Saw this for sale and thought good thing the builder quit!

[auburnseeker]

I saw this for sale on ebay and while some of it doesn't look too bad,  I can't help but wonder who in their right mind would change a door handle location to their???  Maybe it's a good thing they quit when they did.

[Joe in Canada]

I would think a very short person would lower the handle. It may have been Mickey Rooney's car at one time. But we will never know.

[auburnseeker]

Don't tell the seller that.  Before you know it in today's world it will be fact that it was indeed his car,  even though it isn't finished and has a small block just like his car had back in 1936?  Right?

[Restorer32]

I heard that several engineers at Auburn built this car as an experiment in design without the knowledge of management. One of the engineers was short of stature which explains the lowered handle. It was discovered in a warehouse in Auburn in the 1960's, coincidentally parked next to the Tucker Convertible, but was minus its engine so a small block was installed until an original engine, purportedly a straight 12, could be found.

[8E45E]

Perhaps he wanted to 'keep it simple', by directly connecting it to the latch, therefore eliminating any linkage. I wonder if the interior handle is in the exact same location opposite.

 

Craig

[padgett]

Pool car for the munchkins ?

[60FlatTop]

You know, the kind of person who would mount a door handle like that would probably cut a hood ornament in half to make quarter panel trim.

I have heard of it happening.

 

Or?

Bernie

Edited February 21, 2017 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[capngrog]

Here's a shot of two of the Auburn engineers with the alloy crank case for the fabled Auburn I-12:

 

 

The guy on the right has just spotted the Auburn management team descending from its Ivory Tower to the factory floor and is wondering how to disguise the thing.  Maybe as a multi-lane traffic control device, or a fitment for a communal outhouse, or ...

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

P.S.  Both of these guys are midgets and are only 3ft. tall.

Edited February 21, 2017 by capngrog
added more information (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

Whatever it actually is that's one helluva casting.

[trimacar]

1914 Duesenberg marine engine, 3221 cubic inches........

[jeff_a]

8 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

I heard that several engineers at Auburn built this car as an experiment in design without the knowledge of management. One of the engineers was short of stature which explains the lowered handle. It was discovered in a warehouse in Auburn in the 1960's, coincidentally parked next to the Tucker Convertible, but was minus its engine so a small block was installed until an original engine, purportedly a straight 12, could be found.

They should re-do the picture with Clark Gable and/or Marilyn Monroe in it instead of the disco-era motor to sell it. Better to have a Lycoming V-12 and fake provenance, than a fake engine and no provenance. With the ground clearance of a Sears go-cart, the car would have trouble clearing a corncob in a barnyard, much less have the imposing look of a Thirties Classic.