CORD

Cord Corp. (1929-1932 & 1936-1937)
Auburn & Connersville, Indiana

This is a Cord emblem (1929-1932)     mjs
Size: 55mm high 39mm wide    MM: D L Auld

Errett Lobban Cord already had a large and successful automobile business when, in 1929, he introduced his front-wheel drive Cord L-29 to fill the price gap between his popularly priced Auburn and the grand and more expensive Duesenberg Model J. The Cord L-29 was a most attractive automobile. Front-wheel drive allowed a much lower and more rakish silhouette than was the norm in automobile styling at that time. Just over 5,000 units were built before the recession put paid to the Cord in 1932.

Four years later, in 1936, the front-wheel drive Cord was back with modern "coffin nose" styling, making the Cord 810 one of the most instantly recognizable American automobiles. A supercharger was added to the Cord 812 in 1937 to deliver 170hp. It was a fine car but Cord decided to leave the automobile industry and production of the Cord automobile ceased in August 1937.

Emblems

The first L-29 Cord displayed a two-piece Cord emblem mounted on the front transmission cover, see example below:

Cord L-29 showing transmission cover emblem (1930)  acdm

Cord L-29 transmission emblem (1931)    acdm

This is the gold plated red, white and black enamel Cord emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Cord emblem is scarce.

This is a Cord transmission cover emblem (1929-1932)  mjs
Size: 55mm high 39mm wide    MM: D L Auld

The L-29 Cord also had a small Cord crest embossed on the dashboard instrument panel and a small oval shaped enamel Cord emblem on the glove compartment lid, see example shown below:

Cord L-29 instrument panel showing embossed Cord crest and glove box lid emblem (1929-1932) bonhams

The following is an example of the small, oval shaped, single-piece red, white, black and transparent gold enamel glove box Cord emblem. This Cord glove box emblem is rare.

This is a Cord glove box lid emblem (1929-1932)    mjs
Size: 28mm high 20mm wide   MM: D L Auld

The following photo illustrates the size difference of these L-29 Cord emblems:

Cord L-29 transmission cover & glove box lid emblems   mjs

Some examples of the Cord glove box emblem have been found mounted on a black enameled backing plate, see example shown below:

This is a Cord glove box emblem with enamel mounting plate kmc

The "Cord" name was also displayed on the hubcaps, see painted Cord hub emblem shown below.:

This is a Cord hub emblem (1929-1932)   mjs
Size: 71mm diameter   MM: D L Auld

The new Cord 810/812 in 1936 carried a one-piece enamel emblem mounted on the front transmission cover, see example below:

Cord Model 812 transmission cover emblem (1937)  rmsothebys

This is the red, white and black enamel Cord emblem shown below. This Cord emblem is scarce.

This is a Cord transmission cover emblem (1936-1937)  ms
Size: 55mm high 40mm wide   MM: Unknown (some Fox)

This Cord transmission cover emblem is also found gold plated, see example shown below:

This is a Cord transmission cover emblem (1936-1937)   acdm
Size: 55mm high 40mm wide    MM: Unknown (some Fox)

This Cord emblem was available as an optional extra as part of a winged version mounted on the front of the hood, see example shown below:

Cord 810 with transmission cover & winged hood emblem (1936) conceptcarz

This is the metal winged, red, white and black enamel Cord hood emblem shown below. The center emblem is the same as the transmission cover emblem shown earlier above. This Cord hood emblem is rare.

This is a Cord winged hood emblem (1936-1937)    bonhams
Size: 200mm wde    MM: Unknown (some Fox)