Auburn Automobile 1904 Auburn - Earliest known existing Auburn 1910 Auburn Model S Roadster 1932 Auburn Speedster 1935 Auburn Speedster Auburn 851 `` Boattail Speedster '' Auburn was a brand name of United States automobiles from 1900 through 1937 . It grew out of the Eckhart Carriage Company , founded in Auburn , Indiana , in 1875 by Charles Eckhart ( 1841–1915 ) . Eckhart 's sons , Frank and Morris , began making automobiles on an experimental basis before entering the business in earnest , absorbing two other local carmakers and moving into a larger plant in 1909 . The enterprise was modestly successful until materials shortages during World War I forced the plant to close . The 1904 Auburn was a touring car model . Equipped with a tonneau , it could seat 2 or 4 passengers and sold for US $ 1000 . The flat-mounted single-cylinder engine , situated at the center of the car , produced 10 hp ( 7.5 kW ) . A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted . The angle-steel-framed car weighed 1500 lb ( 680 kg ) and used half-elliptic springs . In 1919 , the Eckhart brothers sold out to a group of Chicago investors headed by Ralph Austin Bard , who later served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and as Under Secretary of the Navy for President Roosevelt and for President Harry S. Truman . The new owners revived the business but failed to realize the profits that they hoped for . In 1924 , they approached Errett Lobban Cord ( 1894–1974 ) , 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 . Cord aggressively marketed the company 's unsold inventory and completed his buyout before the end of 1925 . In 1926 , he partnered with Duesenberg Corporation , famous for its racing cars , and used it as the launching platform for a line of high-priced luxury vehicles . He also put his own name on a front-wheel-drive car , the L-29 Cord . Auburn Automobile Historical Marker , Auburn , IN Employing imaginative designers such as Alan Leamy and Gordon Buehrig , Cord built cars that became famous for their advanced engineering as well as their striking appearance , e.g. , the 1928 Auburn Boattail Speedster , the Model J Duesenbergs , the 1935–1937 Auburn Speedsters and the 810/812 Cords . Styling and engineering failed to overcome the fact that Cord 's vehicles were too expensive for the Depression -era market and that Cord 's stock manipulations would force him to give up control of his car companies . Under injunction from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to refrain from further violations , Cord sold his shares in his automobile holding company . In 1937 , production of Auburns , Cords and Duesenbergs ended . The company 's art deco headquarters in Auburn now houses the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum . It was made a National Historic Landmark in 2005 . The Auburn Automobile Company also had a manufacturing plant in Connersville , Indiana , that occupied a facility formerly owned by the Lexington Motor Company . Reference Frank Leslie 's Popular Monthly ( January 1904 ) External links RemarkableCars.com - Auburn Photo Galleries Auburn Automobile History and Photo Galleries Categories : Brass Era vehicles | Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States | Auburn , Indiana | History of Indiana | National Historic Landmarks of the United States | Registered Historic Places in Indiana | Vintage vehicles In other languages : Deutsch | Polski | Svenska | Türkçe 