Cord was a brand of American
luxury automobile 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 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 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 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, whose GM stylists later stated they were trying to capture the "feel" of the Cord's design.
"Servo" shifting was accomplished through a
Bendix 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 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 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. 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, 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, 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, and Stutz, 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, 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, and E.L. Cord moved to Nevada where he earned millions in real estate and other enterprises.
Hupmobile/Graham
In 1940 ailing automakers Hupmobile and Graham-Paige 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 and the Graham Hollywood, 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 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. 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 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 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 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 considered one of his favorite vehicles and fitting for the millionaire vigilante.
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
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) 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' 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).
Some sung versions of Rodgers and Hart song '' The Lady is a Tramp'' 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