Talk:Cord (automobile)

1929 section
It was the year of the Wallstreet crash. The degree of advanced engineering for the L-29 was staggering. Front wheel drive, about than 35 years before it's introduction on even a few high-end Detroit cars. Even the L-29 head lamps were utterly unique. (The 3D image of the L-29 will make it easier to visualize that design. The 3D interior image of the L-29 will give you a good sense of the feel of the car for a driver. Note the backward swinging "Suicide Doors", a unique Cord touch.

The thin headlamps shown on the L-29 images were installed on other marques and so were the reverse suicide doors as far as I know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Old Guard (talk • contribs) 23:33, 2 April 2006


 * UPDATE 04/03/06
 * The lights pictured on the 3-D image are of an aftermarket or optional equipment known as "woodlights" and were avaiable for any make of automobile in the 20's and 30's.


 * Suicide doors were commonly used on many makes of automobiles until WWII. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tpeetpeety (talk • contribs) 06:00, 3 April 2006


 * Suicide doors were common pre-WW2 for the same reason that most modern convertibles have 2 doors: there is no B-pillar to mount the rear doors to. Aftermarket parts were not uncommon in the era.  If you could afford a luxury car in 1937 America, you could afford to have it restyled to suit your tastes. Joel Blanchette 20:01, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Layout
The layout of the page needs to be fixed. There are 3 edit buttons next to each other and out of place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.61.98.24 (talk) 19:30, 5 April 2006
 * can you explain? edit "buttons" are placed automatically by the inclusion of headlines.  I don't see what you are referring to in the page as it exists today. David 03:06, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Article name
This is not a subject that I know much about, but it seems from the text of the entry that this might be more properly titled Cord automobile or Cord (automobile)?cbustapeck 17:14, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

1966 reissue
I read about this as a boy. They said that the revival had another advanced feature: the body was made out of a plastic foam sandwich material, and if it was dented the owner could heat it with a hair dryer for a few minutes and it would return to its original shape, and a little touch-up paint (which came with the car) would restore it to pristine condition. J S Ayer (talk) 00:29, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

External exhaust pipes
I think Ken W. Purdy remarked in his book Kings of the Road that the 812 Cord was responsible for a long-lasting belief in America that any car with external exhaust pipes was supercharged. J S Ayer (talk) 02:31, 1 September 2010 (UTC)


 * As with Duesenberg, Cords without supercharger could be retrofitted by a works kit. There was even a less expensive kit that combined normal aspiration with external exhaust pipes to give at least the look of a supercharged car. --Chief tin cloud (talk) 11:21, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

810 / 812 transmission
Transmission of the FWD Cord was not semi-automatic; they rather used an electric pre-selective gearbox by Cotal. Other than in (semi-) automatics, there is a clutch. The driver chooses a gear on the small lever at the steering column. Actual gear change follows when he engages the clutch. So, when he approaches a curve, for example, he selects the next lower gear and engages it exactly when needed. Thus, in the curve he has both hands on the steering wheel. --Chief tin cloud (talk) 13:44, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Production
All Cords were produced in the Auburn facilities. Most bodies were delivered by Central Manufacturing Co., another Cord susidiary. --Chief tin cloud (talk) 11:21, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Hupp Skylark / Graham Hollywood
It is worth mentioning that the body dies for the Cord 810 / 812 were re-used for the Hupp Skylark / Graham Hollywood. After the demise of the Cord Corporation, Norman De Vaux was able to buy the 810/812 body dies (for $40,000, iirc). He tried to push a car of his own, again (he already did before with the short-lived De Vaux in 1932). When this failed he sold the dies to Hupp (and the premises in Oakland were he planned production of his De-Vo to GM). Hupmobile reworked them and adapted them to the shorter Hupp wheelbase. These cars have shorter hood and front wings, rear wheel drive, and no hide-away headlights --Chief tin cloud (talk) 13:45, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Citation Needed
I have also heard that the designers of the first generation Toronado were deliberately trying to invoke elements of the Cord 810's design, but there's no reference for this. I'll try to find one.Andacar 02:33, 12 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andacar (talk • contribs)

CV joints
"the Cord was the first front-wheel-drive car to use constant-velocity joints.[3] While commonly used today in all front-wheel-drive vehicles, their first use was on the 1929 Cord."

The French Tracta cars were using them 2 years before Cord - the CV joint having been invented by Pierre Fenaille, friend of Jean-Albert Grégoire, Tracta's director and engineer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracta

Jean-Albert Grégoire