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amazing automobile

You know, the funny thing about that Cord is that for a long time they could be had for sub $50K. I looked at one in Newport Beach in the 90's, a pale yellow decent condition no rust original engine, and the guy wanted 35k. It was parked on the street in Spyglass.

Aren't the engines Dussenberg's?

In a distant life, my family owned one of these - one of the earliest, if not earliest, cars with retractable headlamps! Cool, man!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1221798460.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstarnes (Post 4189490)

In a distant life, my family owned one of these - one of the earliest, if not earliest, cars with retractable headlamps! Cool, man!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1221798460.jpg

Indeed! Referred to as "coffin nosed". FWD, also. A neighbor in PB had a pale yellow one 30 yrs ago, drove it several times a week.

as i recall, many new innovations came up from the cord , like front wheel drive. look at the gated four speed shifter too.
a magnificent bit of machinery.

on a more macabre note, tom mix died from a broken neck after an accident in his '37 cord.

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlycafe (Post 4189531)

on a more macabre note, tom mix died from a broken neck after an accident in his '37 cord.

Wuz he buried in da hood? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlycafe (Post 4189555)

if your hood is forest lawn.

I meant in his Cord's coffin nosed hood :cool:.

Wow! Tom Mix! - can't help but wonder how many of the "young whippersnappers" here know who he was. :)
(He died before I was born - I ani't that old! ;)).

Quote:

Below, safely parked under a tent next to one of the circus trucks, is the Mix 'death car', the 1937 Cord Phaeton convertible. Bud Norris adds that the truck on the right is Mix's tour bus, a GMC.

I asked Bud Norris about the current status of the Cord, and he said that the Imperial Palace Casino in Las Vegas had the car in their collection but they put it in a Kruse auto auction around 1998 and sold it to a wealthy Californian.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1221804919.jpg

http://www.b-westerns.com/tommix3.htm

Incredible car! Do cars like that really sell on Ebay?

Quote:

Originally Posted by daepp (Post 4189484)

Aren't the engines Dussenberg's?

These particular models of Cord (the 810 & 812) were produced for only two years....'36 & '37....and had 117hp flathead V8 engines built by Lycoming (still in business today producing aircraft engines). Some '37 cars featured supercharged versions of this motor that put out around 190hp.

A side benefit of using front-wheel drive was that the Cord stood nearly a foot lower than other contemporary cars. It had no running boards....unusual for that era. It had no radiator-like grille....just continuous louvers around the front and side of the hood. Its twin taillights were flush with the body and its gas filler was covered by a lid. The horn blew by touching a ring and the engine-turned dash panel included a tachometer.

Despite it's innovations and spectacular styling, these Cords were not a sales success. Interest was high after it's initial debut but quickly faded after the rushed-to-production cars quickly developed major mechanical problems.

There was one (black) at a car show here in Denver 2 weeks ago (Front Range Airport - old planes, also).

Amelia Earhart had a supercharged yellow Cord with a number of custom touches.

Tom Mix was a pallbearer for Wyatt Earp not long before Tom died.

Cord (car named after him) bought Lycoming to be able to control the availabilty for his cars.
He's the one that started Lycoming making aircraft engines - been very successful.

Lycoming made the largest piston aircraft engine ever made. 127 liters, 36 cylinder radial (4x9).