Cord L-29
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Cord was a brand of American
luxury automobile A luxury car is a passenger automobile providing superior comfort levels, features, and equipment. More expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect a correspondingly high build quality. The term is relative and unavo ...
manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company of
Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette County, Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,324 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the county seat of and the only incorporated town in th ...
, from 1929 to 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937. Auburn was wholly owned by the Cord Corporation, founded and run by
E. L. Cord Errett Lobban "E. L." Cord (July 20, 1894 – January 2, 1974) was an American business executive. He was considered a leader in United States transport during the early and middle 20th century. Cord founded the Cord Corporation in 1929 as a h ...
as a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
for his many transportation interests (which included the
Lycoming engine Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of Flat engine, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines. The company ha ...
s,
Stinson aircraft Stinson may refer to: * Stinson, Ontario * Stinson (surname) * Stinson Aircraft Company * Stinson Lake, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the town of Rumney * Stinson Municipal Airport, San Antonio, Texas * Stinson Theatres, a Canadian mo ...
, and Checker Motors). Cord was noted for its innovative technology and
streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...
designs.


Innovations

Cord innovations include
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...
on the L-29 and
hidden headlamps Hidden headlamps, also commonly known as pop-up headlamps, pop-up headlights, flip-eye headlamps, or hideaway headlights, are a form of automotive lighting and an automotive styling feature that conceals an automobile's headlamps when they are ...
on the 810 and 812. Though DeSoto used them in 1942, hidden headlamps did not reappear as a luxury feature until the 1960s, beginning with the 1963
Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...
. It was followed two years later by another
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
product, the
Buick Riviera The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year. As General Motors' first entry into the personal luxury car market segment, the Riviera was highly praised by au ...
, whose GM stylists later stated they were trying to capture the "feel" of the Cord's design. "Servo" shifting was accomplished through a
Bendix Bendix may refer to: People First name * Bendix Hallenstein (1835–1905), New Zealand businessman Middle name * Kim Bendix Petersen (born 1956), Danish singer known by the stage name King Diamond Last name * John E. Bendix (1835–1905), Ame ...
electro-vacuum pre-selector mechanism (a type of electromechanical shifting).


Cord L-29

This was the first American front-wheel drive car to be offered to the public, beating the Ruxton automobile by several months, in 1929. The brainchild of former
Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...
engineer Cornelius Van Ranst, its drive system borrowed from the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
-dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and inboard brakes. Built in Auburn, Indiana, the Cord was the first front-wheel-drive car to use
constant-velocity joint A constant-velocity joint (also called a CV joint and homokinetic joint) is a mechanical coupling which allows the shafts to rotate freely (without an appreciable increase in friction or Backlash (engineering), backlash) and compensates for the a ...
s. While commonly used today in all front-wheel-drive vehicles, their first use was on the 1929 Cord. The lack of rear drivetrain components and straight frame (without rear kick-up to clear up the rear axle) allowed it to be much lower in height than competing cars whose average height was about six feet or almost two metres. Both stock cars and special bodies built on the Cord chassis by American and European coachbuilders won prizes in contests worldwide. The L-29 came with full instrumentation, including a temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, and speedometer on the left with a gas gauge, oil level gauge, and
ammeter An ammeter (abbreviation of ''ampere meter'') is an measuring instrument, instrument used to measure the electric current, current in a Electrical circuit, circuit. Electric currents are measured in amperes (A), hence the name. For direct measure ...
on the right of the steering wheel. It was powered by a Lycoming
L-head A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the Cam-in-block, engine block, instead of in the cyl ...
inline 8 from the Auburn 120, with the crankshaft pushed out through the front of the block and the
flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, a ...
mounted there, driving a three-speed
transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...
. Gearing in both transmission and front axle was inadequate, and the car was underpowered, limited to a trifle over , inadequate even at the time, and readily exceeded by the less expensive Auburn. Still, the styling was lovely, and despite the
wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
and steering demanding fully four turns
lock-to-lock Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, an ...
, handling was reportedly superb. Wheelbase was 137.5" and the height of the sedan was 61". The 1930
Chrysler Imperial The Chrysler Imperial, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler (division), Chrysler's top-of-the-line vehicle for much of its history. Models were produced under the Chrysler name until 1954, after which Imperial became Imperial (automobile), a standal ...
and Chrysler Eight copied several styling elements. The L-29 was priced around US$3,000 ($ in dollars ), putting it in the upper tier of America's most expensive luxury automobiles alongside
Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
, Marmon,
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
,
Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...
,
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...
, and
Stutz The Stutz Motor Car Company was an American automobile Automotive industry, manufacturer based in Indianapolis, Indiana that produced high-end Sports cars, sports and Luxury vehicle, luxury cars. The company was founded in 1911 as the Idea ...
, and below only Duesenburg. It could not, however, outrun the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, and by 1932, it was discontinued, with just 4,400 sold. Cord L-29 Cabriolet side.jpg, Cord L-29 Cabriolet Cord L-29 Cabriolet.jpg, Cord L-29 Cabriolet Cord L-29 Convertible Coupe 1931.jpg, 1931 L-29 Convertible Coupé


Cord Model 810/812

The Model 810/812 are probably the best-known of the company's products. Styled by Gordon M. Buehrig, they featured front-wheel drive and independent front suspension. By placing the transmission ahead of the engine Buehrig was able to eliminate the driveshaft and transmission tunnel. Accentuating its sleek, low-slung look, he also dispensed with running boards. Powered by a Lycoming V8 of the same as the L-29's
straight-8 The straight-eight engine or inline-eight engine (often abbreviated as I8) is an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine with all eight cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The type has been produced in side-valve, I ...
, the 810 had a four-speed electrically selected semi-automatic transmission,(called a pre-selector because you selected the gear and then stepped on the clutch) among other innovative features like roll up headlights. The car caused a sensation at the
New York Auto Show The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan, New York City in late March or early April. It is held at the Javits Center, Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weeke ...
in November 1935. Orders were taken at the show with Cord promising Christmas delivery, anticipating production of 1,000 per month. Delays pushed hoped delivery to February 1936 - which still proved optimistic, with owners only beginning to get the first cars in April. In all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first
model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...
. The car's distinctively squared-off front end and pioneering, streamlined, horizontally louvered grille design earned it the durable nickname "coffin nose".


Demise

Early reliability problems, including slipping out of gear and
vapor lock Vapor lock is a problem caused by liquid fuel changing state to vapor while still in the fuel delivery system of gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines. This disrupts the operation of the fuel pump, causing loss of feed pressure to the carbure ...
, cooled initial enthusiasm, and the dealer base shrank rapidly. Unsold left-over and in-process 1936 810s were re-numbered and sold as 1937 812s. In 1937, Auburn ceased production of the Cord. A single 1938 Cord prototype with some changes to the grille and transmission cover was built, and it still exists (2015). The Cord empire, amid allegations of financial fraud, was sold to the
Aviation Corporation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot ai ...
, and E.L. Cord moved to Nevada where he earned millions in real estate and other enterprises.


Hupmobile/Graham

In 1940 ailing automakers
Hupmobile Hupmobile was a line of automobiles built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastin ...
and
Graham-Paige Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882–1970), Robert C. Graham (1885–1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887–1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive asse ...
tried to save money and revive the companies, by using the 810/812 body dies. Except for their similarity to the 810, their four-door sedans, the
Hupp Skylark Hupp may refer to: * Hupp (surname) * Hupp, former name of DeSabla, California * The Hupp Motor Car Company * Hupp House, historic house in Strasburg, Virginia Strasburg is a town in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States, which was fou ...
and the
Graham Hollywood Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
, were unremarkable. Retractable headlights gave way to plain headlight pods, and power came from a standard front-engine/rear-wheel drive design. While Hupp Motor Company built a few prototypes in 1939 that gained them sales orders for the 1939 model year they did not have the resources to manufacture the car. Graham Paige stepped in offering to build the Hupmobile Skylarks on a per piece contract basis. Graham built a combined 1850 units for sale in the 1940 model year. Hupmobile closed before the 1941 model came around. Of the 1850 cars produced in the 1940 model year by Graham only about 450 were the Hupmobile Skylarks. Graham continued to build the Hollywood late into 1941. They stopped production in November of that year having only built a rumored 400 units. The Hollywood was powered by a supercharged
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
in line six making 124 HP, almost 50 less than the original supercharged Cord.


Post-bankruptcy


Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg (1938-1960)

In 1938, the assets of the ailing Auburn Automobile Company were purchased by Detroit entrepreneur Dallas E. Winslow, who renamed the company to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company (ACD Co.) and began operating as a parts supplier for Auburn cars. ACD Co. also offered service and restoration work at the former Auburn factory, using the skills and expertise of former employees. Following the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Winslow would sell rights to the Duesenberg brand but retained Auburn and Cord.


Glenn Pray replicas (1960-1966)

In 1960, the rights to the Auburn-Cord name were purchased from Winslow by school shop teacher Glenn Pray, with financial backing from
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...
dealer Wayne McKinley. Feeling he could make money selling spare parts to fellow enthusiasts (many of whom he knew personally), Pray firstly used the newly formed company to sell such parts, before moving on to replica automobile production. In 1964, Prays company began manufacturing the Cord 8/10, so named because it was an 8/10 scale replica of the original Cord 810. Designed with the assistance of Gordon Buehrig, the car was based on the drivetrain of a rear-engine
Chevrolet Corvair The Chevrolet Corvair is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined, Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine, air-cooled compact car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet over two generations between 1960 and 1969. A response to the Volkswagen Beetle, it was of ...
, albeit rotated around, allowing the new Cord to be front-wheel-drive. The body was constructed from a plastic known as Royalite, through a partnership with U.S Rubber who were looking for a way to promote their new composite material. With investors taking an active role in managing the company, the 8/10 was put into production before Pray believed it was ready. Pray refused to comply with investors in providing an account of parts used in the manufacture of the 8/10, and was ousted from the company in January of 1966. The company later went bankrupt in July 1966, after which 97 cars were built. Following the bankruptcy, Pray would later go on to produce Auburn replicas in a similar fashion.


Cancelled revival

Following Prays death in 2011, the rights to the Cord brand name were auctioned by the Pray family in 2014 and purchased by American entrepreneur Craig Corbell, who planned to revive the company using the
Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015 The United States Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015 (sometimes referred to as the Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturing Act) directs the NHTSA to establish a program allowing low volume motor vehicle manufacturers to produce a limited ...
. Corbell intended to begin production with the Cord Model III, a luxury reverse-trike featuring a 180-horsepower V4 motorcycle engine from Motus Motorcycles, before moving on to a more conventional four-wheeled replica resembling the Cord 810/812 models, albeit incorporating modern design and technology. Corbell later cancelled the project however, and the rights to the Cord name were offered for auction again in 2019.


Trivia

The plot of the
David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...
movie '' Where the Spies Are'' features a rare Cord convertible as the incentive for the hero to undertake an espionage mission. The movie was based on the
James Leasor James Leasor (20 December 1923 – 10 September 2007) was a prolific British writer of historical books and thrillers. He was one of the best-selling British authors of the 20th century. After beginning his writing career as a journalist he wro ...
novel ''Passport to Oblivion'', which is one of a series of suspense/intrigue novels featuring the fictitious Dr. Jason Love, whose "infatuation" with the Cord roadster played a prominent part. In the novel '' Live and Let Die'',
Felix Leiter Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the ''James Bond'' books, films, and other media. The character is an operative for the CIA and James Bond's friend. After losing a leg and a hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined ...
drives a Cord of unspecified model when he and
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
are in Florida. The original design for the
Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional land vehicle driven by the superhero Batman, used both to patrol Gotham City looking for crime and to engage in car chases or vehicular combat with the city's criminal underworld. The Batmobile is one of a suite o ...
was a red convertible based on the Cord 812, which
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
creator
Bob Kane Robert Kane ( Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator, and artist who created Batman and many early related characters for DC Comics. He was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby ...
considered one of his favorite vehicles and fitting for the millionaire vigilante. The 1965 film ''
What's New Pussycat? ''What's New Pussycat?'' is a 1965 screwball comedy film directed by Clive Donner, written by Woody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capuc ...
'' featured a rather battered red Cord 810 convertible with French
selective yellow Selective yellow is a colour for automotive lamps, particularly headlamps and other road-illumination lamps, such as fog lamps. Under ECE regulations, headlamps were formerly permitted to be either white or selective yellow—in France, selecti ...
headlights. The car was piloted in several scenes by
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
whose character drove on the
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
pavements (sidewalks). A yellow Cord 810 is seen driven by young gangster Bobby Malto in the 1991 TV-Movie "The Return of Eliot Ness", which starred Robert Stack, reprising his title role from "The Untouchables" 1959-1963 TV series. In the 1994 film ''
The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...
'', Moses Shrevnitz (
Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. He is known for his character actor roles in film and television and received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. ...
) drives a 1936 Cord 810 Westchester that was stretched and custom-painted as a taxi cab. "bePUZZLED" brand puzzles is a series of puzzles which feature a short mystery story to go along with the picture in the assembled puzzle. A puzzle and story in the series is called A Classic Case of Murder and features a creme colored 1936 810 Cord in the story and pictured in the puzzle. Copyright 1992. In the 2001 PlayStation exclusive car combat game Twisted Metal: Black. The playable driver No-Face has a car based on the Cord 810, nicknamed "Crazy 8". In the 2002 PC and PlayStation 2 game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven the Cord 810 and 812 are featured under a cover-up names Thor 810 and Thor 812 FWD. The Thor 810 is based on the normally aspirated version with no outside exhaust, while the Thor 812 FWD, available only as a convertible in the game, is based on the supercharged version with the outside exhausts on the side of the engine bay. The player could even feel the car being front wheel drive, as the game featured sophisticated physical model of all cars (and guns for that matter) and so the Thor handled differently than the other rear driven cars. In the 2020 remake of the game, only one version is featured under the name Berkeley 810 and is derived from the two door supercharged version with a solid roof. As part of his series Jay Leno's Garage in 2013, Jay featured his ow
Cord 812
which he had previousl
written about
in Popular Mechanics. The car had been lovingly restored by amateur restorer Arthur Pirre. On
Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist. He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Bu ...
' 1973 album ''GP'', the song "The New Soft Shoe" is written about E.L Cord and his famous automobiles. In classic crime film
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
, a Cord 810 convertible is briefly seen on the estate of Jack Woltz. A 1930 Cord L-29 is featured prominently in HBO's 2011
Mildred Pierce (miniseries) ''Mildred Pierce'' is an American historical drama miniseries created by Todd Haynes for HBO. Adapted from James M. Cain's 1941 novel of the same name, It is about the titular heroine (Kate Winslet), a divorcée during the Great Depression str ...
. Some sung versions of Rodgers and Hart song ''
The Lady is a Tramp "The Lady Is a Tramp" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical '' Babes in Arms'', in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green. This song is a spoof of New York high society and its strict etiquette (the first line ...
'' refer to "Lincolns and Cords"


See also

* Century Airlines pilots' strike *
List of automobile manufacturers Automobile manufacturers are Company, companies and Organization, organizations that produce motor vehicles. Many of these companies are still in business, and many of the companies are defunct. Only companies that have articles on Wikipedia are ...
*
List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers This is a list of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States. They were discontinued for various reasons, such as bankruptcy of the parent company, mergers, or being phased out. A * A Automobile Company (1910–1913) 'Blue & Gold, ...


References


Sources

* Malks, Josh B.
Cord 810/812: The Timeless Classic
'. * Wise, David Burgess. "Cord: The Apex of a Triangle", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'', Vol. 4, pp. 435–7. London: Orbis, 1974.


External links


Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club

Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg Museum

Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Flickr Group


- Cord History and Photos Albums
CordNet, a site for Cord enthusiasts

History of second generation Cord Automobiles
{{Authority control Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Streamline Moderne cars Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana Front-wheel-drive vehicles Defunct brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929 Luxury vehicles