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Cord 810/812 - way ahead of American technology and design trends

Name: Cord 812 1937
Brand: Cord

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Created on September 9, 2012

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

Hugh Hamilton - Courtesy RM Auctions

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions 2011

Shooters.biz - courtesy of RM Auctions

Gooding & Company, Mathieu Heurtault

Martin Schatzmann

Archiv

Bruno von Rotz

Hugh Hamilton - Courtesy RM Auctions

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions 2011

Shooters.biz - courtesy of RM Auctions

Gooding & Company, Mathieu Heurtault

Martin Schatzmann

Archiv

Cord 810 Convertible Phaeton (1936) - sold by RM at the Amelia Island auction in 2012

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - popular at Concours d'Elegance events

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - open version with compressor

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - Dashboard with tenon cut

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - the radiator bent around the front was a new design element

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - only the compressor models had the external exhaust pipes

Bild von Partner Porsche AMAG Mai Foto-Galerie 2026

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - the design element of the external tubes was also found on other cars

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - the headlights were raised and lowered using a hand crank

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - two cranks are responsible for its activation

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - the gear change is activated electrically via this small gate to the right of the steering wheel

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Cord Custom Beverly Supercharged (1937) - Vintage car in Obwalden OiO 2011

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Cord Custom Beverly Supercharged (1937) - Vintage car in Obwalden OiO 2011 - beautiful details

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Cord 812 Phaeton (1937) - offered at the Gooding & Company auction in Pebble Beach on August 18/19, 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - offered as Lot 152 at the Monterey RM Auction on August 17 and 18, 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - side view - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - rear view - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - Interior - Vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - elegantly designed levers - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - Speedometer up to 150 miles - Vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - beautifully designed clock - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - the gears are preselected with this gearshift on the steering wheel - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - the headlights are raised and lowered with this crank - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - View of the engine compartment - Vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 Supercharged "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - chrome-plated exhaust pipes on the supercharged models - vehicle sold by RM at the Monterey Auction 2012

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Cord 812 SC "Sportsman" Convertible Coupe (1937) - sold at RM Auction Arizona (January 19 and 20, 2012) for USD 385,000

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Cord B12 S/C Sedan (1937) - always impressive design, new acquisition of the Autostadt - at the Techno Classica Essen 2012

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Cord 812 SC Convertible Phaeton Sedan (1937) - Third in the "American Classic Open" category - Pebble Beach 2012 (C1-09)

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Cord 812 SC Phaeton (1937) - sold at RM Auction Arizona (January 19 and 20, 2012) for USD 148,500

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Cord 810 (1936) - the four-door saloon on the sales brochure of the time

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Cord 810 (1936) - the four-door version was called "Sedan"

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Cord 810 (1936) - Cross-section through the "Sedan"

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Cord 812 (1937) - at a car meeting in the seventies

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Cord 810 (1936) - richly equipped dashboard with unusual functions

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Cord 810 (1936) - Service flaps for oil and water behind the hood

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Cord 810 (1936) - the Lycoming V8 engine with 90 degree angle

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Cord 810 (1936) - hydraulic shock absorbers on the front axle

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Cord 810 (1936) - Front axle construction

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Cord 810 (1936) - the two-seater open version

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Cord 812 (1937) - the car with supercharger that Howard Hughes once owned

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Cord 810 (1936) - this two-seater convertible was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1974

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Cord 810 (1936) - rear view of the closed "Sedan" version - seen at an auction in 1977

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Cord 812 S/C (1937) - am Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2012 - Kategorie 'A - Graceful Open-Air Style'

Cord 812 S/C (1937) Armaturenansicht - am Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2012 - Kategorie 'A - Graceful Open-Air Style'

Summary

The Cord 810/812 was probably one of the most innovative automobiles in American history. The breathtaking styling and advanced technical solutions were far ahead of their time. It would be 30 years before another American production car, the Oldsmobile Toronado, featured the front-wheel drive already seen on the Cord 810. This report goes back to the history of the Cord 810/812 and shows various vehicles in pictures, supplemented by two original sales brochures and historical images.

This article contains the following chapters

Not the first Cord
From the baby Duesenberg to the Cord
The best possible design
Without a gearbox at the New York Auto Show
With front-wheel drive
With four-speed preselector gearbox
With innovative operating elements
"On a budget" (with a tightly buckled belt)
Produced in many variants
Comparatively cheap
Safe to drive and fast
2,900 units in 18 months
Further information

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Front-wheel drive, retractable lights, an oil level indicator in the cockpit, an electrically remote-controlled preselector gearbox and a top speed of over 180 km/h - these were attributes that were certainly not part of everyday automotive life in the 1930s, especially not in the USA. No wonder visitors to the New York Auto Show in 1935 were stamping their feet to see (and order) the revolutionary car. The entrepreneur Errett Lobban Cord had built up a small car empire in the 1920s, which included Auburn, Duesenberg and suppliers such as the engine manufacturer Lycoming. As early as 1929, Cord had caused a sensation with the first front-wheel-drive L-29 model offered under his own name, making it the first ever American front-wheel-drive car. The impressively styled car did not survive the economic crisis and production was ended in 1932 after around 4,400 units.

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