The Nostalgia of Forgotten Gods: Cord, USA, 1929-1937

The history of Cord, born due to Errett Lobban Cord's ambitions to innovate in terms of mechanics and style, can be described as short but intense. Founded in 1929 in Indiana by the man who had already owned Auburn, Duesenberg and Lycoming Engines, he immediately amazed with a model called L-29, the first American front-wheel drive car. The aim of this choice was better handling due to the lower centre of gravity. The design was innovative and unusual, elegant yet sporty. It was no coincidence that it was chosen as the Pace Car of the 1930 Indianapolis 500.

The L-29 produced by Cord from 1929 was the first American front-wheel-drive car.

Sales went well and Cord developed a new model that would impress later on. With styling by Gordon Miller Buehrig, a famous American designer of the time, the 810, proposed a revolutionary style with the almost total absence of chrome, pop-up headlights and a centre of gravity so low that the installation of steps for access to the passenger compartment was avoided. Despite the great interest shown by the public at the 1936 New York Motor Show where the car was presented, orders did not take off. The problem was technical as reliability proved to be poor and the cars remained on the forecourts.

The following year, in an attempt to revive the model's fortunes, the 812 debuted, almost identical to the 810, with a supercharged engine and also offered in a Cabriolet version. The enthusiasm of the past, however, was not revived and it could not be ruled out that the innovative styling contributed to mistrust. Cord was thus forced to close the company that bears his name.

The Cord 810 broke with the past by offering a revolutionary design with innovative elements such as retractable headlights.

The story of the 810/812 did not end in 1937. The project was bought by Hupsmobile, which in collaboration with Graham Page attempted a relaunch using Cord material as a basis. The operation failed. The relaunch was again a failure and the Cord name went down in history for good. Today, in fact, the Cord is much loved by collectors for its futuristic style that still manages to impress. We can perhaps conclude that, almost a century ago, it was really too far ahead!

Almost identical to the 810, the new 1937 model was called the 812. Unfortunately it failed to revive Cord's fortunes and closed its doors at the end of the same year.