The Cord 810/812: The Car From Tomorrow
In 1996, American Heritage Magazine proclaimed the Cord 810 sedan “The Single Most Beautiful American Car”. In 1951, the Museum of Modern Art included it in their landmark “Eight Automobiles” exhibition, recognizing automotive design as pure art. Yet this groundbreaking machine lasted just two production years before vanishing forever.
The story of the Cord 810/812 is one of visionary design meeting harsh reality. A car so far ahead of its time that it predicted automotive trends that wouldn’t become mainstream for another three decades. Let’s dive into what made the Cord 810 so influential.
The Visionary Behind the Design
Gordon Miller Buehrig was just 25 when he became chief body designer for Duesenberg, but his revolutionary ideas had already been rejected by General Motors’ design chief Harley Earl in 1933. Those same rejected sketches would become the foundation for what many consider the most beautiful American car ever built.
Buehrig viewed himself as “an automobile sculptor and architect rather than automobile engineer”, influenced by reading Le Corbusier’s architectural manifesto “Vers une architecture”. This artistic philosophy would prove crucial in creating a car that defied every automotive convention of its era.
Engineering Revolution
The Cord 810 wasn’t just beautiful—it was mechanically revolutionary. It was the first American-designed and built front wheel drive car with independent front suspension, a configuration that wouldn’t become common until the late 1960s.
Front-Wheel Drive Innovation
The semi-automatic four-speed transmission extended in front of the engine, like on the French Citroën Traction Avant. This layout eliminated the driveshaft and transmission tunnel, allowing Buehrig to create an impossibly low silhouette. The 812 Westchester sedan measured just 60 inches tall, almost six inches lower than a 1936 Cadillac Series 60.
Hidden Headlights: A World First
The 810/812 were the first production cars to feature hidden/pop-up headlights—modified Stinson landing lights that retracted into the fenders. Though DeSoto used them briefly in 1942, hidden headlamps didn’t reappear as a luxury feature until the 1960s, beginning with the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette.
The “Coffin Nose” Design
The radical new styling completely replaced the traditional radiator grille in favor of horizontal louvers that curved around the sides of the nose, earning the car the nickname “coffin nose”. This wraparound grille design was unlike anything else on American roads.
Other groundbreaking features included:
- Hidden door hinges and rear-hinged hood
- Steering wheel horn ring (patented)
- Engine-turned dashboard with complete instrumentation including tachometer
- Pontoon fenders with no running boards
Specs That Matter
Engine and Performance
- 125-horsepower Lycoming V-8 with three main bearings
- Semi-automatic four-speed transmission (three plus overdrive) with Bendix Electric Hand shifter
- Supercharged models (810S and 812S) available with mechanically driven Schwitzer-Cummins unit
- Supercharged 1937 812S models produced an advertised 170hp at 3,500 rpm
Dimensions
- 125-inch wheelbase (132-inch for Custom models)
- Weight: approximately 4,700 pounds
- Top speed: 102 mph
How It Was Priced
The Cord 810 and 812 positioned itself in the luxury market with strategic pricing:
1936 Cord 810 Models:
- Westchester Sedan: $1,995
- Beverly Sedan: $2,095
- Sportsman: $2,145
- Phaeton: $2,195
1937 Cord 812 Models:
- Prices ranged from $2,445 to $3,060 for the Custom Berline Westchester
The Cord’s price range was a notch above Cadillac’s entry-level models but well below senior Lincolns and Packards—none of which were selling well during the Great Depression.
Engineering Challenges and Commercial Failure
The revolutionary engineering came with serious drawbacks. Designer Gordon Buehrig later acknowledged that after one prototype test drive, “they had a problem with cooling, and they also had a transmission problem—the car would pop out of gear under low torque”.
Expected production of 1,000 cars per month failed to materialize as the semi-automatic transmission proved more troublesome than expected. Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year as the result of mechanical troubles.
The End of an Era of the Cord 810
While the design would prove timeless, time had run out for Cord. Some 3,000 of the 810/812 series were made before production came to a halt in August 1937. By then, Cord himself had cashed out his ownership of the company and retired to California. Before the end of December, the company was in bankruptcy.
The Lasting Legacy
Even though the Cord 810/812 wasn’t a commercial success, its impact on automotive design was undeniable:
Short-Term Influence:
In an attempt to save their struggling businesses, Hupmobile and Graham-Paige repurposed the 810/812’s body tooling in 1940. While their models featured more conventional rear-wheel-drive setups, the distinctive Cord styling remained.
Lasting Legacy:
After the Cord disappeared, no other American car featured front-wheel drive for nearly three decades—until Oldsmobile introduced the Toronado in 1966, followed closely by the Cadillac Eldorado in 1967. Both of these groundbreaking vehicles took clear design cues from the Cord, including the signature hidden headlamps.
Collectibility and Current Market
Today, the Cord 810/812 represents exceptional value in the classic car market. Few prewar cars can cruise at 80 mph, and few prewar cars that sell for less than $200,000 are regularly permitted to park on concours d’elegance lawns.
- Top sale price: $176,000 for a 1936 Cord 810 Phaeton (May 2025)
- Average price: $100,336
- Entry level: $34,720 for a 1936 Cord 810 Westchester (August 2020)
Why the Cord Matters Today
At a time when most automakers stuck to the status quo, Gordon Buehrig and the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg team dared to push boundaries and delivered something truly ahead of its time.
Reflecting on his career, Buehrig said: “I have a little talent in art, I can’t sing, I can’t dance and I play a lousy game of golf. But to me, autos are works of art and I consider myself an artist in that respect. I’m a sculptor of car bodies”.
The Cord proves that sometimes the greatest innovations come not from the biggest companies with the deepest pockets, but from visionaries willing to take extraordinary risks. While the car itself lasted only two years, its influence echoes through automotive design to this day.
What’s your take on the Cord 810 and 812? Bold, beautiful… or ahead of their time in all the wrong ways? Drop your thoughts on this boundary-pushing icon of the 1930s.
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