To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Monterey event, 15 - 16 August 2025.

• Believed to have been the example delivered to the revered Sir Malcolm Campbell
• Formerly owned by renowned early collector Gene Zimmerman
• Beautiful restoration and presentation throughout
• A Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic

By far among the most stylish American cars of its era, the original Auburn speedster emphasized open-air performance for its two passengers, making it also the US’s only true sports car of the late 1920s. Dramatically styled with lines adapted from a McFarlan-bodied Duesenberg show car, it sold for under $1,000 but offered a remarkable top speed of 100 mph, thanks to special chassis and engine modifications unique to the model. Not for nothing did Auburn advertise it as “the biggest package in the world for the price.”

The speedster offered here, a top-of-the-line 8-115 or “Big Eight” of 1928, is one of the few verifiably authentic survivors. Built as an export model with right-hand-drive, it was supplied to a British owner by Maldon C. Harley & Co., of London, as noted by the seller’s plaque on the firewall, and such distinctively European touches as a Lucas “King of the Road” driving light and Zeiss spotlight, believed to hail from its early years.

It is believed that the car was originally delivered to Sir Malcolm Campbell, the famous Land Speed record driver, a history that has held to it for much of its known life. Period articles, included in the file, note that an 8-115 speedster was indeed shipped to Campbell, who had been impressed by watching Wade Morton drive a similar model to an average speed record of 104.347 mph on Daytona Beach. It was noted that Campbell intended to “enter the car in road races in England and in many contests will drive it himself.” Soon afterward he himself became the UK Auburn distributor, out of premises on St. James’s Street in London.

At a later point the car made its way back to its homeland and spent some years on display in Gene Zimmerman’s famous museum, Automobilorama of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Auburn was featured in some of the Automobilorama brochures and in a 1970s issue of Vintage Vehicles magazine, wearing British registration YW 9668 as it does today. Later it was purchased by Harold “Buck” Evans of Massachusetts, who in 1990 sold it to Ted Leonard of Rhode Island. The car remained in the Leonard collection for nearly 20 years, and then joined Sam and Emily Mann’s outstanding stable in 2009. David George undertook a mechanical restoration for them, and a cosmetic restoration was completed in California.

Winner of an Amelia Award at the 2018 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, the Auburn is still in beautiful overall condition, and described by Mr. Mann as “a very pleasant and extremely powerful automobile to drive—and a very delightful one. Perhaps Campbell did some special tuning. Beyond that, for me, this is one of the most beautiful, exciting-looking automotive designs to have been created in pre-war America.” It is a true sports car – of which Sir Malcolm Campbell would undoubtedly approve.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo25/.