THE AUBURN SPEEDSTER In the days when Bugattis crossed France and 4½-Litre Bentleys tore through the British countryside, the American equivalent was the Auburn Speedster.

Indiana’s Auburn Automobile Company revealed its first version of this dashing body style, inspired by a Duesenberg show car, for the 1928 model year and would offer variations on the theme through to the end of production in 1936.

The 1935 to 1936 Speedsters were designed by the legendary Gordon Buehrig.

Audacious by the standards of their time, they featured curvaceous bodywork with a straight hood line shooting back from the radiator to a V-shaped windshield, down between pontoon fenders, over gently sloping doors, and descending in a graceful taper to the rear bumper.

It was this distinctive rear design, elegantly outlined by chrome and striping, which gave the Speedster its everlasting nickname, “the boattail.” Underneath, the Speedster shared the same exciting mechanicals as other supercharged Auburn models...