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The Rockne six, making its first public appearance, proved to be a trim little job with lines more like Plymouth's than Chevrolet or Ford. It can be recognized on the street by an R on the hubcap, a slightly slanted V-type radiator and the generous width of its glass panels. Its streamlined fenders will not be so distinguishable from its competitors this year as they would have been last. Prices: $585-$695 for the 66-h. p., 110-in. wheelbase model; $68s-$795 for the 72-h. p., 114-in. model.
Most radically changed car in the 1932 Show was probably Graham-Paige. From a conservative body with small color range last year it now offers a thoroughly streamlined design in tints of the Easter egg spectrum.
Plymouth and Buick both gave the public something to think about in the autumn but until then 1931's automobile excitement was supplied chiefly by Auburn. In 1930 Auburn Automobile Co. turned out 13,000 cars. Last February, banking on the hit it made at the 1931 Show, it stepped up production to 19,900 cars for the first four months. Enthusiastic President Errett Lobban Cord predicted 40,000 for 1931. At year's end some 33,300 Auburns had been sold. There was much that was psychological in the Auburn triumph. The U. S. was on the downside of Depression yet here was an automobile at $945, low with racy lines. It looked rich, would do 80 m. p. h. It answered the need of many a man who had lost his shirt but hoped his friends did not know it. It made many another man who never had it to lose, feel like a million dollars.
Not content with the Auburn and the high-priced Duesenberg which he had been making in small quantities since 1928, Errett Cord launched another car in late 1929, longer, lower, racier than his first. Expensive and finely engineered, with the driving power in the front wheels, it was named after himself. The Cord, jokes the automobile industry, is just an Auburn running backward. But Errett Cord, the industry admits, is still a Cord running forward. At the Show last week was to be seen a new Auburn V-Twelve with at least one exclusive device novel to the industry— a dual ratio rear axle operated from the dashboard. From a 4½-to-1 ratio in high speed a touch on the button steps the car up to 3-to-1, giving great speed and smoothness on flat straight stretches. Able to do 100 m. p. h., priced at $1,345, the Auburn drew the largest crowds from the moment the Show opened.