Gallery of Special Interest Automobiles
These domestic and foreign vehicles represent milestones of automotive advancement. Each automobile represents significance in at least one of four areas: luxury; design; performance; or ties with the Auburn Automobile Company.
This gallery brings closure to the museum's cohesive interpretation of the auto industry. It offers a sense of the ways in which each automotive innovation led to the next and how each idea inspired a heightened, more sophisticated turn of succeeding ideas.
In the 1930s, this area of the building was used by Auburn Automobile Company's engineering department. The area includes two dead level floors for testing the alignment of a chassis, or to measure the exact height of any part of an automobile.
A few of the featured automobiles in this gallery include:
• 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico - This Ferrari was driven by Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas during the Third Carrera Panamerican Road Race. This is one of 3 that were produced and has its original engine.
• 1954 Chevrolet Corvette - A fine example of a second year Corvette. This example looks as if it drove off the assembly line yesterday!
• 1956 Ford Thunderbird - The original Ford Thunderbird was designed by the same designer who designed the 1932 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Torpedo Convertible Coupe on exhibit in the museum's Company Showroom. Franklin Hershey, then a designer with the The Walter M. Murphy Company in Pasadena, California.
• 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe - This is a very original example of this automobile. The Gullwing has been driven only 32,000 lines and is #1395 of 1400 produced.
• 1967 427 Shelby Cobra - It is one of 356 original Shebly 427 Cobras produced. This car is capable of 0 to 100 mph and back to 0 in just 13.6 seconds flat!