Cord Car Company Reviews and Road Tests

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Cord Car Company


The high point of 1930's American auto style was courtesy of Erret Lobban Cord, a successful salesman who, as a teenager, had traded Model T Ford's around his native Los Angeles. He went on to sell Victory cars at a Moon dealership in Chicago, but his big break came when he was asked to restructure the moribund Auburn company, then in the hands of a receiver. Within 5 years he had not only turned the company around, but had released the L-29 featuring a big Lycoming straight-eight engine producing 125 bhp (93 kW).

Revolutionary in its front wheel drive configuration, the power from the Lycoming proved too much for the universal joint, such failures tarnished the reputation of the marque before production ceased at the onset of the depression in 1932. They bounced back in 1936 with the release of the 810, and although they stuck with the front wheel drive configuration, Cord choose to give the new model a futuristic streamlined appearance so beautiful, it was cited as a work of art by the Museum of Modern Art. Powered by a supercharged Lycoming V8 offering 195bhp (145 kW) the car was expensive and, perhaps, too good looking for its own good. Production would finally draw to a close in 1937.

Cord Automobiles in Popular Culture



-The plot of the David Niven movie Where the Spies Are features a rare Cord convertible as the incentive for the hero to undertake an espionage mission.
-In the novel Live and Let Die, Felix Leiter drives a Cord of unspecified model when he and James Bond are in Florida.
-The original design for the Batmobile was a red convertible based on the Cord 812, which Batman creator Bob Kane considered one of his favorite vehicles and fitting for the millionaire vigilante.
-In the 1937 film Topper, Cosmo (Roland Young) Topper's friends Marion and George Kirby (Constance Bennett and Cary Grant) are driving a Cord when they crash and die to become Topper's ghostly compatriots.
-The 1965 film What's New Pussycat featured a rather battered red Cord 810 convertible with French selective yellow headlights. The car was piloted in several scenes by Woody Allen whose character drove on the Paris pavements (sidewalks).
-In the 1994 film The Shadow, the cab driven by Moses Shrevnitz (Peter Boyle) appears to be a Cord or replica.
-"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; it has car based on the Cord 810; nicknamed as "Crazy 8".
-As part of his series Jay Leno's Garage in 2013, Jay featured his own Cord 812 which he had previously written about in Popular Mechanics. The car had been lovingly restored by amateur restorer Arthur Pirre.
-On Gram Parsons' 1973 album, "GP," the song "The New Soft Shoe" is written about E.L Cord and his famous automobiles. Also see: The History of Cord Automobiles (USA Edition)
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Cord 810/812

Cord 810/812

1937 - 1938
The last of the Cords was also the last of the American front wheel drivers for some 30 years, until the Oldsmobile Toronado was released. Already known for making front wheel drive vehicles, this Cord was no different however instead of using a straight 8 it was powered by a side valve V8. The car featured retracting headlights and wrap around grille that sat below a long sleek hood. More>>
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