Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a 10-day series featuring significant cars to be sold this month at Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach Auction.
1937 Cord 812 Phaeton
The Cord 810 is one of the immortal designs of the American automobile industry. Selected for exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Gordon Buehrig’s hidden-headlight and “coffin-nose” Cord is a triumph of clean, sharp and efficient modern Machine Age design.
In his patent application, designer Buehrig described the “New Cord of 1936” as being a “new, original, and ornamental design for an automobile.” That was a classic understatement.
The Cord boasted extremely aerodynamic styling, with a louvered hood that lacked a traditional radiator shell and headlights hidden in the curve of the front fenders. Unitary body construction and a “step-down” floor that predated, by a dozen years, the Hudson that made those features famous. The door hinges were hidden and there were no running boards, because the Cord did not need them.
The front-wheel drive technology lowered the car’s ride height by several inches compared to other American automobiles. Driving those front wheels was a powerful Lycoming V8, which was mated to an advanced electrically shifted pre-selector transmission.
This 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton is an absolutely gorgeous, properly restored example that is a strong runner as well.
Finished in the characteristic color of Cigarette Cream with burgundy leather interior, and complimented by a black Haartz-cloth top.
The exterior has outside exhaust pipes, original chrome hubcaps, correct cord fog lamps and wide whitewall tires.
This elegant Phaeton reportedly runs and drives extremely well with a healthy, throaty rumble from its V8 and a smooth-shifting 4-speed gearbox.
Barrett-Jackson’s 13th annual Palm Beach Auction is April 17-19 at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Coverage of the event will be broadcast on Velocity and Discovery during 19 hours of live, high-definition television beginning Friday, April 17, at 12 p.m. EDT.
Telecast schedule:
Friday, April 17, 12-8 p.m. EDT –Velocity
Saturday, April 18, 2-5 p.m. EDT –Discovery
Saturday, April 18, 5-8 p.m. EDT –Velocity
Sunday, April 19, 12-5 p.m. EDT – Velocity
