This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Auburn/Cord/Dusenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. The museum has a collection of absolutely beautiful old cars as well as good exhibits on their underlying technology. I was struck by the fact that these beautiful old cars were relatively inefficient (315 cubic inches of displacement produced about 125 horsepower) and that they took a lot of understanding to operate (who among you would know what a spark advance setting or choke is and how to use it?). I was also struck by the sheer proliferation of car manufacturers from that era (1920-1935), many of whom I had never heard of, and none of which are extant today.