1999 was a banner year for the Retropolis Rocket Works; it seemed like in '99, every make and model was on a roll. But the most stylish and, arguably, the most nimble racer was the Auburn Beauty-Six.

This rocket was a descendant of the fantastic motor cars produced by the Auburn Automobile Company of Indiana. Auburn's fast, powerful, and beautiful roadsters were all that a driver of the 1920's or 30's could hope for, but unfortunately, they were also more than a driver of the 1930's could actually afford. Like Cord, which had purchased Auburn by then, the Great Depression was the end of Auburn. Till much later, of course.

The brand was revived by the Retropolis Rocket Works in the 1980's and these new Auburn rockets quickly proved that they were worthy successors to the brand. The 1999 model, shown here as a part of the Retropolis Rocket Works' "Vintage Racing Series", was powerful, fast, and wickedly stylish. It captured the hearts and minds of countless pilots and has continued to take home prizes from races and rallies between Indiana and the asteroid belt.

The rocket illustrated here is the famous vintage racer piloted by Nat Gonella in his record-breaking tour of the Tycho-Phobos Rally, the Europa Interdimensional, and the Andromedan Trans-Orbital Multistage Endeavor. It's distinguised not only by its string of victories but by the fact that it contains all - and only - original parts.

It's a fine choice for the first in our "Vintage Racing Series" - and boys and girls, don't forget to collect the whole set!