1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster Coupe

This Auburn Cabin Speedster is a recreation of the original 1929 Auburn automobile show car, of which only one was produced. The original vehicle was exhibited at the 1929 Los Angeles Automobile Show in a large exhibition tent. A spark caught the tent on fire on March 5, 1929, and within 30 minutes, all 320 vehicles under the tent were destroyed. This 1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster was recreated in 1983-85. The chassis is constructed just as the original using components from the production 1929 Auburn Automobiles. It is cleverly constructed from the rear portions of two frames with the rear portion inverted. The result is a six-inch drop compared to the standard 1929 Auburn.

After five decades, Dr. Peter Kesling of LaPorte, Indiana, used photographs and toys to recreate the destroyed Cabin Speedster. The original chassis and some of the craftsmen were used to re-create the show car. It was given an ash frame, an aluminum body, and an eight-cylinder engine that produced 115 horsepower. The wheelbase measures 121 inches. The original body was produced by Griswold of Detroit, Michigan.

The unique body is built with an ash frame covered in aluminum, using the original full-size body drawings saved by Auburn Historian Randy Ema. A detailed account of the re-creation of this car can be found in an article by Peter Kesling in the Third Quarter 1987 issue of Automobile Quarterly magazine.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2018