1936 Cord 810 Westchester
One of eight cars chosen for the Museum of Modern Art’s 1951 “Eight Automobiles” exhibition, the Cord 810 began as Gordon Buehrig’s brief from E.L. Cord for a “baby Duesenberg” (a smaller, less expensive variant of the marque).
The car became a Cord rather than a Duesenberg when front-wheel drive was decided upon, a layout that dropped the driveshaft tunnel and floor height and yielded the running board-free body profile that made the 810 look unlike any other American car.
The louvered “coffin nose” without a traditional upright radiator, headlamps concealed in the fenders and raised by dashboard cranks, and concealed door hinges (along with full-face wheel covers) completed the design.
The Westchester was the entry-level of the two sedan models, distinguished from the up-market Beverly by its flat broadcloth rather than pleated cloth interior.
The 288.6 CI engine used cast-aluminum pistons in 3.5-inch bores on a 3.75-inch stroke, producing 125 horsepower through a Stromberg downdraft carburetor.
A supercharged variant using a Schwitzer-Cummins unit raised output to 170hp and was distinguished by chrome-plated external exhaust pipes flanking the hood. The four-speed gearbox used a pre-selector system operated by a steering column lever.
When the 810 debuted at the New York Auto Show in late 1935, crowds pressed in so tightly that some stood on competitors’ cars nearby to get a better view. Priced in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, it sat comfortably above the mainstream American market but short of a Duesenberg.
Mechanical problems and production delays limited total 810 and 812 output to fewer than 3,000 examples before Cord production ended in 1937.
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