Hot Rods Hot Rod Cord

[Ryan]

In January of 1948, the SCTA Road Runners held a picnic at Santa Anita Park. Walt Rose showed up in this '27 T roadster powered by a blown '37 Cord V-8. Of course Cords were front-wheel drive, so Walt had to the run the motor backwards to get the pow...

To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

[Joe King]

Rose lives not very far from me.

[kustombuilder]

badass!! were do you find this stuff?

[Ryan]

No kiddin? I wonder if we could find out what happened to that little car?

[Joe King]

Originally Posted by Ryan

No kiddin? I wonder if we could find out what happened to that little car?

I don't know him but I know an old guy that does, I've been meaning to get an introduction.

[HOTRODSURFER]

Originally Posted by Ryan

No kiddin? I wonder if we could find out what happened to that little car?

i was gonna ask if any knew what happend to it! that is a bad ass little roadster

[Theo Douglas]

I think if anyone wants to know what happened to that car, we'd better ask him quick. 1948 was 60 years ago. I'm just saying.

[lockwoodkustoms]

No shit That probably was the talk of the town when he pulled in ! Awsome is all I can say ..............Oh yeah were do you come up with all of this stuff?

[JeffreyJames]

I knew I have been holding on to that Early 30's Chevy frame for a reason! What were the original cars that the Cord engine came from? Any pics of them?

[cmyhtrod]

If memory serves me right, the engines were unique to the Cord, and the heads are aluminum. They had the same intake/ exhaust arrangement that the flathead Caddy used.There were 2 versions of this engine, normally aspirated and supercharged. The later transmissions and front ends were much better than those used on the earlier Cords. All Cords are front wheel drive.

[Rockerhead]

Attached is a picture of the front of my 1937 supercharged Cord model 812. The hood and grille ( fence ) is off here as I just rebuilt the transmission. Perhaps this will give you an idea of the arrangement of the Cord design. Note that the transmission is in the front of the car and is actually a transaxle arrangement. Incidently the Cords used a Lycoming V-8 engine that was especially designed for them. Lycoming at the time was owned by the Cord Corporation.
Walt Rose's roadster had the engine pointed the opposite as the stock so it could drive the rear wheels. Note that the distributor is toward the rear while it is towards the front in a stock Cord.
Gail Shaw is indeed a knowledgeable Cord guy.
The Cord was an advanced designed car over 70 years ago.
Many years ago I used a 1936 Cord sedan, modified to rear wheel drive to set numerous records at the dry lakes and the drags. I always liked the looks of E. L. Cord's cars.
Don www.montgomeryhotrodbooks.com

[Ol Blue]

My Dad and I went to Chicago, long long long long ago to look for a car for me. We stopped at one place that had several Auburn's and Cords on the lot. The one I wanted was like the blue one pictured above, but it was maroon in color. I fell in love with the chopped-top-look and the crank out headlights. Don't remember if it was suspercharged or not The price was $395.00. He wouldn't buy it because he said that I would just tear out the transmission. We bought a 49 Chevy coupe for $200 instead.
Ol Blue

[Ryan]

[Rex Schimmer]

Jeffrey James,
If you are really serious about a Cord engine, I have a good friend, Gail Shaw, that has made a very good living just working on Cords. (Which is pretty impressive considering that there were less than 4000 ever made!) He has a couple of engines in his shop and may be interested in selling. Check your bank account balance before you get ready to buy, they are rare so they are expensive!

Rex

[SMOKINFLATHEAD]

Originally Posted by Rex Schimmer

Jeffrey James,
If you are really serious about a Cord engine, I have a good friend, Gail Shaw, that has made a very good living just working on Cords. (Which is pretty impressive considering that there were less than 4000 ever made!) He has a couple of engines in his shop and may be interested in selling. Check your bank account balance before you get ready to buy, they are rare so they are expensive!

Rex

Rare, Indeed! I wonder if you could get some good pictures of these cord engines your buddy has? It's always nice to day dream. I love the look of that roadster.

[suede55bowtie]

I have a new favorite hot rod of all time........

[R Pope]

Cords were some of the most beautiful cars ever made, too bad the transmissions wouldn't get them out of sight! The Graham Hollywood used the same body with a shorter front end, rear wheel drive. I knew a guy had one with a Y-block Ford engine in 1960.
If memory serves, the Cord V8 was built by Lycoming.

[thunderbirdesq]

Originally Posted by R Pope

If memory serves, the Cord V8 was built by Lycoming.

That's correct. Manufactured by Textron-Lycoming right in my hometown of Williamsport, PA. Somewhere I have a picture of a parade of new Cords, Auburns, and Duesenbergs (also fitted with lycoming engines) driving down 4th Street, better known as Millionare's row. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[sawzall]

Originally Posted by thunderbirdesq

That's correct. Manufactured by Textron-Lycoming right in my hometown of Williamsport, PA. Somewhere I have a picture of a parade of new Cords, Auburns, and Duesenbergs (also fitted with lycoming engines) driving down 4th Street, better known as Millionare's row. I'll see if I can dig it up.

andy,

having grown up in the wiliamsport area i know i have seen that photo too. I think its in a book about lyco co history.. my pal , Buzz, from salladasburg, worked at textron/lyco

[thunderbirdesq]

Originally Posted by sawzall

andy,

having grown up in the wiliamsport area i know i have seen that photo too. I think its in a book about lyco co history.. my pal , Buzz, from salladasburg, worked at textron/lyco

Ah yeah, I know Buzz Guthrie too! What cool cat, the dude builds airplanes! His shop is awesome, there's something cool in every corner. You see that '39 merc he's got out there?

Back to topic: unfortunately, I can't find the picture anywhere!