Dowagiac duo's dynamic car

With a thorough restoration completed the day before the Concours car show, this beautiful 1932 Auburn Speedster Boat Tail roadster won the hearts of both judges and visitors by winning both the Big Boy Restaurant Best of Show trophy and the Corvette Central People's Choice trophy.  Fewer than 75 Speedsters were built in 1932 and owners Don and Joan Lyons of Dowagiac bought their automobile from an owner in Grand Rapids.  Photo provided by Mark Parren

At last summer’s Concours car show, one automobile truly stood out.  It was such a standout that it garnered both the affections of the public and winning the People’s Choice trophy as well as the heart of the judges in receiving the Best in Show trophy.  Rarely does the same vehicle earn that dual accomplishment.  I’m speaking, of course, about Don and Joan Lyons’ 1932 orange and black Auburn boat tail Speedster.

Before I share Don and Joan’s story on how they acquired and restored the rare Auburn, I’ll share a little history about the Auburn.  The Auburn Automobile Company was founded in Auburn, Indiana as the Eckhart Carriage Company in 1875.  Experimenting with automobiles early on, by 1909 the company had absorbed two other failed automakers and had moved into a larger plant.  The plant, after limited success, was closed during World War I due to a materials shortage.

Following the war the Eckharts sold out to a Chicago investment group who revived the business but met with little financial success.  In 1924 the group sold the automaker to Errett Lobban Cord, a highly successful auto salesman who then went on to aggressively market the company’s unsold inventory.

In 1926 E. L. Cord expanded the Auburn Company by partnering with the Duesenberg Corporation, an automaker famous for its racing cars.  The year 1929 also saw the introduction of a third model, a front-wheel drive car that E. L. put his own name on, the Cord L-29. 

Unfortunately, the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company offered fabulous but expensive vehicles in a depressed market severely beaten by the Great Depression.  Sales plunged and the A-C-D Company went bust by 1937 but not before a number of outstanding vehicles were designed and built.   Those include just about any model of the mighty Duesenberg, the stunningly beautiful, Gordon Buehrig-designed 1936-37 Cord 810/812 and any number of fabulous Auburns including the Lyons’ beautiful 1932 Auburn Speedster that was designed by Alan Leamy.

The automobile that garnered nearly all of the votes in the People’s Choice balloting at the Concours was a product of the E. L. Cord years.  The Auburn Speedster (we only later stuck the Boat Tail label on the car) was a car frequently seen in wealthy communities like Hollywood and Palm Springs.

What attracted wealthy buyers to the Auburn was both stunning looking vehicles and powerful performance.  The 1932 Auburn Speedster provided a fast ride by offering a 268 cu. in./4.4-L straight eight that boasted 100 bhp.

A few years back I wrote a column about Don Lyons and his extensive automobile collection.  He has owned a number of fabulous vintage cars and, like his father before him, did a lot of the restoration and mechanical work himself.  

Folks in Dowagiac know Don as Mayor Lyons, a position he has held for the past 15 years.  Though now retired, he continues to serve as chairman of the board of Lyons Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of plumbing fixtures located west of Dowagiac on the city’s edge.  He also remains active with the Heddon Museum in Dowagiac, which chronicles the many contributions of the Heddon family to the Dowagiac area, especially their fishing tackle company.  Readers wanting more information about the museum may either visit www.heddonmuseum.org or call 269 782-5698.

One of my first questions to Don when I interviewed him for this column was how he managed to acquire his rare Speedster.   He didn’t attend the Scottsdale, Arizona auctions; rather he found the car in Grand Rapids.  He had known of the car for a number of years and in 2009 he convinced the owner to sell.

According to Don, there were three series of Auburn Speedsters:  those built in 1928-29, those produced in 1931-33 and the last batch in 1935-36.  There were no Speedsters built in 1930 or 1934. I was amazed to hear that in total only about 75 1932 Speedsters built. Don’s favorite is the 1932 model and that’s the one he and Joan bought.

Once the purchase was made, the Speedster’s next trip was a visit to Bill Godisak’s Sun Ray Restoration in Dowagiac for a complete restoration right down to restoring each facet on every nut and bolt in order to preserve the original old style fasteners.  Ultra-Tech Racing Engines in Mishawaka, Indiana rebuilt the car’s motor.    The Ultra-Tech team put in new bearings, bored out the cylinder block, fitted new pistons and rings and ground the valves, which resulted in a “better than new” motor. 

While the Auburn Speedster would look sensational in bare steel, it looked downright ravishing in a striking black and orange paint job.   Don says that back in 1932, for $50 extra, Auburn would paint your Speedster any color you wanted.  I’m sure glad black and orange was selected.   It has a look-at-me effect on his Speedster.

Speaking of paint, I was told by Don that the restoration of the Speedster was completed at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 3.  That was the day before the St. Joseph Concours’ event!  Thank you, Don, for getting the job done on time.

I asked Don if he had plans to show his Speedster at other Concours.  None are planned at the moment but he is thinking of nominating the automobile for the Concours d’Elegance of America car show in Plymouth, Mich. (formerly the Meadowbrook Concours) held each July just prior to the St. Joseph Concours.

Happily, I learned that Don still has a few vintage cars in his collection.   He has a 1932 Packard Super Eight 7-Passenger Sedan and a 1925 Dodge panel truck, which sports an original advertisement for the James Heddon and Sons fishing tackle company.   He also is currently restoring a 1910 Stoddard-Dayton Model K that has been languishing on the back burner for over 35 years.  Those of us on the Concours team are hoping that Don and Joan bring the newly restored Stoddard-Dayton to a future St. Joseph Concours and the Dodge panel truck to the 2014 event.   The planned Concours’ featured marque for 2014 is Dodge.   The Niles-based Dodge Brothers started the Dodge brand in 1914.

I’m writing this column on Halloween day.   I can’t think of an automobile more appropriately painted to drive to a masked ball at the Ritz than Don and Joan’s black and orange Speedster.   Maybe they’ll loan it to me next year.  You think?

Longtime automotive enthusiast and collector Don Lyons and his wife Joan stand before their trophy winning 1932 Auburn Speedster Boat Tail roadster at the 2012 Concours d'Elegance of Southwest Michigan automobile show last August 4.  The newly renovated black and orange vintage car drew rave reviews from all who saw it on display in Lake Bluff Park.  The restoration of the Auburn was completed at 5:00 p.m. on the day before the car show.  Photo provided by Jim Meister