Cord!

On this day in 1935 the revolutionary Cord 810 was introduced at the National Automobile Show in New York.

From RM Sothebys a picture of a 1936 Cord 810 that was offered at their Amelia Island auction in 2016. Many of you know that the design was drawn by legendary stylist Gordon Buehrig. Many of you probably know that his design was a protest against Harley Earl’s axiom that the front grill was the face of the car. Buehrig tried to draw a car with no face, but ironically the front of the Cord is its defining feature and one of the most recognizable designs in automotive history. As stated in History of the American Auto by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide®, “[The] dazzling new 1936 Cord 810 could never be mistaken for any lesser auto.”

The 810 marked the return of the Cord make after three years in hiatus. When one considers that US GDP declined for four consecutive years through 1933, the hiatus of an upper-class car is easy to understand. The sad aspect to the story is, of course, that Errett Lobban Cord’s automobile empire collapsed in 1937, taking Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg into history.

Although Glenn Pray purchased much of the parts inventory of the three makes of the Cord empire, and his son Doug continues to build “continuation” cars from those parts where possible, imagine if the FAST act were actually implemented enabling Doug Pray and/or another party to build hundreds of Cord 810/812 replicas with modern drivetrains. (Doug Pray refuses to call his builds replicas, which is why I called his products “continuation” cars.)

What classic cars from the past would you like to see built? No points for guessing what 56packardman will answer.  🙂

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