1935 Auburn Model 851

Errett Lobban Cord knew humdrum cars would not cut it; if a car was to sell, it would need to have sizzle. When he stepped in to save the Auburn Motor Car Company in 1924, production and sales had fallen to a critical level and the company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. Cord took a number of unsold Auburns being stored at the manufacturing facility, gave them stylish paint schemes and extra nickel plating, and proceeded to watch sales recover.

This was the sizzle Auburn desperately needed.

On later model Auburns, engine horsepower was boosted which had the effect of creating excitement among Auburn dealers. In terms of sales, Auburn was soon taking on long-established marques like Packard, Peerless, and Stutz. Unfortunately, the depression hit Auburn sales right where it hurt most, in the balance sheet.

It is ironic that the company produced what many consider to be its ultimate masterpiece in 1935, just as the end was drawing near: the 851 Supercharged Speedster.

As such, it is a testimonial to the fighting spirit of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Company, and to the legendary talent of one of greatest designers of the time.

Auburn had invested heavily in the largely new Al Leamy designed 1934 models. Although they sold better than the 1933's had, they were not the salvation the company needed. Worse still, Harold Ames, E.L. Cord's right-hand man, hated the look of the cars. As a result, Ames' boss, Lucius B. Manning, decided he was just the man to solve the problem, and sent him to Auburn, putting him in charge of the company.

Clearly, a new look was desperately needed. With little money available, a completely new car was out of the question. Once again, the Ames called upon Gordon Buehrig to pull the figurative rabbit out of the hat. And once again, he delivered. Buehrig redesigned the front end of the cars, with a new grill and hood line. Auburn's signature new feature for 1935 was supercharging on the top-of-the-line models. Buehrig incorporated the external exhaust, which the American public had come to identify with supercharged engines, largely because of the mighty Model SJ Duesenberg.

Although the new 851 (and the next year's 852) models were certainly flashy enough, the 'new' was more than skin deep. The chassis was mostly carried over, although some updates were made. The car was fitted with a Lycoming-built straight-eight engine equipped with a new supercharger designed by Kurt Beier from Schwitzer-Cummins. In addition, the trusted and durable Columbia two-speed rear axle was fitted, allowing lower gearing for quicker acceleration, combined with a higher final drive ratio for improved top speed.

Still, something dramatic was needed to stimulate traffic in the showrooms. Taking a page from the company playbook, and knowing that Central Body Company still had more than 100 bodies left over from the 1933 speedster program, Ames decided that a new speedster would be the perfect attention-getter for the new line.

Ames, again, tapped Gordon Buehrig to design the new speedster. Buehrig decided to base the new design on a Duesenberg speedster he had designed for Weymann. The top, doors, windshield, and cowl could be used as-is, but a new tail would have to be made and the cowl would require modification to blend with the new 1935 front end. Finally, he added a stunning new set of pontoon fenders made up from multiple stampings of earlier Auburn front fenders.

The result was breathtaking, and the new car was soon seen everywhere from auto shows to newspapers to spark plug ads. To a public weary of the Depression, the new Auburn Speedster was automotive hope personified. Here was a car everyone could identify with, dream about, and wish for. It became, in many ways, the rolling icon of the art deco era.

Oddly enough, it was not a big seller, and dealers resisted taking the speedsters. While they proved to be excellent for public relations, in a sense they did their job too well, as the customers who were drawn to the showroom bought the more practical sedans or convertibles.

Auburn 851 Speedsters did not just look fast, they were fast! To prove this, famed race driver Ab Jenkins sat behind the wheel of an 851 Speedster and was the first American to set a 100 MPH average for a 12-hour period endurance record in a completely stock 851SC speedster. As a result, each Speedster built carried a dash plaque attesting to its over l00 MPH capability, bearing Ab Jenkins' signature.

Priced at $2,245 when new, estimates peg Auburn's loss per speedster at about $300 for every car built. But the logic behind Cord's decision was that this sleek model attracted customers to come in and purchase less expensive, but more profitable models. As a consequence, very few speedsters were built, making them highly prized today.