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Cord 810/812

January 01, 1970

The Cord 810, and later Cord 812, was a luxury automobile produced by the Cord Automobile division of the Auburn Automobile Company in 1936 and 1937. It was the first American-designed and built front wheel drive car with independent front suspension. It was preceded by Cord's own 1929 Cord L-29, and the French 1934 Citroën Traction Avant front wheel drive cars, but the 810 / 812 was commercially less successful than these.

Cord 810/812
1937 812 Phaeton
Overview
ManufacturerCord Automobile
Production1936-1937
Model years1936-1937
Body and chassis
LayoutFF layout
Powertrain
Engine4.7L V8

The Cord 810 and 812 were also the first production cars to feature hidden / pop-up headlights. Additionally, the radical new styling of its nose completely replaced the traditional radiator grille, in favor of horizontal louvers, that curved all around the sides of the nose, earning the car's styling the nickname of 'coffin nose'.

History edit

 
1936 Cord 810 Phaeton
 
Supercharged 1937 Cord 812 Sedan
 
1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Sportsman

The styling of the Cord 810 was the work of designer Gordon M. Buehrig and his team of stylists, which included young Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis. While the first American front-wheel-drive car with independent front suspension, it had an archaic tube rear axle with semi-elliptic rear springs.[1][2] Power came from a 4,739 cc (289 cu in)[1] Lycoming V8 of the same 125 hp (93 kW) as the L-29.[3] The semi-automatic[3] four-speed transmission (three plus overdrive)[3] extended in front of the engine, like on a Traction Avant. This allowed Buehrig to eliminate the driveshaft and transmission tunnel. Accentuating its sleek, low-slung look, it also dispensed with running boards.[1] It had a 125 in (3,175 mm) wheelbase [4] (shared with several 812 body styles), and in 1936 came in four models: the entry-level sedan at US$1995, the Beverly sedan ($2095), Sportsman ($2145), and Phaeton ($2195).[5] The 1937 812s had the same models, priced $2445, $2545, $2585, and $2645, plus two more, on a 132 in (3,400 mm) wheelbase, the $2960 Custom Beverly and $3060 Custom Berline[6] called the Westchester.[7]

Reportedly[8] conceived as a Duesenberg and nearly devoid of chrome, the 810 had hidden door hinges[1] and rear-hinged hood,[1] rather than the side-opening type more usual at the time, both new items. It featured pontoon fenders with hidden headlamps (modified Stinson landing lights)[1] (E. L. Cord owned a majority of Stinson stock) that disappeared into the fenders via dashboard hand cranks. This car was the first[citation needed] and one of the few ever to include this feature.

It also featured a concealed lockable fuel filler door and variable-speed windshield wipers[1] (at a time when wipers were often operated by intake vacuum, and so tended to stop when the driver stepped on the gas pedal). Its engine-turned dashboard included complete instrumentation, a tachometer, and standard radio[1] (which did not become an industry standard offering until well into the 1950s).[9] The most famous feature was the "coffin nose" that gave the vehicle its nickname; it featured a horizontally louvered wraparound grille,[1] a product of Buehrig's desire not to have a conventional vertical grille.

The car caused a sensation at its debut at the New York Auto Show in November 1935. The crowds were so dense attendees stood on the bumpers of nearby cars to get a look. Cord had rushed to build the 100 cars needed to qualify for the show,[1] but the transmission was not ready.[1] Even so, Cord took many orders there, promising Christmas delivery. Expected production of 1,000 cars per month failed however to materialize,[1] as the semi-automatic transmission proved more troublesome than expected.[10] The first production cars were not ready to deliver until February, and did not reach New York City until April 1936.[11] In all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year, as the result of mechanical troubles.[3]

Supercharging was made available with a mechanically driven Schwitzer-Cummins unit.[12] Supercharged 1936 models were called 810S and 1937 models were called 812S. Supercharged models were distinguished from the normally aspirated models by the brilliant chrome-plated external exhaust pipes mounted on each side of the hood and grill. With supercharging, horsepower was raised to 170.[13]

Early reliability problems, including slipping out of gear and vapor lock, cooled initial enthusiasm. Although most new owners loved their sleek fast cars, the dealer base shrank rapidly. Unsold left-over and in-process 1936 810 models were re-numbered and sold as 1937 812 models. Total 810/812 production was 2,972 cars, including 205 convertible cabriolets, including the one-off prototype 1938 Custom Cabriolet, before the production ended in 1937.[14]

Cord had planned some mechanical updates and cosmetic changes to the 1938 model, probably named 814. The production ended before the 1938 model could be launched. A single 814 prototype was built and kept in the storage for many years until it was discovered in 1989. The current owner was unaware of its provenance when he purchased it, and he used the factory archival photos and drawings to confirm it was a 814 prototype.[14]

Aside from the small production of SAMCO Cord 8/10 (1964 to 1966),[15] Cord 810/812 was the last American front-wheel-drive cars for almost thirty years until the debut of the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966, followed by a heavily redesigned Cadillac Eldorado in 1967. Both these GM divisional halo cars paid homage to 810/812 hidden headlamps. The second-generation Toronado introduced a hood design that resembled the 810/812 coffin nose and horizontal cooling grille.

The longitudinal layout of placing the transmission in front of axle and the engine behind the axle was never used again in the American front-wheel-drive vehicles to this day. The most common arrangement is transverse mount and, the less common is longitudinal mount with engine ahead of axle and transmission behind (a.k.a. Eagle Premier and Chrysler LH, for instance).

British author James Leasor owned two Cords, an 810 and an 812. One of the characters in his novels, Jason Love, owns one, a roadster. All of his novels that features Jason Love includes Cord. The 1965 movie Where the Spies Are had Love promised an ultra-rare Cord LeBaron in return for agreeing to carry out a mission for MI-6.

In the 1938 film "Gangster's Boy" starring Jackie Cooper, the main character drives a white 1937 Cord 812SC Sportman.

Hupmobile/Graham edit

 
Hupmobile Skylark (1941)
 
Graham Hollywood (1941)

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 external similarity to the 810, Graham-Paige 4-door sedans, the Hupmobile 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. Only about 1900 were built before model year 1941 production ceased in the fall of 1940.[citation needed]

Revival edit

Between 1964 and 1970, two further attempts were made to replicate the original Buehrig design for limited production. Both Tulsa, Oklahoma-based companies soon halted production amid financial difficulties. The 1966 replica Cord 8/10 was powered by a Corvair drivetrain (the "8/10" designation represented the actual scale of the car), while the 1968 through 1970 models were Ford and Chrysler powered.[citation needed]

The design of the Cord 810/812 remains one of the most distinctive of the 20th Century. In 1996, American Heritage magazine proclaimed the Cord 810 sedan ‘The Single Most Beautiful American Car’. The ‘Classic Cord’ Hot Wheels toy car of the 1960s, a convertible coupé, is one of the most valuable, and commands up to US$800 (2006) if still in an unopened package.

Specifications edit

 
1937 Cord 812 Beverly
  • Length: 195.5 in (4,966 mm)
  • Wheelbase: 125 in (3,200 mm)
  • Width: 71.0 in (1,803 mm)[16]
  • Height: 60.0 in (1,524 mm)
  • Weight: 4,110 lb (1,860 kg)
  • Ground clearance: 9 in (229 mm)[17]
  • Horsepower: 125 hp (170 hp w/ supercharger)[18]
  • Brakes: 12 in (305 mm) hydraulic drums[16]
  • Front suspension: Independent with trailing arms, leaf springs and friction shocks.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Burgess-Wise, David (1974), Northey, Tom (ed.), "Cord: The Apex of a Triangle", World of Automobiles, vol. 4, London: Orbis, p. 436
  2. ^ "Directory Index: Cord/1929_Cord/1929_Cord_Catalogue". Oldcarbrochures.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  3. ^ a b c d Burgess-Wise, p. 437.
  4. ^ Newbury, Stephan (2006). The car design yearbook 4. Merrell. ISBN 1-85894-286-1.
  5. ^ Kimes and Clark. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, p.364.
  6. ^ Kimes and Clark, p.364.
  7. ^ Josh B. Malks, Cord 810/812: The Timeless Classic p109
  8. ^ "Cord History 1". Automaven.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  9. ^ Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr. American Cars 1946-1959 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2008), p.979.
  10. ^ Burgess-Wise, pp. 436-437.
  11. ^ "Cord front-drive car is here". The New York Times: XX7. April 12, 1936.
  12. ^ Cheetham, Craig (2004). Vintage Cars - The Finest Prewar Automobiles. Rochester, United Kingdom: Grange Books. p. 67. ISBN 1840136359.
  13. ^ Kimes, Beverly (1996). standard catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause publications. ISBN 0-87341-428-4.
  14. ^ a b "1938 Cord 814 Prototype". conceptcarz. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  15. ^ "1968 Cord 8/10 SPORTSMAN MFD By Samco". Midwest Car Exchange. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  16. ^ a b Craig Cheetham, ed. (2006). Ultimate American Cars. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7603-2570-7.
  17. ^ "Directory Index: Cord/1936_Cord/1936_Cord_Brochure". Oldcarbrochures.com. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  18. ^ "Top Speed description of the Cord 812 supercharged". Top Speed. 13 November 2015.

Sources edit

  • 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 edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cord 810 and Cord 812.
  • Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club
  • Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg Museum
  • Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Flickr Group
  • CordNet, a site for Cord enthusiasts
  • Alex Tremulis at coachbuilt.com
  • Christoph Bauer: Vintage! Cord 812 SC, DW-TV – Drive it! 24 January 2017 (YouTube)

January 01, 1970
cord, cord, later, cord, luxury, automobile, produced, cord, automobile, division, auburn, automobile, company, 1936, 1937, first, american, designed, built, front, wheel, drive, with, independent, front, suspension, preceded, cord, 1929, cord, french, 1934, c. The Cord 810 and later Cord 812 was a luxury automobile produced by the Cord Automobile division of the Auburn Automobile Company in 1936 and 1937 It was the first American designed and built front wheel drive car with independent front suspension It was preceded by Cord s own 1929 Cord L 29 and the French 1934 Citroen Traction Avant front wheel drive cars but the 810 812 was commercially less successful than these Cord 810 8121937 812 PhaetonOverviewManufacturerCord AutomobileProduction1936 1937Model years1936 1937Body and chassisLayoutFF layoutPowertrainEngine4 7L V8 The Cord 810 and 812 were also the first production cars to feature hidden pop up headlights Additionally the radical new styling of its nose completely replaced the traditional radiator grille in favor of horizontal louvers that curved all around the sides of the nose earning the car s styling the nickname of coffin nose Contents 1 History 2 Hupmobile Graham 3 Revival 4 Specifications 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksHistory edit nbsp 1936 Cord 810 Phaeton nbsp Supercharged 1937 Cord 812 Sedan nbsp 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Sportsman The styling of the Cord 810 was the work of designer Gordon M Buehrig and his team of stylists which included young Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis While the first American front wheel drive car with independent front suspension it had an archaic tube rear axle with semi elliptic rear springs 1 2 Power came from a 4 739 cc 289 cu in 1 Lycoming V8 of the same 125 hp 93 kW as the L 29 3 The semi automatic 3 four speed transmission three plus overdrive 3 extended in front of the engine like on a Traction Avant This allowed Buehrig to eliminate the driveshaft and transmission tunnel Accentuating its sleek low slung look it also dispensed with running boards 1 It had a 125 in 3 175 mm wheelbase 4 shared with several 812 body styles and in 1936 came in four models the entry level sedan at US 1995 the Beverly sedan 2095 Sportsman 2145 and Phaeton 2195 5 The 1937 812s had the same models priced 2445 2545 2585 and 2645 plus two more on a 132 in 3 400 mm wheelbase the 2960 Custom Beverly and 3060 Custom Berline 6 called the Westchester 7 Reportedly 8 conceived as a Duesenberg and nearly devoid of chrome the 810 had hidden door hinges 1 and rear hinged hood 1 rather than the side opening type more usual at the time both new items It featured pontoon fenders with hidden headlamps modified Stinson landing lights 1 E L Cord owned a majority of Stinson stock that disappeared into the fenders via dashboard hand cranks This car was the first citation needed and one of the few ever to include this feature It also featured a concealed lockable fuel filler door and variable speed windshield wipers 1 at a time when wipers were often operated by intake vacuum and so tended to stop when the driver stepped on the gas pedal Its engine turned dashboard included complete instrumentation a tachometer and standard radio 1 which did not become an industry standard offering until well into the 1950s 9 The most famous feature was the coffin nose that gave the vehicle its nickname it featured a horizontally louvered wraparound grille 1 a product of Buehrig s desire not to have a conventional vertical grille The car caused a sensation at its debut at the New York Auto Show in November 1935 The crowds were so dense attendees stood on the bumpers of nearby cars to get a look Cord had rushed to build the 100 cars needed to qualify for the show 1 but the transmission was not ready 1 Even so Cord took many orders there promising Christmas delivery Expected production of 1 000 cars per month failed however to materialize 1 as the semi automatic transmission proved more troublesome than expected 10 The first production cars were not ready to deliver until February and did not reach New York City until April 1936 11 In all Cord managed to sell only 1 174 of the new 810 in its first model year as the result of mechanical troubles 3 Supercharging was made available with a mechanically driven Schwitzer Cummins unit 12 Supercharged 1936 models were called 810S and 1937 models were called 812S Supercharged models were distinguished from the normally aspirated models by the brilliant chrome plated external exhaust pipes mounted on each side of the hood and grill With supercharging horsepower was raised to 170 13 Early reliability problems including slipping out of gear and vapor lock cooled initial enthusiasm Although most new owners loved their sleek fast cars the dealer base shrank rapidly Unsold left over and in process 1936 810 models were re numbered and sold as 1937 812 models Total 810 812 production was 2 972 cars including 205 convertible cabriolets including the one off prototype 1938 Custom Cabriolet before the production ended in 1937 14 Cord had planned some mechanical updates and cosmetic changes to the 1938 model probably named 814 The production ended before the 1938 model could be launched A single 814 prototype was built and kept in the storage for many years until it was discovered in 1989 The current owner was unaware of its provenance when he purchased it and he used the factory archival photos and drawings to confirm it was a 814 prototype 14 Aside from the small production of SAMCO Cord 8 10 1964 to 1966 15 Cord 810 812 was the last American front wheel drive cars for almost thirty years until the debut of the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966 followed by a heavily redesigned Cadillac Eldorado in 1967 Both these GM divisional halo cars paid homage to 810 812 hidden headlamps The second generation Toronado introduced a hood design that resembled the 810 812 coffin nose and horizontal cooling grille The longitudinal layout of placing the transmission in front of axle and the engine behind the axle was never used again in the American front wheel drive vehicles to this day The most common arrangement is transverse mount and the less common is longitudinal mount with engine ahead of axle and transmission behind a k a Eagle Premier and Chrysler LH for instance British author James Leasor owned two Cords an 810 and an 812 One of the characters in his novels Jason Love owns one a roadster All of his novels that features Jason Love includes Cord The 1965 movie Where the Spies Are had Love promised an ultra rare Cord LeBaron in return for agreeing to carry out a mission for MI 6 In the 1938 film Gangster s Boy starring Jackie Cooper the main character drives a white 1937 Cord 812SC Sportman Hupmobile Graham edit nbsp Hupmobile Skylark 1941 nbsp Graham Hollywood 1941 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 external similarity to the 810 Graham Paige 4 door sedans the Hupmobile 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 Only about 1900 were built before model year 1941 production ceased in the fall of 1940 citation needed Revival editBetween 1964 and 1970 two further attempts were made to replicate the original Buehrig design for limited production Both Tulsa Oklahoma based companies soon halted production amid financial difficulties The 1966 replica Cord 8 10 was powered by a Corvair drivetrain the 8 10 designation represented the actual scale of the car while the 1968 through 1970 models were Ford and Chrysler powered citation needed The design of the Cord 810 812 remains one of the most distinctive of the 20th Century In 1996 American Heritage magazine proclaimed the Cord 810 sedan The Single Most Beautiful American Car The Classic Cord Hot Wheels toy car of the 1960s a convertible coupe is one of the most valuable and commands up to US 800 2006 if still in an unopened package Specifications edit nbsp 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Length 195 5 in 4 966 mm Wheelbase 125 in 3 200 mm Width 71 0 in 1 803 mm 16 Height 60 0 in 1 524 mm Weight 4 110 lb 1 860 kg Ground clearance 9 in 229 mm 17 Horsepower 125 hp 170 hp w supercharger 18 Brakes 12 in 305 mm hydraulic drums 16 Front suspension Independent with trailing arms leaf springs and friction shocks References edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Burgess Wise David 1974 Northey Tom ed Cord The Apex of a Triangle World of Automobiles vol 4 London Orbis p 436 Directory Index Cord 1929 Cord 1929 Cord Catalogue Oldcarbrochures com Retrieved 2012 01 01 a b c d Burgess Wise p 437 Newbury Stephan 2006 The car design yearbook 4 Merrell ISBN 1 85894 286 1 Kimes and Clark Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805 1942 p 364 Kimes and Clark p 364 Josh B Malks Cord 810 812 The Timeless Classic p109 Cord History 1 Automaven com Retrieved 2012 01 01 Flory J Kelly Jr American Cars 1946 1959 Jefferson NC McFarland amp Coy 2008 p 979 Burgess Wise pp 436 437 Cord front drive car is here The New York Times XX7 April 12 1936 Cheetham Craig 2004 Vintage Cars The Finest Prewar Automobiles Rochester United Kingdom Grange Books p 67 ISBN 1840136359 Kimes Beverly 1996 standard catalog of American Cars 1805 1942 Krause publications ISBN 0 87341 428 4 a b 1938 Cord 814 Prototype conceptcarz Retrieved 12 September 2022 1968 Cord 8 10 SPORTSMAN MFD By Samco Midwest Car Exchange Retrieved 13 September 2022 a b Craig Cheetham ed 2006 Ultimate American Cars Amber Books Ltd ISBN 0 7603 2570 7 Directory Index Cord 1936 Cord 1936 Cord Brochure Oldcarbrochures com Retrieved 2012 09 02 Top Speed description of the Cord 812 supercharged Top Speed 13 November 2015 Sources editMalks 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 edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to wbr Cord 810 and wbr Cord 812 Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum Auburn Cord Dusenberg Flickr Group CordNet a site for Cord enthusiasts History of second generation Cord Automobiles Alex Tremulis at coachbuilt com Christoph Bauer Vintage Cord 812 SC DW TV Drive it 24 January 2017 YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cord 810 812 amp oldid 1221196759, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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