Charles Eckhart was a carriage builder. In 1874, he had established the Eckhart Carriage Company in Auburn, Indiana. In 1900, his sons Frank and Morris built their first solid-tired, tiller-steered runabout and organized the Auburn Automobile Company to build it. Twin-cylinder models were available in 1905, a four in 1909 and a six by 1912. Success was modest at best, and the Eckharts sold out to a group of Chicago investors, who included chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., in 1919.

The new management introduced the Auburn Beauty Six that year, a restyled and more attractive automobile, but the post-World War I recession hindered sales. Large inventories of unsold cars greeted Errett Lobban Cord when he signed on as general manager in 1923. Cord had the stockpiled Auburns repainted in attractive bright colors and quickly cleared out the inventory. He also bought some eight-cylinder engines from Lycoming Manufacturing Company, and for 1925 introduced the Auburn 8-63 a