Historic Cord heads home

E.L Cord’s personal 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged
Beverly has returned to its original home,
the Auburn Automobile Company.

For the first time since 1937, E.L Cord’s personal supercharged 1937 Cord 812 Beverly has returned to its original home, the Auburn Automobile Co. This special Cord has been donated to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum by the family of Charles Cord, Sr. and Charles Cord, Jr., the son and grandson of E.L. Cord.

This Cord has never left the possession of the Cord family since the car was delivered by truck when new to E.L. Cord at his Cordhaven estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., from the Auburn Automobile Co.’s Connersville, Ind., factory complex in late 1937. The Cord is believed to be one of the last Cord 812s to have been delivered by the Auburn Automobile Co. after its demise in 1937. The Cord was taken off the final re-assembly line and delivered after the Auburn Automobile Co. had ceased production of its operations.

E.L.’s supercharged 1937 Cord 812 Beverly is one of only 184 examples produced and has only 10,000 miles on its odometer. It is powered by a supercharged Lycoming 289-cubic-inch V-8 engine that produces 170 horsepower with a four-speed manual transmission on a 125- inch wheelbase. In July 1961, the Cord was sent to West Hollywood, home of the southern California iconic speed shop, the Eddie Meyer Engineering Co. It was during this time that the original Cord engine was swapped out, the brakes were realigned, chrome pieces throughout were refinished and shock absorbers were changed, among many other minor repairs made at a cost of $2,869.10.

“This is the most historically significant automobile donation that the museum has received,” said Matthew Short, executive vice president of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. “The automobile must have special meaning to the Cord family for it to have been kept in the family for so many years, and I am pleased that they have chosen to donate the Cord to the museum. This car represents a direct connection to the history that we are preserving, and to have E.L.s’ Cord is just amazing.”