Cord 1929-1937 - US front-wheel drive

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Cord 1929-1937 - US front-wheel drive

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Created in 2011

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

Shooters.biz - courtesy of RM Auctions

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Gooding & Company, Mathieu Heurtault

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Bruno von Rotz

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Courtesy of RM Auctions

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Pawel Litwinski - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Archiv

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Cord L-29 Cabriolet (1931) - auctioned as lot 256 by RM Auction London September 8/9, 2013

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Cord L-29 Cabriolet (1931) - auctioned as lot 256 by RM Auction London September 8/9, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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Cord 812 Phaeton (1937) - sold as lot 147 at RM Auction Arizona 2013

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

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Cord 812 Supercharged Phaeton (1937) - as lot 159 at the RM Auction Motor City on July 26, 2014

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

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Summary

There have been around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. Cord, America's best-known front-wheel drive brand, is one of these vanished brands. The brand went under in the financial crisis of 1923, but E.L. Cord later resurrected it and produced further models in the typical Cord design until 1937.

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Preview (beginning of the article)

Cord was not the only front-wheel drive brand, but it was America's best-known. When Errett Lobban Cord took over the management of the Auburn Automobile Company in Auburn, Indiana, in 1924, he had already demonstrated his impressive sales talent. In 1929, he formed the Cord Corporation by taking over the Lycoming engine plant and other suppliers, but above all the prestigious Duesenberg brand. He also closed the gap between Auburn and Duesenberg with his own brand Cord and gave it an exotic touch with its front-wheel drive. The chassis with X-beams instead of ladder frames was also new for America. The Cord L-29 was powered by a 4.9-liter eight-cylinder Lycoming engine with 125 hp. The front-wheel drive enabled a low, elegant vehicle silhouette. After 5010 L-29s were built, the brand was sacrificed to the financial crisis in 1932.

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