This is a one-of-a-kind offering, a 1932 Auburn Special Speedster that was turned into a race car in the mid-1930s. Now Buick-powered, it’s offered here on eBay in Denver with a jaw-dropping asking price of $175,999. The story goes from vendor Weisco Motorcars LTD that this was originally one of just 13 Auburn Speedster Model 8-100As built in 1932, but an accident sidelined it soon after it was sold new.

People did what they did in those days—they turned it into a minimally bodied race car. Here’s a little of the known history: The idea was that the Auburn special would be “competing in the Indianapolis 500’s new (but short-lived) two-man formula. It apparently did not compete at Indy. It was purchased by Ted Weiss around World War II and then sold to Nelson Thorpe. Bruce Fleischmann and Milt Johnson of B & M Speed Shop acquired the car in the early 1950s and fitted it with an early-version Buick Roadmaster engine and custom intake log/linkage set featuring four two-barrel Rochester carbs.

“A three-speed synchronized transmission was sourced from a 1937 GMC pickup. Along with the original, rare and desirable Columbia two-speed rear end, the Auburn has six forward speeds. According to the car’s extensive provenance file—which will accompany the car—the Auburn was well-known in the East Coast post-war dirt track racing circuit.”

After this, the Auburn left the dirt tracks and was campaigned all over, including being a feature entry at the Pittsburgh Grand Prix. The car was then acquired by California Classix, a Ventura, California speed shop, where it was returned to its early 1950s glory. The team there repainted the Auburn, fitted it with 20-inch Dayton wire wheels, nickel-plated the trim, and rebuilt the mechanicals. Original to the 1932 Auburn are the frame, chassis, steering wheel, brakes, dashboard and other features. The car went to the east coast in 2010, traded for a 1947 Jaguar Dunsmore special, a 1973 Maserati Bora and a 1955 Austin-Healey.

Great Racer Jerome Reinan bought it in 2013, and immediately sent it to the Hot Rod Shop in Fargo for a replacement 1939 Buick Roadmaster 320 motor. The mill was bored, polished and ported. Back in fighting trim, Reinan ran it in two 2,500-mile Great Races. Further work (including a high-altitude setup and carb rebuild) happened at Mile High Performance and Dyno Tuning in Denver, where the car resides now. The venerable Buick engine is putting out approximately 300 crankshaft horsepower.

The Auburn is now said to be fully sorted and ready for historic racing (note the seatbelts, something it wouldn’t have had when the original roughnecks took it on the track). Or the Speedster Special can sit quietly in your collection, separated from viewers by velvet ropes. It drips patina, down to the rough body panels fashioned not for a fashion show but for the heat of battle on primitive dirt tracks.

It’s likely that this car is more valuable as an historic racer than as a restored Auburn Speedster, but the latter is a possibility too, one would suppose. An original 8-100A was sold for $152,000 at auction in 2023.