RIC’S CORD

The exotic and modern Cord 810 and 812 were almost always owned by engineers, professors, and artists, people of mechanical and cultural mind. This extended to the earliest enthusiasts of the brand, who were often unique unto themselves. Like their cars, they were characters.

Richard J. Simpson of Fort Erie, Ontario, was a longtime secondary school teacher, whose modest home practically sagged under a lifetime’s collection of books. In the basement was a pipe organ, another passion. On the lawn was a WWI-vintage cannon, aimed strategically across the Niagara River. He loved film and cameras and could always be counted upon to bring both to any event. Ric drove used—very used—Rolls-Royces, maintaining a long relationship with the suppliers who kept his Silver Wraith able to chauffeur the stars performing at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre. He answered the snobs who commented upon its weathered appearance by giving it a Latin motto that translated to, “And yet, it still moves.” Indeed it did; he drove the car cross-country. Every January he would host Cord enthusiasts at what he dubbed Kanadian Owners of Kords—KOoKs—for car talk, junk store browsing, and a meal of Peking duck.

He had been born into Cords—his parents owned one during his early childhood, in the late 1930s—and never lost the bug. In June 1959 he bought this 810 Phaeton from S. Hardy Prince of Beverly, Massachusetts. The car was restored over an eight-year period with a later Cord 812 supercharged engine acquired from an owner in Ontario and correct drivetrain components. All hardware was replaced in 1965 with “NOS” pieces, and an impressive pair of air horns was mounted. In its finished form, Ric drove his Cord with typical brio in various Canadian and East Coast events for years, including from his home to the Expo 67 World’s Fair in Quebec and to numerous Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club National Reunions. He pulled the car out on 31 December 1999, a few minutes ahead of midnight, and drove it into the new year—thus becoming the first Cord driven in the new millennium.

A fresh three-year restoration began in the early 2000s with the car refinished to “Envy Green,” a combination of Ric’s two favorite colors, the Cord’s original hue of Cool Orchard Green and the metallic sheen of Cadet Gray. It was completed in time to be shown at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, to which Ric and his wife, Sondra, drove it cross-country from the East Coast. Ric displayed the car proudly at Pebble Beach, wearing his usual pith safari helmet. Afterward it was driven back to Ontario and continued to attend many ACD Club events, always under its own power.

Following Ric’s passing in 2020, his 810 was acquired by the present owner, another longtime ACD Club member and Cord enthusiast, who freshened its restoration considerably, including the installation of a new black top and green interior. It has since been shown at the 2025 Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Kemble, Ontario, where the ACD community welcomed its re-emergence. It would be a delightful choice for further shows and concours, as well as ACD Club events, of course, where it is very well-known. Notably, this July it was reliably driven some 300 miles during the ACD Club Can-Am Meet in Cambridge, Ontario.

Nobody who met Ric ever forgot him. The same is true of his wonderful, iconoclastic Cord, a unique vehicle wearing the stamp of a unique owner.