Performance icon of the 30s
The now rare front-wheel drive Cord 812 is considered one of the most beautiful cars of all time
I defy anyone to look a Cord 812 in the face and not say ‘wow.’
This car is the face of highpowered American sports tourers of the late 30s. Amazingly streamlined and possessing a true 100mph top speed, Cords were, without doubt, world leaders.
They made many British cars of the 30s look like museum pieces and still cause a stir on their rare appearances in public.
You can’t miss a Cord. It has a massive coffin-nosed radiator and chrome tubes emerging from the bonnet sides. It looks like something from Batman and has been an inspiration ever since.
Although now rare, the Cord 812 has become a cult vehicle worldwide.
An advanced front-wheel drive car, it was initially intended to be a small, fast Duesenberg but an 11th hour decision branded it for ever a Cord.
It had no radiator shell, just wrap- round louvres, and the sweeping wings were beautifully designed with retractable headlights adapted from the Stinson aircraft - another Cord product.
The maj o r factor in performance was that this car was supercharged and developed 195bhp, placing it high in world performance charts.
I have never driven one, but I know a man who has and his view is that the Cord is a demanding drive at speed. A bit of handful under full power, but a totally satisfying icon of a time when the world was changing.
The 812 was born of the former 810 and only 2,320 models of the two were produced.
Its design was praised for its beauty at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the modern lookalike industry has produced a few models that may give the impression but certainly not the full hit of the 812.
There is a bit of a mystery over what happened to the body dies of this car. One school of thought says they ended on a scrapheap and the other says that they are lurking, like an Indiana Jones treasure, in a New York warehouse.
I would certainly like to be the person who unearths them.