Talk:Cord 810/812

810 vs 812
I'd like to know, what's the difference between the two?... Pibwl &larr;&laquo; 22:07, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Basically nothing. It's really no more than the 1936 / 1937 model year.
 * The big differences are the options that were only available on the 812 (but the majority of 812s still didn't have them): supercharging (with obvious sidepipes to show it) and rare long wheelbase options with either a more spacious body intended for chauffeur driving or (fantastically rare) sending out as a rolling chassis to a custom coachbuilder. Andy Dingley (talk) 00:26, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I hoped to find it in the article :) Pibwl &larr;&laquo; 20:37, 21 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Old discussion, but there were plenty of differences. Crosley radio in the 810 was replaced with a Philco in the 812, the voltage regulator was moved from the top of the generator to the firewall, the steering wheel got finger grips, etc.Fractality9 (talk) 04:58, 6 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Are there any discernible differences from the outside?
 * When did the 812 appear? September 1936 seems to be the date, and at least some old stock 810s already in dealers were sold as 812s after that point. Can you be any more definite on that?
 * What's the deal with sidepipes? Were these purely stylistic, or were they added because the exhaust downpipes were now running hotter when supercharged, and so overheating the already too-hot engine bay? Or was one of these simply a happy coincidence from the first?
 * When did non-supercharged 810s acquire sidepipes? There are a few in museums labelled as "810 with sidepipes" and there's a good photo on Commons of an engine with non-attached sidepipes. Was this "non-functional dress-up" done at the time?  Or was is a later thing?  The 1970s Cord popularity resurgence seems to have encouraged it. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:46, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Influence of the Cord 810/812 on the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado
I haven't seen anything anywhere official on this, but it is very clear to me the Cord 810/812 was in fact the styling inspiration for the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, There were no other front wheel drive cars made in America between these two models. Note the Toronado also had hidden headlights and it was pretty much as upmarket in it's time as the Cord 800 series was 30 years earlier. I remember reading the car magazines of the day when they tested the original Toronado and don't remember any of them mentionin this.

From Hemmings Daily, 14 October, 2015 by Daniel Strohl...

"Lamm noted that both Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell lobbied to take the Eldorado in separate directions. Earl longed to make a station wagon out of it, while Mitchell had hoped to shorten the wheelbase and turn the Toronado into a two-seater. Neither got their way, and thus Wilen’s group was forced to stretch the Flame Red Car design. As they did so, they not only kept much of North’s design—the rounded and slightly flared fenders, the long hood, the sloping roofline that blended seamlessly into the quarter panels—they also intentionally added design cues that paid tribute to the Cord L-29 810/812, the last American front-wheel-drive production car: the hidden headlamps, the grille that subtly turns rearward at the ends, the phone-dial wheels." Note the Cord L 29 reference was incorrect and was crossed out in the the original article. Michou 13 (talk) 01:05, 10 April 2018 (UTC)