-made front-wheel drive car in 1929. Now, most cars on the road are front-wheel drive.”

The affluent styling of these cars would bring everything to a head when the Great Depression swept across the nation.

“With the introduction of Ford’s assembly line, these cars became too expensive,” stated Grate. “The effects of the Great Depression hit Auburn and Duesenberg especially hard, since luxury items tend to be one of the first things to go during a recession. Ultra-luxurious cars that can go high-speeds weren’t as important to the people as securing any form of transportation to work.”

Auburn’s mass-production plant would be moved in 1933, to a location in east-central Indiana. The factory settled in Connersville, leaving northeast Indiana in the rear-view. Three years later, Auburn and Duesenberg would cease production entirely.

The year after, 1937, would watch Auburn file for bankruptcy, spelling the official end to the company’s run.

A man by the name of Dallas Winslow would purchase the factory in Connersville and the rights to the brand names, and began to manufacture parts to be sold to owners of Auburns, Duesenbergs and Cords. However, the new Auburn-Cord Duesenberg Company would not produce any new vehicles.

The love for classic cars in the area didn’t die with the departing Auburn Automobile Company.

“You still see a lot of classics on the road nowadays in Fort Wayne,” said Grate. “General Motors has their plant here, and there are still tons of cruise-ins and car meets all across the area.”

The museum hosts their own car club, known as the ACD Club.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to get the community involved,” said Grate. “We’d like to get the youth involved as well.”

The museum currently hosts several themed events, including the “Gatsby Gala,” and the “Bootleggers Ball.” In addition, the museum regularly hosts cars and coffee where the public is invited to come and share their passion for motor vehicles.

“Before Detroit was the automotive juggernaut, northeast Indiana had a huge role to play in the development of America’s modern car industry,” says Grate.

Nowadays, northeast Indiana is home to only one national production plant. General Motors continues to produce pickup trucks in their plant in Fort Wayne.

However, if taking a cruise down memory lane is more your speed, the ACD Museum has their doors open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday.

For more information and to schedule your visit to the Auburn-Cord Duesenberg Museum visit https://automobilemuseum.org.