In 1935, E.L Cord unveiled the Cord 810 at the World’s Fair during a time when bi-planes were common. The citizens were in such awe of the spaceship-like creation with hidden headlights that they reportedly climbed onto the other show cars to get a peak.
The beautiful cars of this magnificent and prestigious brand will once again come to life thanks to both new ownership and, in part, to the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015. This new legislation frees boutique manufacturers from a one-size-fits-all approach to automotive manufacturing requirements – especially in regards to replicas.
The Cord Motor Vehicle Brand of the 1920s and 1930s is often applauded for being both ahead of its time and innovative. Arguably Cord’s most famous production model, the Cord 810 & 812, had Jay Leno proclaiming , “It’s one of the most revolutionary and certainly one of the most beautiful cars of all time.” This is the same car that ClassicDriver.com called, “one of the prettiest cars built in the States…” and about which Car and Driver wrote an article titled, “The Coolest Car You Never Knew Existed.”
People often praise Cord with being first to market with innovations that weren’t standard until up to 50 years later. Commonly cited innovations include front-wheel drive and hidden headlights, but it is not as widely known that Cord also was first to market with the gas cap hidden under a door in the body and the first car to have a car horn ring around the inner circumference of the steering wheel. Ab Jenkins, in a supercharged 812 model – one of the advanced features of its time – set a land speed record in 1937 that lasted for 17 years.
Following the passage of The Low Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015, Craig Corbell, the Brand’s new owner, saw an opportunity that did not exist until that moment. “As opposed to very lukewarm interest across a massive segment of the population, the appeal of these cars is extremely high – a spike if you will – but across a small segment of the population; car collectors. Until now it was cost prohibitive to manufacture these cars profitably. But now that expensive high speed crash testing, for example, is no longer required to manufacture low runs of replicas, this makes tremendous sense both in terms of reviving a source of extreme passion for enthusiasts, and financially as a business investment.”
When asked about production runs Corbell commented, “We are currently entertaining partnership agreement discussions with manufacturers and the like. There has been a surprising amount of interest from the industry because of the brand. Once those discussions are complete we will have a better idea about those specifics. In fact, any organizations that would like to learn more or contact us may do so at www.cordrevival.com.”
