The Rise and Fall of the Incredible 1936 Cord

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]The Cord 810 promised innovation, luxury, and speed. But behind this beautiful design is a story of compromise and chaos.

[00:00:11]Hi there, Rick Dru with another chapter in the automotive evolution. We're here once again at the Martin Auto Museum in Phoenix. You know, this is a great collection. Has more than 180 cars and each one of them, well, they have a different twist or turn along our automotive journey. And this car right here, well, this is a replica of a Cord 810. And while it may not be an original, it will give us a chance to tell the story of Cord, which is both innovative and, well, frankly, a bit tumultuous. And we'll also talk a little bit about the replicar fad. So, why was the Cord 810 both creative and chaotic?

[00:00:47]Well, I mean, first off, just take a look at it. Those first hideway headlights on a production car. There's no big upright grill in front like all the other 30s cars. that sleek coffin-shaped nose and the flat front and underneath, well, if it was a real Accord, you'd find front-wheel drive and independent suspension. But innovating is not easy. And getting this car into customers hands turned into a real automotive adventure. But before we talk more about the history of Cord, please take a moment to like and subscribe. You know, the likes are very important. And in the comments below, let me know what I got right and of course what I got wrong. There's always something I got wrong. and tell me what you think of this design. Is it true timeless beauty or a classic case of wrong place, wrong time, it just didn't fit in? All right, now let's take a step back and talk about the evolution of this car and the man behind it. Eel Cord was an American industrialist and automotive entrepreneur who built a pretty impressive corporate empire during the late 1920s and the 1930s. In fact, when he was just 30 years old, he took over the struggling Auburn automobile company and he expanded it to include luxury brands like Duesenberg and to create the truly innovative Cord brand. In fact, I think if you looked up the word bold in the corporate dictionary, well, there's a really good chance that there will be a picture of Eel Chord right beside it.

[00:02:13]He was not afraid to embrace advanced engineering and he definitely was not afraid to leverage his empire. At one point he controlled more than 150 companies. And during his tenure, Auburn built some truly spectacular automobiles, including the great Auburn Speedster, which evolved into the Boat Tail Speedster, which is one of the truly most iconic designs of the 1930s.

[00:02:36]And we have a replica of that here in the museum as well. And if you'd like to learn more about the Bow Tales, well, you can check out my earlier video. I'll put a link down below. Which brings us to the Cord 810. Cord didn't want to just build another car. He wanted to make an automotive statement, something to give other car companies a vision of what they could aspire to. He hired a designer by the name of Gordon Bureick, the same guy who used to work for GM, and who had also penned the Boat Tail Speedster and a little minor thing called the Duesenberg Model J. Look that up. But this wasn't just about the looks. It was also about engineering.

[00:03:13]Just about every aspect of this car stood out. From the hideaway headlights up front to the semi-unbody construction to the supercharged engine that they put in the 1937 812 model. And headlines of the day, well, they raved about the new car, saying it was unlike any other, that it had a revolutionary ride and a sensational design. Of course, you paid for it, right? This 1936 ad shows the Plymouth coming in at $510, while the cord right next to it on the paper was nearly $2,000.

[00:03:46]But, you know, this wasn't the Plymouth, and it wasn't for everyone. It was for a select few who could appreciate and afford something new and different. But it was not smooth sailing. Building these cars and getting them into the hands of customers turned about to be pretty problematic from the start. But you know, tell you what, I'll save that chaotic part for a little bit later in our story. For now, though, let's just admire the dream.

[00:04:13]And indeed, there is so much to admire about this chord replica. Once again, the basic design from that original chord, but this is a replica. And we have to start up front and talk about this coffin-shaped nose. Now, you have to remember back in the 1930s, just about every car that you would find had a regular grill up front. your standard upright grill. Even the Dodto air flow or the Chrysler airflow. While they were more aerodynamic, they still had a pretty standard looking grill. Well, this was completely different. I mean, not just is it blunt with this once again coffin shaped way kind of curves in right here. Then, of course, it has these various tears right here, which is the where the air for the radiator is going to flow in. A completely different look than just about anything you were going to get back during the 1930s. And of course, these hideaway headlights are so iconic. I mean, this was the beginning of something that would become a trend for a long time, although these days, hideway headlights are gone because they're so much more stylish.

[00:05:12]Uh, in the original Accord, these would have been actuated with a hand crank inside of the cockpit. These, because it's a replica, however, are simply actuated by the fact that they've got electrical systems controlling that. As you look down the side, I love the great look of these exhaust pipes coming out.

[00:05:31]Now, in reality, these would have been coming out of an 812 engine because it would have had the supercharged engine.

[00:05:37]Uh, this is just a stylistic touch that they're using right here. And I love, boy, this little piece of bright work right here that actually passes through.

[00:05:45]You can see the engine through there if you look carefully. And it allows for some of the heat to escape. Uh when you look at the side of the car, of course, one thing that's significantly missing is the running board. Now, this was not the first car not to have a running board. Uh I believe there was a car called the Ruxton in the late 20s that didn't have a running board, but the basic concept of having a running board was pretty much standard for a long time, especially all the way through the 30s into the 40s. So, stylistically, this was pretty significant. Now, we have to talk about a guy named Glenn Prey. We've talked about him before in a previous video, and I'll mention that one in just a moment about the Auburn Boat Tail Speedster, but he's the guy who was a former high school teacher who acquired all of the rights to the Auburn Cord Doozenberg name. And initially, he came up with an idea of building his own replica of the Chord 810. He actually called it the Chord 8/10 because it was 8/10 the size of an actual chord. This, I believe, has a wheelbase of about 125 in. Those only had a wheelbase of just about 100 in.

[00:06:54]Um, it was basically the same concept.

[00:06:56]And the body, interestingly enough, was actually built out of a kind of plastic that they actually got the licensing for and because they wanted to promote the use of that plastic. And engine-wise, it used a Corvair engine. So, it was an interesting concept. They only built about a hundred of them. And then finally they had to move on to something else which was the Auburn boat tail speedster. In fact it was the 866. And here in the museum we have a replica of an Auburn boat tail speedster. Not one of the 866s that Glen Prey made but one of the classic looks. You know once again very iconic styling. Very similar in terms of its advanced look for what we're coming out with the Cord A12.

[00:07:34]Although this design did actually come out ahead of that one. Uh there was another company called Samco that began to build cord replicas, but they were pretty significantly different up front.

[00:07:46]It had a wider nose. I don't think it had hideaway headlights at all. Had a different looking glass up front in terms of the windows. So it was very much a completely different style, although they were using the Cord 810 as their foundation. But boy, when you look at this car and you think about the 1930s and you think about how advanced this was in just about every way. I mean, not just from the way the nose comes up, but very art deco in the way these things are tiered and look at how they slide all the way back underneath that section with the exhaust coming out, the hideaway headlights, the lack of a running board. Just about everything was so advanced and looking towards the future of what automobiles would be. It was a great design and boy truly iconic. Deserves to be on just about everybody's list of the top 100 cars of all time.

[00:08:39]While this is a replica of a chord, I will say they've done a pretty good job of being relatively faithful to the original Accord from 1936.

[00:08:50]And I'll start by pointing out the fact that the original Accord would have had a front-wheel drive system. As a result, they would not have had a transmission tunnel and a tunnel for the drive shaft going through the center of the car. And in this replica, they've actually managed to raise the car enough and lower the drive shaft enough that we only have the barest hint of a tunnel for the drive shaft going down the center of the car. So, it does have something slightly similar to what the Cord would have been able to experience with plenty of leg room down below. Uh, another thing they've done a good job of is replicating the dash. Now, I will tell you the instrument layout is just a little bit different here, but it's the same basic concept. This semi- rectangular section with these cutouts down below, and of course, the fact that it's this engine turned look, having a Pioneer stereo in the middle. Of course, that's a little bit different, but the basic look is very similar. There are a couple of significant differences. And the first one I would point out is that it doesn't have two cranks on either end. There should be a crank right here and a crank right here to raise and lower those hideway headlights. didn't have an electrical or vacuum- powered system. It was simply mechanical with those cranks right there. Another thing that the Accord would have had that this car doesn't have, very modern, of course, he's got a regular modern uh transmission for an automatic transmission, that had something called electric pre-select. And what it would do is you'd be driving along, say, in second gear. You'd move it into third gear and then you'd stab the clutch and when the clutch went in, then it would move up to the next gear that you had selected. Pretty innovative system for its time. And there's an interesting story about that transmission. When Preston Tucker was building the Tucker, the Tucker 48, he liked those transmissions. He actually wanted to build his own transmission that was similar to it. But they went out and they actually scoured junkyards, wreckage yards, salvage yards, finding all of the cord transmissions they could to put into their Tuckers. They also built some transmissions of their own.

[00:10:45]But a lot of Tuckers came out of the shop, came out of the factory with a cord electric select transmission that was used in those. Uh, this also has a kind of a much more modern looking steering wheel. But one thing that they also did have with the Accord was an inner ring with a horn ring on it, which is, you know, something became very common in the 60s and 70s, but was pretty pretty novel back then. Uh, you could get the cord in one of several body styles. You had a choice of a twodoor or a four-door. You could have a convertible or a hard top. Did have a back seat. You know, not a huge back seat. In fact, I would say this one pretty much has just about zero room in the back, but it does have a back seat.

[00:11:27]This car also has a liftoff hard top that's actually sitting over there. We lifted it off just so you could get a slightly better look of of what this car looks like. And also, I think, you know, this is the way a lot of people would have loved to have, you know, driven around in this back in its day. It's a convertible after all. Uh, I've owned a number of convertibles in my lifetime and boy, I love to put the top down whenever possible. It's another reason I live in Arizona because I always joke there's some part of every day when I can put the top down. But once again, let's go back to 1936 and think about the style and design of this and how innovative it was, how great it looked for its day because it was very advanced in so many ways. Now, inside once again, it was pretty much just a car. But, you know, when you were driving down the road, you knew everybody was looking at you because you were driving in something completely different than what they had.

[00:12:18]Now, if this were a real Cord 810, we would have a 289 cubic inch Lycoming engine. Instead, well, we have a much later model, General Motors V8 under the hood. Lycoming was already known for producing reliable engines for both automobiles and aviation back in the 1930s. And that engine that was in the cord produced about 125 horsepower which was competitive at the time. The original Lycoming head though is pretty unique. It has these really interesting X patterns which both help with cooling and add strength to avoid warping. What made the Cord's engine truly unusual though wasn't its specifications. It was how it was positioned. how it was mounted and it actually drove the front wheels. In 1937, well, they had the introduction of the Cord 812. The same basic engine was offered, but now it had an optional Schwitzer Cumins supercharger. This boosted output to more than 170 horsepower, giving the core the kind of performance that really matched its futuristic appearance. And the supercharged models, well, they were pretty easily identified by the external exhaust pipes was exited through the side of the hood. And of course on our replica, but we have them on the exterior, but as you can see, they're just cut off right here. They don't actually go to anything inside because that would be a little more complicated.

[00:13:41]So, it has the look of the 812, the look of the supercharged engine, just a standard GM V8 under the hood, just enough room to squeeze it in there. Nice modern performance with a classic body.

[00:13:53]All right, it is time to address the elephant in the room. The tumultuous history of the Cord 810 and its follow-up, the 812. You see, production delays plagued the Cord 810 almost from the beginning. Although the car was announced with a lot of fanfare, manufacturing, well, that proved a lot more difficult than they had anticipated. As a result, customer deliveries were delayed for months and months. And when the cars finally did reach the buyers, they broke down. For 1937, Court introduced the 812. It offered some minor styling updates and an optional supercharged engine that I talked about that improved performance, but these changes did not address the underlying production and reliability issues. The result, well, sales did not improve. And then with pressure mounting on a variety of corporate fronts, Eel Cord sold out completely and by the end of 1937, Cord closed down, followed soon after by Auburn. It wasn't a lack of imagination that killed the A10. Even today, this design regularly turns up on various lists that talk about the most significant automotive styling of the 20th century. No, it was execution. And in the end, the Cord automobile became a symbol of both bold engineering and the risks of pushing too far and too fast.

[00:15:19]Its rise and fall remains one of the most striking examples of how innovation alone is not enough to ensure survival in the automotive industry.