The 810 was E.L. Cord’s second attempt at a front-wheel-drive automobile. Its engine was a V-8, also by Lycoming, but a four-speed, electrically shifted, pre-selector transmission was used. The body, designed by Gordon Buehrig, was a thing of beauty. Its blunt, louvered hood gave rise to the nickname “coffin nose,” always a term of endearment, and such features as a “step-down” floor, unitary construction, hidden door hinges, and a total lack of running boards were all previously unheard of.

The car’s reception at the November 1935 New York Auto Show was enthusiastic, with onlookers reportedly standing on the roofs of other cars just to catch a glimpse, and the orders poured in. Alas, production start-up for the advanced and complex design was slow, and by the time supply caught up with demand, some customers had changed their minds. Cord production wound down in 1937.

The Westchester sedan offered here is identified by its serial number as having been one of the very rare examples originally built in 1937 with a supercharged engine. Subsequently owned for many years by Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club member Ken Kangas of Huntsburg, Ohio, it was re-powered with the current correct Cord engine and cosmetically refinished in the beautiful factory color of Geneva Blue. It was then owned by Grant White of Salt Lake City, Utah, who advertised it in the ACD Club Newsletter in 2006 as having “brakes rebuilt, stainless steel exhaust system, new heads, radiator routed out, water pump rebuilt, new thermostat.”

The current owner, a longtime enthusiast who acquired the car thereafter, notes that he believes its 51,500 miles at the time of cataloguing are actual; he also believes that the interior is the original cloth from 1937. Furthermore, he reports that the Cord drives and shifts well.

Every enthusiast of Classic Era automobiles should own and drive a Cord at least once. The example offered here would be an ideal automobile for enjoyment on ACD Club tours and CCCA CARavans, as well as various AACA events, allowing a new owner to enjoy the most modern engineering and styling of its time.