Lofty Design and High-Flying Ownership
With its louvered, wraparound grill (or “coffin nose”) and low-slung bearing, the Cord could have been legendary based on looks alone. But its time-tested visual appeal had its roots in innovative engineering. The Cord’s front-wheel drive, a first for the American automotive industry, eliminated the need for a driveshaft under the passenger compartment, allowing the roof of Cord to rise just five feet off the ground.
Less than a year before her disappearance over the Pacific in 1937, Earhart posed for a picture with the machines she loved: this Cord 812 and the twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra plane in which she was lost.
In 2023, the 1937 Cord was inducted into the National Historic Vehicle Register and displayed under glass on the Nation Mall.
Photo courtesy of the Hagerty Drivers Foundation
Return to Glory
Earhart’s widower, George Palmer Putnam, sold the Cord before a year was out. The car passed through various hands until its acquisition in 2019 by The JBS Collection.
Through the careful craftsmanship of LaVine Restorations of Nappanee, Indiana, the vehicle was returned to its former glory over a restoration process of more than two years to immediate acclaim, a winner at the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Design Dynamo
The 810/812 series Cords were the design child of Automotive Hall of Fame inductee Gordon Miller Buehrig, credited with the body design of both Auburn’s 851 Boattail Speedster and the Duesenberg Model J.
Innovations Buehrig realized in the Cord design included: hidden door hinges; a rear-hinged hood that made the Cord’s coffin-nose possible; concealed, “pontoon”-style fenders; and the elimination of running boards, a function of the Cord’s short stature.
Exterior Details
1937 Cord 812 Phaeton Convertible Specs:
- Lycoming V8 engine
- 125 hp
- Top speed of 70 mph
- Front-wheel drive
- Four-speed gear shift
- Independent front transmission
- Produced for two years (1936 and 1937)
- Originally priced at $2,195
- A winner at the Pebble Beach Concours D’elegance in 2021
Interior Details
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Winner 2021
The JBS Collection premiered the restored vehicle at the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. After participating in the famed Tour d’Elegance drive on Thursday, August 12, the JBS Collection team presented the auto for judging at the Concours D’elegance.
On August 15, 2021, the Concours judges awarded the restored vehicle a ‘Second in its Class Award,’ Class C, American Classic Category.
