Concours d'Elegance of America: Cords

In the late 1920s an automotive engineer named E.L. Cord gained control of the Auburn and Duesenberg companies and launched the Cord automotive line alongside those other makes. They were made on and off until 1937 at which point the failing Cord company was shut down as the ongoing Great Depression killed off much of the demand for higher-end cars like Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs.

Cords are great looking, forward-thinking cars. They were the first mass-produced American cars to feature front-wheel drive and retractable headlights.

They also appealed to coachbuilders of the time who took advantage of the solid frame and free space of the cord design to tweak and change things. This year's Concours featured a class of "Cord One-Offs" -- Cords that were customized or changed in interesting ways.  Cords are already great looking cars, but some of these were extra-sweet.

(For your browsing convenience, here's a link back to yesterday's post on other prewar American cars, in case you'd like to compare.)

1929 Cord L-29 Town Car. The original owner Henry McVickar had the body of his 1927 Minerva Town Car by D'Leteran Frères placed on a 1929 Cord chassis.

1930 Cord L-29 Speedster. Automotive designer Brooks Stevens took six years from 1930 to 1936 to do the custom bodywork. He must've been pleased with the results because he kept it until he died in 1997.

1931 Cord L-29. Not only is this a great looking car, but if you look closely you'll see cigars on the driver-side door and crystal whiskey glasses on the passenger-side door.  Ahhh, the good life.

1936 Cord 810 Phaeton. The 810 was the first mass-produced American car to feature retractable headlights.

1937 Cord 812 Custom Coupe. The 812 improved on the 810 by adding a 170 hp supercharged engine. That was some serious giddyup in 1937. Interestingly, this custom job put the headlights back outside the fenders.

1938 Cord 812 Custom Cabriolet. "But John," you say, "I thought Cord went out of business in 1937." Indeed it did. This was a prototype featuring the changes that would've come out on the 1938 model. I don't know that they would've been any more profitable, but dang these are great-looking cars.