When you go to a car show, you sometimes see so many of the same model that they’re all grouped together. Let’s just say they’re victims of their own success. Unless you take it to an Auburn Cord Duesenberg owner’s meeting, our Pick of the Day will absolutely stand out at a car show: a 1936 Cord 810 Westchester sedan posted on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Texas.
That’s partly due to its rarity—on several levels. “The New Cord” came out as a 1936 model, a few years after the L-29 was discontinued. Unfortunately, it only lasted through 1937, changing name from 810 in ’36 to 812 the following year. Production total estimates vary, but they show Cord produced fewer than 3,000 vehicles between those two years. After 1937, Cord, the company itself, was done.
Then there’s the most obvious reason this Cord 810 would turn heads at a car show: the styling. Just look at it. What makes it even more attractive—if only on an intellectual level—is how unusual it is for a car of its time. Instead of an upright radiator shell in the middle of large, exposed headlights and wide running boards, the 810 has a “coffin nose” with what Cord called “Venetian type louvers,” concealed headlights that can be revealed with hand cranks, and open space below the rocker panels. The front end does have quite an underbite, but there’s a good reason for that: once again, Cord did things differently, opting for front-wheel and installing the hardware for it behind the front bumper.
Cord’s corporate cousin Lycoming produced the 810’s 289ci V8, which was factory-rated at 125 horsepower at 3,500 rpm. Instead of a three-speed stick, the 810 delivered its output to the road through a four-speed pre-selector transmission, which allowed the driver to pick the next gear he or she would use with a Bendix Finger-Tip Gear Control, then press the clutch pedal to engage it when necessary.
The Cord company may be long gone, but the 810 Westchester sedan you see here has received a second lease on life thanks to a cosmetic restoration and mechanical overhaul. As part of the process, the body was refinished in Cadet Grey, and the interior was reupholstered in dark blue wool. Most importantly, the engine and transmission were rebuilt by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Company, which knows a thing or two about working on Cords.
And now you know some of the things that make this 1936 Cord 810 Westchester sedan cool and unusual. All you have to figure out is where you’ll get the $95,000 (OBO) to buy it—and the first car show you’ll drive to in it.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com