TOUR AMERICA 2022, SAUDER VILLAGE CAMPGROUND, ARCHBOLD, OHIO

Friday, August 12, 2022

Temperature 71 Degrees, Abundant Sunshine and Clear Blue Skies

Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum

After we spent several days at Sauder Village the question was What Now? We were here for two weeks and we are seldom content to just sit around and vegetate. Well, we indeed found some really great places to visit. Following is a snapshot of the first of three places we visited.

On Tuesday past we travelled to Auburn, Indiana to visit the

The museum building was constructed for the Auburn Automobile Company in 1929. It is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Midwest. Look and marvel at the showroom’s terrazzo floor, lit by Art Deco chandeliers and wall sconces. During the Auburn’s heyday, this showroom was filled with the latest Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs.

A sample of some of the cars in the current collection.

What a real dash used to look like. No idiot lights here. Just plain, functioning gauges that gave accurate feedback on the functioning of your engine.

Now, the most interesting thing about the Duesenberg is that you never bought a complete car. Instead you bought just the

chassis, engine and running gear and then had to have the body fitted by a coachbuilding firm.

For instance,

Murphy Company produced far more bodies for the Duesenberg than any other company.

The most radical and forward thinking of the three was the Cord.

The concept was simple enough. They simply turned things around so that

the transmission was in front and the engine was behind it.

We move ahead now a few years to the 810 and 812 models.

Unfortunately none of these great automobiles are still in production. The Great Depression, quality issues, sagging sales, and many other factors worked against them and in time all were forced to cease production.

Just 4 of the dozens that were on display.

There was an entire exhibit devoted to the Cars of Indiana.

Finally, I’ll close with this. In one exhibit hall there were numerous examples of what I would call one off automobiles that never made it to production. This one was very intriguing.

I promised a snapshot and that is what this has been.

There are other exhibits too numerous to list and expand upon. In fact by now I’m sure some of you like my wife have glazed over eyes! I’m so blessed that she puts up with my interest in all things automobile but to her a car is a car is a car. And let me tell you we have been to three huge automobile museums in the last month. This is just one of them. More to come.

I’ll say this if you like me are into history and in particular the history of the automobile then this is must see museum. It has an excellent layout, all exhibits are well documented, and there are guides available to answer all of your questions. I’m grateful that I’ve been here and can now cross it off my bucket list of places to see.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.