Dean V. Kruse Gallery • Early Auburns 1903-1924
Originally Auburn Automobile Company's cost department, purchasing records and blue print room, this space today contains Auburn automobiles from 1904 to 1924 are exhibited in a setting reminiscent of a 1924 Auburn sales showroom. The gallery illustrates the product of skilled workmanship inherent in a regional - if sometimes struggling - midwestern auto manufacturing firm. These predecessors to E.L. Cord's arrival at the Company demonstrate the astonishingly rapid development from buggy to automobile. The experience of what it must have been like to purchase an Auburn in 1924 is illustrated throughout the gallery and video presentation.
A few automobiles featured in this gallery include:
• 1900 Eckhart Carriage - This Eckhart carriage represents Auburn Automobile Company's beginning. The Eckhart Carriage Company of Auburn Indiana incorporated as Auburn Automobile Company in 1903.
• 1904 Auburn - This Auburn is the oldest Auburn automobile known to exist. Auburn Automobile Company orginally created 50 Auburn automobiles in 1904.
• 1922 Auburn Beauty-Six Sport Touring - This is a very rare Auburn automobile and is the only complete example of this body style known to exist.