This is the 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster Replica that was bought new by Liberace and used by him as part of his wildly popular Las Vegas stage show for many years.
This car is one of the Auburn replicas built by California Custom Coach from the 1970s into the 1980s, over 250 of them were sold, most based on Ford running gear from the time, and they remain popular on the secondhand market today.
Fast Facts: Liberace’s 1976 Boattail Speedster Replica
- The Auburn Speedster Company, officially California Custom Coach, was founded by Cecil Gold and Ray Oja in 1975. Operating from a historic Pasadena showroom, it produced fiberglass replicas of the famous 1935 Auburn 851 Speedster, using lengthened Ford chassis, V8 engines, automatic transmissions, power steering, and power-assisted brakes.
- The company offered two models, the two-seat 876 Speedster and four-seat 876 Phaeton, selling over 250 Auburn replicas by late 1978. It also developed a four-door Corvette conversion and a Ferrari Daytona Spyder replica. One of its Auburns appeared in the TV series “Remington Steele,” and the company was eventually revived in Texas in 2011.
- This 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster replica was originally owned by Liberace, who used it in his Las Vegas stage performances throughout the 1980s. He kept the car until his death in 1987, after which it was auctioned by his estate in April of 1990.
- Finished in red with burgundy fenders, gold pinstriping, and red leather upholstery, the car is powered by a Ford 302 V8 paired with an automatic transmission. Over $9,800 in electrical work was completed in 2022. Its Liberace provenance is supported by historical registration documents, an estate auction catalog, and period photographs.
History Speedrun: The Auburn Speedster Company
The Auburn Speedster Company (officially named California Custom Coach) sold a line of popular Auburn Speedster replicas out of the Howard Motor Company Building, a Los Angeles luxury car showroom that had been built back in 1927, by the end of 1978 the company had sold more than 250 of them.
The Auburn Speedster Company (officially named California Custom Coach) sold a line of popular Auburn Speedster replicas out of the Howard Motor Company Building, a Los Angeles luxury car showroom that had been built back in 1927, by the end of 1978 the company had sold more than 250 of them. Image courtesy of California Custom Coach.
The Original 851 Speedster
The car being replicated was Gordon Buehrig’s legendary 851 Speedster, first introduced for the 1935 model year. Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg had been run as a group under E.L. Cord’s company, the Cord Corporation, and all three stopped building cars in 1937 due to the ongoing effects of the Great Depression.
In 1938 Dallas Winslow bought the leftover parts stock and the three marque names and set up a parts-and-service business he called the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company. An Oklahoma schoolteacher named Glenn Pray later bought that same business in 1960, and from 1968-on built his own 866 Speedster out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Others soon followed. A Buffalo, New York company with a similar name, the Auburn Speedster Co, had been building replicas on a 126-inch wheelbase starting in 1971, and its customers included Sammy Davis Jr.
Elegant Motors of Indianapolis opened up shop in 1973 selling the Clénet Roadster at a cost of $27,000 USD in 1977, at a time when a Mercedes-Benz 450SL cost $22,000 USD.
The Arrival Of California Custom Coach
Cecil Gold and Ray Oja of Burbank founded California Custom Coach, Inc. in California on November the 28th, 1975, and the Auburn Speedster Company, Inc. followed on April the 30th, 1976.
This is the 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster Replica that was bought new by Liberace and used by him as part of his wildly popular Las Vegas stage show for many years.
The showroom and works were in the Howard Motor Company Building at 1285 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, a Spanish Colonial Revival showroom in the “California Churrigueresque” style. Colorado Boulevard is the Rose Parade route, and parade crowds could see the Speedsters lined up on a checkerboard showroom floor.
The 876 Speedster + 876 Phaeton
The company sold two Auburn models, the 876 Speedster was a two-seater, and the 876 Phaeton was a four-seat boattail – both had fiberglass bodies. The primary donor was a full-size Ford chassis, lengthened to the original Auburn’s 127 inch wheelbase.
The cars were powered by Ford V8s from 302 cubic inches (4.9 liters) up through 400, 429, and 460 cubic inch (6.6, 7.0 and 7.5 liter) units, all with automatic transmissions, often Ford’s C6 3-speed. Power steering and power brakes were fitted as a matter of course.
Initially, kits could be bought starting at $6,995 USD but in early-1979 the company stopped selling kits altogether. From then on it sold only factory-built cars, at $37,500 USD for the Speedster and $42,500 USD for the Phaeton.
The Corvette America + The Daytona Spyder
California Custom Coach didn’t just stay in the Auburn business, its Corvette America model debuted in 1979, it was a four-door conversion of the C3 Corvette with four high-backed bucket seats and a removable roof panel over each one. It’s believed that between five and ten were built, the last of them on 1980 donor cars. The company also built a Ferrari Daytona Spyder replica on a C3 chassis.
Power comes from a Ford 302 cubic inch (5.0 liter) V8 paired with an automatic transmission. The car has power steering and power-assisted four-wheel drum brakes.
The Remington Steele Speedster
One particular California Custom Coach Auburn would be seen by millions thanks to the fact that it became the title character’s personal car in Remington Steele, the TV series starring Pierce Brosnan, from the seventh episode of its second season onwards.
The End + A Revival
California Custom Coach advertised its Auburn until at least 1984 but the company didn’t last much longer. In the mid-1980s some of the Auburn molds went to Repli-Classics in Clearwater, Florida.
In 2010 Alex Christodulidis, who had admired the cars as a young man in Geneva, bought the company’s patterns, molds, blueprints, and unused parts. He moved the business to Irving, Texas, and the revived California Custom Coach unveiled its Model 876 at the SEMA show in Las Vegas on November the 1st, 2011.
Liberace’s 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster Replica
This 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster replica was built by the Auburn Speedster Company of Burbank, California, and was originally owned by legendary entertainer Liberace. He used the car as part of his Las Vegas stage show during the 1980s, and it remained in his possession until his death in 1987.
The car was later sold at an Estate of Liberace auction in California in April of 1990, and was bought by the current seller in 2020. The car has fiberglass bodywork finished in red with burgundy fenders and gold pinstriping, rising on chrome wire wheels with whitewall tires.
As with all California Custom Coach Auburns, this car has pontoon fenders, rear-hinged coach doors, a flying lady hood ornament, dual spotlights, and a locking golf bag door. Inside, there’s red leather upholstery, a Nardi steering wheel, a turned aluminum dashboard with VDO instrumentation, and two dashboard-mounted clocks.
Power comes from a Ford 302 cubic inch (5.0 liter) V8 paired with an automatic transmission. The car has power steering and power-assisted four-wheel drum brakes.
In 2022, City Classic Cars of Spring, Texas, carried out more than $9,800 in work, including the installation of a replacement wiring harness, fuse block, single-wire alternator, and MSD ignition system. The seller also notes that the car once had a one-gallon fuel tank to comply with Nevada fire regulations during its stage-show appearances, though a conventional replacement tank was later installed and it remains in the car now.
This 1976 Auburn Boattail Speedster replica was built by the Auburn Speedster Company of Burbank, California, and was originally owned by legendary entertainer Liberace. He used the car as part of his Las Vegas stage show during the 1980s, and it remained in his possession until his death in 1987.
The car is accompanied by documentation supporting its Liberace provenance, including a copy of its 1982 Nevada title in his name, the 1990 Estate of Liberace auction catalog, period news articles, and a photograph showing the car on stage with the entertainer during the 1980s.
It is now being offered for sale out of Las Vegas, Nevada with a Nevada title in the seller’s name listing the car as a 1976 Auburn. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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