Hoosier Classic.(Escape Roads)(designing of the automobile Auburn)

Byline: LEIGH DORRINGTON

In the first half of the 20th century, Indiana rivaled Michigan as the center of the American auto industry. Among cars built in Indiana, the most prized are those of the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg combine created by financier E.L. Cord.

The Auburn came first, from the Eckhart brothers of Auburn, Indiana.

The first Auburn was a one-cylinder, chain-driven runabout shown at the Chicago auto show in 1903. Auburn built just enough cars to remain in business until 1919, when a group of Chicago businessmen, including William Wrigley Jr. of chewing gum fame, acquired control.

The new owners knew little about the auto industry, and Auburn production reached a standstill by 1924. Hundreds of unsold cars filled the fields surrounding the Auburn factory.

Enter Errett Lobban Cord, a 30-year-old go-getter who had quickly built a reputation as a sales executive at the Chicago auto manufacturer Moon. Cord was offered the position of general manager at Auburn, and he countered with a bid to buy the firm. Cord had the unsold cars repainted to add glamour to their staid design. The remade cars sold quickly, and Cord completed his takeover of the company in 1926.

The same year, he bought Duesenberg and announced a new car bearing his name, to be built on an innovative front-wheel-drive chassis. The Auburn "Boat Tail" Speedster was introduced in 1928.