The Churubusco Headquarters of C & A Tool Engineering was a frenzy of classic automobile activity Tuesday morning when 50 Auburns, Cords and Deusenbergs lined the parking lot on the first leg of the 33rd annual Auburn Cord Deusenberg Festival Hoosier Tour.

The tour traveled from C & A Tool to a luncheon cruise at Lake Wawasee and then to a Wagon Wheel performance of the Buddy Holly story in Warsaw and a car show, also in Warsaw. They will return to Auburn Thursday at noon for the ACD Kick-off luncheon, the official start of the ACD Classic Car Show and Festival, which continues through Labor Day weekend.

Leading the pack were ACD festival officials, Belva Meyer and Jack Randinelli, both of Auburn. Meyer said the festival had added new events this year, including a bed race and waiter/waitress contest, and urged everyone to visit the festival.

In April C & A Tool owner Dick Conrow opened a new manufacturing firm in Auburn, and brought some of the glamor and intrique of the ACD Festival to Churubusco by hosting the Hoosier Tour stop. Drivers and passengers on the tour had the opportunity to tour the C & A Tool facility before continuing their trip.

To expand his multimillion-dollar tooling and machining business to Auburn, Conrow purchased the 105,000 square-foot former Kimball Electronics building at 1015 W. Fifteenth Street to house the new aerospace division of C & A Tool. The secure building and 30-acre site offer room for future growth, he said, and the company initially will invest about $10 million in the Auburn plant.
You can read more about the expansion here.

“This is fantastic,” Conrow said standing outside his offices amid dozens of classic roadsters, coupes and sedans Tuesday morning. “Some of these cars are unbelievable.”

Meyer, who is chairman of this year’s festival, and her husband, Sidney, bought their 12-cylinder 1932 Auburn Brougham from a friend in 1992. They have been involved in the festival and the Hoosier Tour ever since.

For a complete list of events for the ACD Festival go to www.acdfestival.org.

A reflection of elegance and days gone by.

1935 Auburn Phaeton Sedan owned by Vincent and Kathleen Quinn of Quakertown, Penn.

Television crews interview Belva Meyer, ACD Festival official, Sarah and Dick Conrow, owners of C & A Tool Engineering, and Jack Randinelli, ACD Festival official, Tuesday morning at C & A Tool headquarters in Churubusco - the first stop of the ACD Festival Hoosier Tour.

Sarah and Dick Conrow, owners of C & A Tool Engineering, and Belva Meyer, chairman of the 2008 ACD Festival, talk to the media.

Belva Meyer stands next to her 1932 Auburn Brougham in front of C & A Tool Engineering in Churubusco.