CORD L 29 – year 1932

Manufacturer: Auburn Automobile Co., Auburn, Indiana. USA.

Erret Lobban Cord was once an extremely enterprising merchant. As a 35-year-old, he became the president of a huge company Holdinga, including the Auburn-Cord and Duesenberg brands. Conscious, that in the face of stiff competition, some unusual solution must be presented, turned to famous Indianapolis racing car designers Henry Miller and Cornelius W.. Van Ransta - with an order to build a front-wheel drive car. Thanks to this, the model was born Cord L 29, resembling Duesenberg cars. The main difference was hidden under the hood. The car was primarily front-wheel drive, which is something special in America to this day.

An 8-cylinder in-line engine with a displacement served as the power unit 4943 cm3 i mocy 92 kW (125 KM) by 3300 RPM. Two types of engines with a compression ratio were delivered 5,25 i 6,5:1. The crankshaft was laid on 5 bearings. A twin Schebler carburetor mixed the fuel with the air.

The gearbox is located at the front of the vehicle, between the engine and the differential, and was controlled by levers on the dashboard.

The dashboard was an interesting detail of the car. There were many indicators and control lamps showing the temperature of the water, oil pressure, amount of oil, saver, ignition and air temperature in the intake throat.

The chassis was sprung with leaf springs, quarter ellipticals at the front, and semi-elliptical at the rear. Large diameter drum brakes 300 mm in front i 381 mm at the rear guarantee the necessary deceleration.

The Cord was different from the rest of the 1930s in that, that first: was Fr. 250 mm lower than his peers, Secondly: front-wheel drive complete with large sized tires 7,00-18 did, that it was stable even when cornering.