KGWB Auburn, IN- Cord Museum

[Jim K]

Just got home from a short trip that was so awesome I had to share:
Auburn, IN is home to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg museum. E.L. Cord bought the Auburn car company, and during his tenure bought Duesenberg and introduced the Cord line. Some of the most beautiful cars ever created, and I was surprised to learn there was an aviation connection. Cord also owned stakes in Lycoming and Stinson, so almost all the Cords and Auburns had Lycoming engines.

The airport is really nice and is growing having just expanded their runway. The FBO was awesome, with decent fuel prices and they have a couple cars they rent overnight, which makes it really easy. We spent 3 hours in the ACD museum, and another hour in the one behind that has a wide variety of cars, and a bunch of trucks including one of the GM "Futureliners". I suspect they'd let you take a crew car if you don't want to stay overnight, but there's some good restaurants and b&b's there too.

@Ted do you know of Lycoming ever gets requests to provide engineering support for the auto & marine engines they used to build?

 

[Ted]

Over the last 135ish years a lot of things have come out of that factory at 652 Oliver Street in Williamsport. Few know that building first made Demorest sewing machines.

If there were any drawings remaining for the engines that were once used in Deusenburgs in that building, I never saw them. The company museum had one example of a Deusenburg engine (as well as a Demorest sewing machine) but there was no support or knowledge that I was ever aware of.

There are so few Auburns/Cords/Deusenburgs around anymore, and those who know them best are shops who specialize in them.

 

[Jim K]

Over the last 135ish years a lot of things have come out of that factory at 652 Oliver Street in Williamsport. Few know that building first made Demorest sewing machines.

If there were any drawings remaining for the engines that were once used in Deusenburgs in that building, I never saw them. The company museum had one example of a Deusenburg engine (as well as a Demorest sewing machine) but there was no support or knowledge that I was ever aware of.

There are so few Auburns/Cords/Deusenburgs around anymore, and those who know them best are shops who specialize in them.

Digging into Lycoming's history a bit more, I found it interesting that they didn't start producing aero engines until Cord took control of the company. He was an airplane enthusiast (as were most rich people in the 20's i suppose). If not for his influence, I probably wouldn't fly behind a Lycoming engine today. I'm also amazed that I had never really heard of EL Cord. He was almost a Howard Hughes level tycoon, just much less eccentric. I had no idea he had his fingers in so much, and that legacy lives on even today.

Also fascinating that Lyco was producing 60,000 engines a year at one point. I had no idea the company history was so deep. Now I'm curious about Continental's back story.

 

[geezer]

Thanks for the pictures, Jim, reminders of the cars that I saw on the road as a kid in the 30's, and even sat or rode in during the post war period. People who had been unable to buy any car during the war continued to drive those old ones until civilian production ramped up. Dealers would not sell a new car without a trade, and those old luxury and sport models came in. A classmate of mine bought Packard roadsters and touring cars for his school ride. The dual cowl convertible was the fanciest. The front seats were not provided with a roof of any kind. The rear seat had a cowl and windshield of its own, hinged on the drivers side. The footman climbed out of the right front seat, unlatched the cowl, and pivoted it up, opened the passenger door, and assisted them in. After the door was closed, the cowl was pivoted back down, and latched. There was a convertiablr top for the owners in the back, but none for the front seats.
Such a car would not have been selected if rain was likely, so the chauffer and footman would rarely have been rained on. Richard never drove that one if rain was likely, the jump seat Packard limo was more suitable for wet weather. He was constantly trading his Packard's, and in 2 years of Junior College, I think he drove at least 8 different ones, mostly from the late 20's. His high school ride was a pristine 32 Ford coupe, with V8 engine.

A house a few blocks from us had a Pierce Arrow in their 2 car garage, which they kept gleaming clean, and drove occasionally. I stopped to talk one day when they were polishing it, and found that it was one owner, it still belonged to his father, who was in his eighties.

I agree that the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg cars were the most beautiful on the road, and I saw at least one of each on the road.

On a wooded uphill right bend, we were traveling at the speed limit, and a yellow boat tail roadster with outside chrome exhaust passed us at high speed. Dad called the driver "A rich fool" and explained that if a car had come the opposite direction, that rich man would have swerved into our side, forcing us into the trees. That had already happened to Dad once, and the car we were riding in was the result of Dad's suit when the other driver failed to pay for our wrecked car. Dad further explained that if we were not successfully forced into the woods, the rich fool would have hit the oncoming car head on, and become a dead rich fool. I was about 8, but that is a vivid memory. 82 years ago, and all the details are still clear.

 

[Ted]

@geezer thanks for sharing those stories. Through the lens of time it's amazing how just a rich fool's used car was readily available on the used market. I suppose not unlike a lot of upper luxury cars that I've bought for pennies on the dollar over the years.

 

[Ted]

Digging into Lycoming's history a bit more, I found it interesting that they didn't start producing aero engines until Cord took control of the company. He was an airplane enthusiast (as were most rich people in the 20's i suppose). If not for his influence, I probably wouldn't fly behind a Lycoming engine today. I'm also amazed that I had never really heard of EL Cord. He was almost a Howard Hughes level tycoon, just much less eccentric. I had no idea he had his fingers in so much, and that legacy lives on even today.

Also fascinating that Lyco was producing 60,000 engines a year at one point. I had no idea the company history was so deep. Now I'm curious about Continental's back story.

In the end, every company exists because someone had an idea, and a lot of those companies and ideas were because some rich fellow wanted to do a thing or build a thing. Take a look at folks like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos today with their various space companies, Tesla, and the like. Who knows where those will end up 100 years from now.

There was a time when piston GA was a thriving industry and that production line was running 3 shifts. I forget the exact numbers (60k per year sounds higher than I recall, but it's been a while), but my recollection was that we used to produce more engines in a month during the factory's heyday than we produced in a year when I was there. Keep in mind, the same production line builds both brand new and also reman'd or overhauled engines, so the engines produced there represent not just new aircraft coming off of production lines, but also is a representation of hours flown whether it's a 172 in a flight school up through a Navajo flying charters or regional airline service, and of course only the engines that are being bought from the factory direct as opposed to third party overhaul shops. The retired old timers who we would sometimes call in for history or perspective on things had some amazing stories about being part of development programs - some of which had some really interesting results, some of which you've never heard of because they never went anywhere. Of course, any R&D department has some of the latter.

The R&D section (or "Experimental" as we called it) was pretty busy when I was there, relatively speaking. I forget exactly how many dynos we had in place. I want to say the building had 8 that dated back to WW2ish timeframe, and when I started there were still mercury and water manometers for pressure measurements. I don't think all of them worked, and I only recall us ever using maybe 5 or 6 of them over the years, plus the 2 prop stands. I haven't a clue what it's like there anymore.

An unfortunate piece of history gone was in "Upper Experimental" which got torn down around 15ish years ago. That had the prop stand where the XR-7755 ran. It had fallen into disrepair and had trees growing through it. That whole area got torn down, but to be fair the building was fairly well falling apart and had been condemned by the time I started. The Smithsonian has the only remaining XR-7755 on display, which I suppose is a better place for it to be.

I've been fortunate to have some very interesting jobs where I've learned a lot and gotten to see some very interesting things, some of which have made their way to market, some of which haven't. In many ways, though, that one was my favorite. Spent thousands of hours playing around with engines on dynos and flight stands and saw some really interesting history.

 

[Jim K]

Thanks for the pictures, Jim, reminders of the cars that I saw on the road as a kid in the 30's, and even sat or rode in during the post war period. People who had been unable to buy any car during the war continued to drive those old ones until civilian production ramped up. Dealers would not sell a new car without a trade, and those old luxury and sport models came in. A classmate of mine bought Packard roadsters and touring cars for his school ride. The dual cowl convertible was the fanciest. The front seats were not provided with a roof of any kind. The rear seat had a cowl and windshield of its own, hinged on the drivers side. The footman climbed out of the right front seat, unlatched the cowl, and pivoted it up, opened the passenger door, and assisted them in. After the door was closed, the cowl was pivoted back down, and latched. There was a convertiablr top for the owners in the back, but none for the front seats.
Such a car would not have been selected if rain was likely, so the chauffer and footman would rarely have been rained on. Richard never drove that one if rain was likely, the jump seat Packard limo was more suitable for wet weather. He was constantly trading his Packard's, and in 2 years of Junior College, I think he drove at least 8 different ones, mostly from the late 20's. His high school ride was a pristine 32 Ford coupe, with V8 engine.

A house a few blocks from us had a Pierce Arrow in their 2 car garage, which they kept gleaming clean, and drove occasionally. I stopped to talk one day when they were polishing it, and found that it was one owner, it still belonged to his father, who was in his eighties.

I agree that the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg cars were the most beautiful on the road, and I saw at least one of each on the road.

On a wooded uphill right bend, we were traveling at the speed limit, and a yellow boat tail roadster with outside chrome exhaust passed us at high speed. Dad called the driver "A rich fool" and explained that if a car had come the opposite direction, that rich man would have swerved into our side, forcing us into the trees. That had already happened to Dad once, and the car we were riding in was the result of Dad's suit when the other driver failed to pay for our wrecked car. Dad further explained that if we were not successfully forced into the woods, the rich fool would have hit the oncoming car head on, and become a dead rich fool. I was about 8, but that is a vivid memory. 82 years ago, and all the details are still clear.

Great stories! Dad was born in the mid 40s and learned to drive in a Model A. He bought one a few years ago. It's interesting, but doesn't do much for me. It kind of blew my mind seeing its contemporaries. One data point I found fascinating, you could've had a Ford model A for about $800, a V12 Auburn for $1500, or a V16 (this is a two seater, mind you, lol) Cadillac for $4500.

60k per year sounds higher than I recall, but it's been a while

That was in the 20's when they were producing mostly auto engines. I'd be curious to know what the numbers looked like in the heyday of GA in the 60's, as well as today.

 

[Ted]

Great stories! Dad was born in the mid 40s and learned to drive in a Model A. He bought one a few years ago. It's interesting, but doesn't do much for me. It kind of blew my mind seeing its contemporaries. One data point I found fascinating, you could've had a Ford model A for about $800, a V12 Auburn for $1500, or a V16 (this is a two seater, mind you, lol) Cadillac for $4500.

I have friends with a Model A that I've gotten to drive a few times. I enjoy it, it's a neat experience.

That was in the 20's when they were producing mostly auto engines. I'd be curious to know what the numbers looked like in the heyday of GA in the 60's, as well as today.

Ahh, ok. That makes more sense. I seem to recall 2k engines a month in the heyday of aviation.