Following a disastrous year of sales severely impacted by the onset of the Great Depression, Auburn’s entire 1931 lineup was simultaneously reduced to a single model platform, the 8-98, which in turn was entirely redesigned by in-house stylist Alan Leamy.

Leamy had been hired away from Marmon three years prior, and his first job was the Cord L-29, the new front-drive car then under development.

For the 8-98, he used some of the same styling cues from the low-slung Cord but applied them to dramatic effect on the taller Auburn chassis.

Unveiled to great acclaim, Leamy’s sleek and sporty catalogued designs for the 8-98 wholly reinvigorated sales for the marque.

Beneath the surface, the revised and improved mechanicals of the 8-98 platform, with its 268 cubic-inch, straight-eight engine, introduced notable features, including the pioneering use of X-bracing in a rear-wheel drive car, Bijur lubrication, Lovejoy hydraulic shocks, semi-elliptical suspension on all corners, and an optional...