trimacar Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Everyone tells the tale that the dash plaque on Auburn speedsters was put there after Ab Jenkins drove each car over 100 mph. I once read that this is not true, and that the plaques were originally made as a project in the 1960's or so, and have now changed from a novelty item to historical fact. Does anyone have documentation of the true story? Were these "signed" plaques actually attached to the car at the factory before delivery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Former Auburn assembly line workers reported during the modern era that they installed the plates when the cars were put together on the line. Thus, the individual cars were not tested, but there's little doubt that the speedsters in particular could exceed 100. Note that there were subtle variations in the speeds shown on the plates. The plates are in fact reproduced now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Interesting story, but I still consider that hearsay, not fact. I'd like to know if there's any hard evidence that these plaques came on the car new, such as an Auburn factory bulletin or such. I have it on pretty good authority that these plaques were first made in the 1950's or 60's, and they've now migrated from a novelty item to "fact" status, when in fact no such thing was ever done at the factory.. Just asking for hard proof, either way. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Th Ab Jenkins tag was indeed installed on all 35-36 Auburn speedsters. (No other models) The Auburn part number is G5437. This info comes from the Auburn Master Price book. " Plate - speed certificate 851 speedster " I have an original with the speed at 101 MPH. Ab Jenkins did notdrive every speedster, but he did drive at least one at Bonneville at 100+ mph For 24 hours. Google will produce a 20+ minute vid of this.I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Excellent, that's what I was looking for, if it had an Auburn part number at the time then it would be authentic on a speedster. That said, factory tags should all have the same speed on them, and not vary by tenths of a mile per hour. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) Not to my knowledge David, there is only one part number. What would be the impetus for the factory to change the number? New artwork, new tag, for no profit. At that time, the company was not in the mode of doing things like that. The pix is a genny Ab Jenkins tag. And yes, I reproduce them. Edited December 9, 2015 by Curti (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 Someone had mentioned that they'd seen tags with different mph numbers on them, that was the reason for my comment. The tag on any other car than a speedster would be incorrect, from what I'm seeing. thanks again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 It is my opinion that the Ab Jenkins tags only were installed on speedsters. This is evidenced by the description in the book 'speedster' . Later, people especially with S/C cars liked to put them on the dash, but the factory didn't do it. I have seen them under the hood and on six cylinder cars. It is all fine if they are having fun ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 I believe my question really goes to preservation of history in a correct manner. There are already so many myths out there that people take as factual. For example, a lot of people believe Henry Ford invented both the automobile and the assembly line. We know the first is not true, and as to the assembly line, he took that concept to a level not seen before, but he didn't invent it. There is just so much misinformation out there. I watched a Chasing Classic Cars last night, he'd bought four brass cars, one of which was a Buick Model 16. The show proceeded to say that this model was only built in 1910, which is not true, it was a 1909 model also. Nitpicking, but that's just a small example of the things that aren't correct, from a historical standpoint, yet become "fact". OK, off my soapbox! thanks and I agree with "only speedsters" on the plaque..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I am in complete agreement with you. We have no control of what others do.My hobby is to restore the car the way it sat on the showroom floor after dealer prep. No better No worse.It is easy to over restore a car. It in not so easy to do the research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 On 12/9/2015 at 8:44 AM, Curti said: Th Ab Jenkins tag was indeed installed on all 35-36 Auburn speedsters. (No other models) The Auburn part number is G5437. This info comes from the Auburn Master Price book. " Plate - speed certificate 851 speedster " I have an original with the speed at 101 MPH. Ab Jenkins did not drive every speedster, but he did drive at least one at Bonneville at 100+ mph For 24 hours. Google will produce a 20+ minute vid of this. I hope this helps. This post will help clear up the 100 mph tag question for Auburn’s, discussed on another thread.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md murray Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 44 minutes ago, trimacar said: This post will help clear up the 100 mph tag question for Auburn’s, discussed on another thread.... Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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