UNIQUE AND ORNAMENTAL

The Cord was an early acquisition and one that we much enjoyed using in events over the years. When a Cord is set up properly, it is one of the finest cars to drive from the Classic Era. – S.M.

The appeal of Gordon Buehrig’s Cord, described in its patent application as a “unique and ornamental design for an automobile,” was and remains the sheer audacity of its modernity. It appropriated features like semi-unitary body construction, hidden door hinges, a front-opening hood, and concealed headlamps far ahead of its Detroit competition, to the point where the whole was so chock-a-block with revolution that it blew all else out of the water. Further, with its front-wheel-drive drivetrain, electro-vacuum pre-selector transmission, and potent V-8, it felt as modern as it looked. It was the ultimate driver’s car of its generation, never more so than as the dramatic two-passenger cabriolet.

Most of the Cord cabriolet bodies were produced for 1936’s 810 series, with leftovers used into 1937—hence the rarity of these models in the ultimate supercharged configuration, available only that year.

The car in the Mann Collection, while a very late-production car by serial number and drivetrain, displays numerous early-production features, including trunk lid-mounted taillights, locks for the glove boxes, a smooth steering wheel, a seat with “sideboards,” and Lockheed brakes, as well as the correct reinforced open car frame; its serial number indicates it may have been born un-supercharged. It is known to have been intact with an owner in Paterson, New Jersey, as far back as the early 1950s. In corresponding with Mr. Mann, later owner Joe Martin noted that the Paterson caretaker, whose name is lost to time, was able to acquire numerous original parts for it from the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Company during its time in Auburn. Eventually, the car was sold to longtime ACD Club member, Ron Monte, also of New Jersey.

Joe Martin had fallen in love with the design of the Cord—and small wonder!—and set out to acquire one of the ultimate specifications, the supercharged cabriolet. He eventually located this one with Mr. Monte, and acquired it in the early 1980s. Following an extremely meticulous, carefully researched restoration by Stone Barn of Vienna, New Jersey, thoroughly described in a letter on file from Mr. Martin, the car was awarded its First Primary at the ACD Club National Reunion in 1986.

Soon after, Mr. Martin relocated his life and collection from the Garden State to South Carolina, and found himself with less opportunity to use his Cord. As luck would have it, at the time Sam and Emily Mann were beginning to grow their burgeoning collection, and the Manns acquired the cabriolet in 1992.

They drove the car to the ACD Club’s Eastern Fall Meet in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, that year; in 1994 on the CCCA Pacific Northwest CARavan; and on an additional CARavan that traveled from Seattle to Alaska, as well as on a Mozart Tour in Oregon and another through Arizona. Several times the car was driven at steady speeds of 80 to 90 mph! It has since continued to see regular use in local and regional events, remaining, along with their ever-faithful 1941 Cadillac, one of the Manns’ favorite and most-utilized drivers in the collection, and thus is presented in well-mellowed but still highly attractive condition, in its rich livery of Ivory over dark green leather interior. Its history file attests to the good care given in their ownership, with numerous receipts and invoices for various parts and services over the years, most notably extensive mechanical work in 2002 by Brian Joseph’s Classic & Exotic Service of Troy, Michigan.

It is an utterly splendid piece of machinery, still quite unlike anything else from its era—then as now, a breathtakingly unique statement.