1929 Auburn 8-120 Boattail Speedster

This 1929 Auburn 120 Eight Speedster was acquired in August of 1959 by Jack Dunning from Arnold Headland's backyard in East Liverpool, Ohio. He promptly joined the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club and began work on the project. It continued off and on for over two decades. The work was eventually given to a professional restorer, Ed Cobb of Washington Court House, Ohio, to complete. It received a replacement transmission and engine. After the work was completed, the Speedster received a string of honors in ACD Club National judging, eventually achieving two Senior First prizes and reaching Senior Emeritus status in 1994. In 1989 it received the Roy Faulkner Trophy for Best Auburn at the Club's National Reunion. In 1984 it received the AACA's National Chocolate Town Trophy as the finest Senior automobile shown in a fall meet in its division. Between 1984 and 2014, it was successful in CCCA National competition, steadily progressing to Senior Premier status over multiple appearances at Grand Classics and Annual Meetings.

This car has its ACD Club Category 1 Certification, recognizing its authenticity.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020

Auburn was produced in the city of Auburn, Indiana, from 1900 through 1936. In 1924 they approached Errett Lobban Cord, a highly successful automobile salesman, with an offer to run the company. Cord countered with an offer to take over completely in what amounted to a leveraged buyout. The Chicago group accepted and Cord aggressively marketed the company's unsold inventory to complete his buyout before the end of 1925. A victim of the Great Depression, Auburn closed its doors in 1936.

With a pointed boat tail, pontoon-style fenders, cutout doors and raked V-type windshield, the Speedster in Auburn's new top-line 1928 series was greatly admired and quickly copied by other automakers. It was also very fast. A Speedster with an optional high-compression cylinder head was clocked doing 108.5 mph at Daytona Beach. Wade Morton and Eddie Miller covered a record 2,033 miles in 24 hours on the Atlantic City Speedway in a Speedster. Also in 1928, Wade Morton randomly picked a Speedster off the Indiana assembly line and entered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. He raced up the hill in 21 minutes 45.25 seconds on the 12-mile climb that rose 2,200 feet and ran through ice and snow in the upper elevations. Morton took home the Penrose Trophy for the stock production class. The current record is just a little over 10 minutes for any class. Other Speedsters raced in Europe and South America.

The 1929 Speedster sold for $1,895.

This automobile features an eight-cylinder, 244.1 cubic-inch Lycoming engine that develops 120 horsepower and a top speed of 99.4 mph.

This 1929 Auburn 8-120 Boattail Speedster is a previous Ault Park Concours 'Best of Show' winner. The Boattail design is a styling landmark.