Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company

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Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company
legal form Company
founding 1938
Seat Broken Arrow , Oklahoma , USA
management Doug Pray
Branch Automobiles
Website www.acdfactory.com

Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company is a US company and a former manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

The businessman Dallas Winslow took over in 1938 with the brands Auburn , Cord and Duesenberg part in insolvency geratenen Cord Corporation . Since 1922 he had developed his business model, which consisted of buying up spare parts stocks from discontinued automobile brands and supplying customers and workshops with components that were often difficult to obtain. The first brand he took over was Paterson . Until 1947 he had parts for 25 former brands in the range. The headquarters were in Cleveland, Ohio , a branch in the General Motors Building in Detroit. His customers weren't collectors, but used their vehicles every day. According to his own statement, his company helped to keep around 200,000 vehicles in operation during the Second World War and to prevent them from being scrapped prematurely.

The new company was called the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company and was based in Indianapolis , Indiana . The former Auburn plant manager HS Lidell also held a leading position at ACD. The company functioned according to the tried and tested model and initially only supplied spare parts , which were soon also manufactured in a separate department. This also included complete engines and transmissions. Vehicles were also serviced at the company's headquarters in the former Auburn administration building. In addition to Duesenberg, Auburn and Cord, these were above all the brands Graham-Paige and Graham, Hupmobile and Franklin, also managed by ACD . Between 1938 and 1940, the last Duesenberg Model J was assembled from existing components. Restorations were also offered later .

Immediately after the war, Winslow released the Duesenberg activities from the company and sold them together with the trademark rights to Marshall Merkes , who subsequently tried unsuccessfully to revive the car brand together with August S. Duesenberg and Gordon Buehrig . A name change did not take place.

The teacher Glenn Pray, who later also ran the Cord Automobile Company , took over the company in 1960 and moved the headquarters to Broken Arrow , Oklahoma . May 6, 1960 is considered the foundation date. Initially, he continued to deal with spare parts. In 1967 he started producing automobiles. The brand name was Auburn . Depending on the source, vehicle production ended in 1975 or 1981. A total of 138 vehicles were built. The company continues to exist as a spare parts and vehicle dealer. It is now run by Doug Pray, the founder's son.

vehicles

Auburn 866 Speedster.

Replicas of classic Auburn vehicles were on offer . The first model was the 866 Speedster , a very accurate replica of the Auburn 851 (V12, 1935) resp. 852 (eight-cylinder with compressor, 1936), for which a few original parts were used. A chassis from Ford with the original wheelbase of 323 cm formed the basis; The engine has been set back a bit for better weight distribution. A two-seater roadster body made of fiberglass was mounted on top. A Ford V8 engine with a displacement of 7000 cc and an output of 375 hp drove the rear axle. There was a choice between a manual four-speed transmission and an automatic transmission .

In 1975 a four-door Phaeton followed with the 874 Phaeton . Of these, 18 vehicles were built.

More Auburn Speedster replicas

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Auburn (VIII) Replica.
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 95. (English)
  • Ron Kowalke: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Krause Publications, Iola 1997, ISBN 0-87341-521-3 , p. 801. (English)
  • L. Scott Bailey (Eds.), Jonathan A. Stein, Michael Pardo: Automobile Quarterly, Volume XXX, No. 4, Summer 1992 (Duesenberg edition). Automobile Quarterly, Inc., Kutztown PA; ISSN  0005-1438 . (English)
  • Bill Snyder: Keepers of the Flame - History Preserved. in: Automobile Quarterly ISSN  0005-1438 , Volume XXX, No. 4: 100-109 (1992). (English)
  • Don Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. Crestline Publishing Co., Crestline Series , 1992; ISBN 0-87938-701-7 . (English)

Web links

Commons : Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Automobile  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Auburn (VIII) Replica.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 95. (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Snyder: Keepers of the Flame - History preserved. in: Automobile Quarterly , Vol. XXX, No. 4 (1992), p. 102.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Company information ( Memento from August 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (English, accessed on February 18, 2017)
  5. ^ Snyder: Keepers of the Flame - History Preserved. in: Automobile Quarterly , Vol. XXX, No. 4 (1992), p. 103.
  6. ↑ opencorporates (English, accessed on February 18, 2017)
  7. ^ A b c Ron Kowalke: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Krause Publications, Iola 1997, ISBN 0-87341-521-3 , p. 801. (English)