1937 Cord 812 Phaeton For Sale: Your Chance To Own One Of America’s Most Beautiful Cars

While many, if not most of us, are not bringing in Cord 812 money, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at Gordon Buehrig’s magnificent creation, a car that more often than not is lauded as one of the most beautiful ever made. This supercharged Convertible Phaeton is for sale on Bring a Trailer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, not too far from its ancestral home of Auburn, Indiana.

The car itself is almost beyond reproach. It’s an older restoration that apparently scored a second-place ribbon at Pebble Beach in 2004 and “Best Cord” at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club National Reunion in 2003. It’s clearly an excellent example of a car that so many of us would love to have.

The model that Buehrig himself actually owned, and my personal favorite, was the 1936 810 Westchester (seen here at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana). In my opinion, it’s one of the few examples in motoring history where the basic sedan was the “purest” expression of the design. For those who haven’t followed Cords, this might be a good time to mention that the 1936 model was called the 810, the 1937 model the 812.

The official model name of our featured Cord was the 812 Convertible Phaeton Sedan, which, when one recalls how most Phaeton Sedans look, makes little sense. Regardless, according to Don Butler’s Auburn Cord Duesenberg, only 196 were built with a supercharger, which this car has (more on that in a minute).

By the way, the Convertible Phaeton Sedan wasn’t the only model with a convertible top; it is sometimes confused with the 812 Sportsman, seen here without a supercharger (the “tell” is the presence of stainless steel exhaust pipes poking out from the engine compartment. The Sportsman was a little more uncommon than the Phaeton; only 194 were built in total for 1937.

Also uncommon is the Cord’s dashboard, one of the most gorgeous pieces of interior artistry to ever see the light of day as a commercial product. The gauges alone deserve inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art, not to mention the engine-turned trim, preselector gear shift bezel for the Detroit Gear four-speed transmission that routed power to, of course, the front wheels. Also notice the separate manual cranks for each front headlight.

The 810/812 were powered by a Lycoming 289-cubic-inch L-Head V8. Without a supercharger, it produced a good-for-the-time 125 horsepower; however, a supercharged version was introduced as an option in 1937, boosting power to a heady 170 in early cars, and a reported 190 early in the model year (the blower drive ratio was revised, increasing boost pressure from 4 to 4.5 psi). Can you imagine what kind of power this thing would have made if four-barrel carburetors would have existed at the time?

There were a surprising number of small improvements made for the 810/812’s second-and-final model year, including revised CV joints and better brakes. Obviously, the undercarriage of this Phaeton looks virtually spotless, and you can see the flat floor that Oldsmobile advertised on its 1966 Toronado, thirty years after the Cord was introduced.

This 812 apparently started off life in Cigarette Cream paint (only in the 1930s, huh?), but was refinished in black during its restoration. I think it’s a good choice, the Cord’s spectacular lines are shown better in darker colors in my opinion. Whatever it’s painted, the Cord 810/812 is clearly an American Classic, and because they were regarded as such from new, a fair number of the original 3,000 or so still survive. Still, you’re not going to see them for sale all the time, especially in such beautiful condition.