Auburn Indy Racer at Hemmings-Branson Rally

Caldwells finished a very respectable 15th overall, with 57 cars still running out of the 76 at the end of the 4,000 mile rally. No mechanical problems but they did suffer damage to the boattail taking the car off the trailer.

In the 114 degree heat out of Laughlin climbing to 8,000 feet at Big Bear they did run hot and had to stop, but it didn't hurt their finishing position.

The Caldwells won Day 4 outright and are currently in 10th place. Saturday willbe the midpoint of the race with a day off.

Here it is fron the rear 3/4. Hard to tell it's an Auburn from this angle, but it does show the seamless body and the engine turned dash. The big white gauge is the Timewise electronic speedometer, mandatory kit for running these rallys. The steering wheel has a quick disconnect to make it easier to get into the snug cockpit. The seat cushion back unsnaps for access to storage in the tail.

I'll let Chad know he's welcomed at ACD. He's entered the car as #31 in Greatrace this year. The car is at Charlotte NC for the race now. Check out Greatrace.com for the race route, which this year runs a southern route across the US from Charlotte to Anaheim via Little Rock and Dallas. Go see them at a lunch or overnight stop and cheer them on. They have a good chance to win this event if the car is strong enough. That will be someting like 4,000 rally miles in June and July!

Greatrace starts on June 30th. You can follow along on the GR website each day and see how they are doing.

29AV8

Tell Chad his beautiful racer would be welcomed and enjoyed at Auburn. It's eligible to be on the field with its fellow Auburns, and to be driven in the parade. The only thing it is not eligible for is judging.

Hope to see it at the 2007 Reunion!

Now THAT looks like my little electric Auburn!

This is Chad Caldwell's 1931 Auburn racer. The "Awesome Auburn" is based on the boat tailed racer previously featured on this site, and was built from a sedan using the chassis, driveline, and grille shell. The Caldwells use it to compete in vintage rally events run by Greatrace and VCRA. This shot is in Missouri while on the Hemmings-Branson VCRA rally this past June 11-15.

Chad drives and his wife Jenny navigates, rain or shine: and it rained plenty on this event. They normally do very well with it; they scored 5th in class and 10th overall on this race. Like many teams with open cars, a strong late afternoon thunderstorm on the last day hurt their final score.

The car exhibits a lot of craftsmanship and nice lines. The Lycoming straight 8 has a very nice sound through the open exhaust, and it runs strong. The seamless aluminum body with engine turned dash is striking.

Chad is reluctant to bring it to ACD meets since it was made from an intact sedan, afraid that the purists might not like what he did or is doing with it. I think most ACD folks would get a big kick out of it. Few if any are being driven as hard as this one: is this the only Auburn race car active in motorsport today?

What do you think of it?

photo by Steve Hedke
29AV9