There have been many car companies that are almost invisible on the automotive industry’s timeline. Their names are little known footnotes in history and their cars are unidentifiable except to the most ardent fans. Cord was in business for less than a decade, but the engineering and design of its 810 and 812 models made a lasting impression. Just look at our Pick of the Day, a 1937 Cord 812 posted by a Missouri dealership on ClassicCars.com. Nearly 90 years after it was produced, it’s still a visually stunning, instantly recognizable piece of automotive Americana.
E.L Cord created the Cord Corporation in 1929 as a holding company that contained the Auburn Automobile Company and Duesenberg, Inc. as subsidiaries. That year also marked the debut of the first Cord vehicle, the L-29, which the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum calls “the first ever successful mass-production front-wheel drive automobile in America.”
Years later, Duesenberg president Harold Ames lured one of his company’s former designers, Gordon Buehrig, away from General Motors to pen a lower-priced model to accompany the Model J. What Buehrig created ultimately became the 1936 Cord 810, a car that was and still looks ahead of its time. Unlike other contemporary models, the 810 sent its power to the front wheels. Instead of a tall radiator grille, its “coffin nose” featured horizontal, wraparound slots. The headlights were invisible until their covers in the front fenders were cranked open by hand. Inside, the dashboard design and layout was heavily influenced by the aeronautical industry (a natural fit for Cord client Amelia Earhart).
Mechanical and reliability issues hampered the 810’s success. For 1937, it was renamed the 812. This particular 812 was restored about 30 years ago. According to the selling dealer, “The attractive Cigarette Cream paintwork is correct for the period and the color itself is the correct light cream shade as used by the factory in the 1930s, and not the brighter yellow that is often represented as cigarette cream on other restorations.”
Those exposed exhaust pipes sprouting out of the sides of the hood were added on. Although they’re incorrect for this car because its rebuilt 289ci Lycoming V8 isn’t supercharged, they look great and represent another of the 812’s most distinctive features.
A tan canvas convertible top covers a four-passenger interior upholstered in dark tan leather. Straight ahead is an attractive three-spoke, body-color steering wheel and the aircraft-inspired instrument panel, trimmed with engine-turned aluminum. Below that is another one of the 812’s distinguishing characteristics: the shift lever for the four-speed pre-selector gearbox. Part automatic, part manual, it allows the driver to cruise in a certain gear, pre-select the next one while on the move, then press the clutch pedal to engage it.
The Cord automobile company may be long gone, but its legacy still lives on. Thanks to devoted owners and talented restorers, so does this award-winning 1937 Cord 812. If you want it to turn 90 or 100 during your ownership, it’ll cost you $179,500.
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