Stylist Alan Leamy at Auburn

[bob horgan]

Can anybody out there please tell me if Alan H. Leamy had anything to do with the 1935 Auburn 851 Phaeton. I now he died at 33 years of age and had a great career but don't know if he contributed to this project.

Thanks in advance.

[Richard F]

Alan Leamy was the chief stylist at Auburn in the early '30's and did a redesign for the 1934 6 and 8 cyl models ( I happen to have a '34 Phaeton). The design was transitional to the streamlining movement of the mid and late 30's and had a raked windshield, skirted fenders, a shovel-nosed grill and a more modern dash layout.

The design was very contemporary among its '34 competitors but was panned by some of the auto critics of the day, particularly in regard to the nose. Although sales were a bit better than '33, Leamy got the blame for weak sales and the model run was ultimately cut short.

In mid '34 Gordon Buehrig was brought in to do a quick facelift on the Leamy design. The results were the 35 and 36 Auburn. The 35 radiator shell was extended out over the grill and the grill was changed to look something like the 34 Olds. The embossed flare on the fender skirts was eliminated, hood louvers were made to look like a 34 Caddy, and for the first time since the mid 20's, Auburn lacked its distinctive hood belt-molding . Nearly everything else about the '35 design (Interior, body proportions, the unique sweeping fender lines) are the same or very similar to the '34.

Basically the classic, late Auburn design of 35 and 36 usually attributed only to Gordon Buehrig was a minor facelift of Alan Leamy's work in 1934. Leamy took the heat for the '34's poor sales and left for GM while history gave credit for the last Auburn to Buehrig, when in fact both contributed to the design. This may also be partly due to the fact that the "classic" Auburn is considered to be the speedster, which was not produced in '34 but which Buehrig added back into the '35 model line.

[bob horgan]

Thank You Richard for the information. I appreciate your help.

Bob Horgan ? Grand Rapids, MI