Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum
Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg automobiles occupy the company’s restored 1930 headquarters, where architecture, advertising, engineering, and Indiana manufacturing still speak together.
Artwork inspired by Robert Indiana
The collection’s great advantage is context: these cars remain inside the Auburn Automobile Company’s National Historic Landmark headquarters. The tiled showroom, executive offices, drafting spaces, advertising, and vehicles explain how luxury was designed and sold during a volatile era. A Duesenberg is impressive as sculpture, but more revealing when compared with the company organization and skilled labor that made it possible.
Begin in the grand showroom, then slow down around chassis, engineering displays, and the building itself. Compare an Auburn’s value proposition, a Cord’s front-wheel-drive experimentation, and a Duesenberg’s bespoke scale. Coachwork rewards close looking because many bodies came from outside firms. The museum is substantial; pairing it with the neighboring National Auto & Truck Museum can fill most of a day, so do not compress both into one rushed hour.
- Setting
- Original 1930 headquarters
- Historic status
- National Historic Landmark
- Collection
- More than 120 vehicles
Quick guide
- Read the room
- Treat the headquarters showroom and offices as primary artifacts, not merely a backdrop.
- Compare three marques
- Use Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg to contrast market, engineering, and status.
How to look beyond polished chrome
- Read the room
- Treat the headquarters showroom and offices as primary artifacts, not merely a backdrop.
- Compare three marques
- Use Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg to contrast market, engineering, and status.
- Trace the coachwork
- Separate chassis maker, body builder, designer, and original customer when labels allow.
- Inspect the underside
- Engineering and chassis displays explain innovations hidden by dramatic bodywork.
Good to know
The museum normally opens daily during daytime hours and charges admission, with youth and senior reductions. Free parking is available on site. Elevators serve the multi-level historic building, but visitors who need a particular route or loaner mobility aid should confirm availability. Allow extra time if combining this museum with the separate automobile museum behind it.
Notice these
- Art Deco showroom
- Cord front-wheel-drive engineering
- Duesenberg coachbuilt automobiles