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Art & Inspiration The indestructable Cord

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Grahamsc, Oct 12, 2014.

  1. Grahamsc
    Joined: May 13, 2014
    Posts: 466

    Grahamsc
    Member
    from Colorado

    These are pics of a brochure put out by the United States Rubber co. in 1964 to show their new product for auto and truck bodies called Royalite.

    Glenn Pray had bought the Cord automobile co. Rights
    He and Gordon Buegrig were working with US Rubber to build a scaled down replica of the 810 Cord.

    These were powered by a 110 hp corvair unit standard or an optional Supercharged 150 hp version.

    My father said he thinks he picked it up at the ACD festival in the 60s.

    Info on the internet claims 97 of these were built before the company went defunct.

    Anyone have one or even saw one? image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2014
  2. I have that book. I got it at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport back in the mid-60's where they had been displaying the car. It came with an order form for the car. I still have it somewhere.
     
  3. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    SAMCO III.png SAMCO I.png SAMCO II.png SAMCO IV.png SAMCO V.png
    I have a successor variant of that car made of Royalite. The number of the Glenn Pray cars produced is in the low 90's, the exact number is disputed by one or two units. After the Glenn Pray effort was shuttered the story got kind of interesting. Perhaps you have read some of the accounts. Governor Rockefeller and William (Bill) Lear were involved in finding a successor to the Pray project.

    That is when Sports Automobile Manufacturing Co (SAMCO) was formed to produce Cord replicas and the assets of Glenn Pray's Co were acquired. The initial effort is the least known, as it involved adapting leftover Pray bodies and, as near as I have been able to determine, experimenting with drivetrains to use in place of the Corvair units. Many years ago there was an SAMCO on e-Bay with a Buick/Jeep V6 and advertised as having front wheel drive. It was a Pray style body. Years passed and I got interested in having a Cord replica to try making a passable Hot Rod/Street Rod for myself after having seen such a car in Tacoma, WA. in 1996.

    I bought a '69 SAMCO, which was NOT a direct derivative of the Pray body, but a fiberglass (not Royalite) facsimile that, when sold new, could be had in two versions. The Warrior and the Royale, powered by small block Ford on 108" wheelbase and by 440 Chrysler on 113" wb. I bought a Warrior version. I had the "fever" at the time and soon realized what I had was very poorly engineered and constructed. It had a 289 or 302 (I don't remember which for sure), a C4 Cruise-O-Matic and an 8" Ford rear axle. The front axle was an Econoline I beam with drum brakes. The chassis was a hodge podge of Jeep CJ frame sections, angle iron and square and rectangular tube. The parallel leaf springs on both ends were too weak. I was pretty disappointed about what I had done in my haste.

    Maybe two years later, I was browsing eBay and discovered another Cord replica for sale in Colorado. It was advertised as a SAMCO, but was very different than mine in many ways. I realized it was much more like the Glenn Pray cars, yet somewhat different in detail from them as well. It did have a small block Ford. The car was missing a few parts and was, I thought, way overpriced, but I was fascinated about the existence of this version, having never seen one like it, only many like the one I owned.

    Not two weeks later, an identical version showed up on eBay, this one in New York. Pictures indicated it was a much better car and I was able to buy it for less money. So, I did. It is made of Royalite, has a 289 Ford/C4/9" powertrain and a tube straight axle with drum brakes. The body was 'stretched' about 6" between the back of the door and the rear fender, improving the proportions considerably, in my opinion. I always thought the Pray models looked too short for the body depth. This car also had the hodge podge chassis described above.

    Now back to the V6 with front drive mentioned in paragraph 2, above. Based on the use of Jeep chassis components in both the cars I had/have, I think that V6 car was probably the earliest version of adapting the Pray cars to something other than Corvair. I speculate they used the Jeepster Commando V6/automatic w/transfer case and a Jeep front axle assembly driven in 4WD Hi and no rear driveline. That would provide front wheel drive and fit in the space available.

    Subsequent information I found indicated there was a "mysterious fire" (isn't there always?) at the newfound SAMCO operation and the molds for the Royalite bodies were reportedly destroyed. They were, apparently, quickly replaced with molds for chopper sprayed fiberglass and several key changes were made as mentioned above. For instance, the windshield frame was now part of the body, the cowl was wider and lower, as was the hood. The headlights were molded to the leading edge of the fenders instead of being recessed, etc. etc. I never thought of it before typing this account, but I now have to wonder if they were burned on purpose because the original design HAD to be more expensive to produce than the chopper strand, integrated w/s, etc., not to mention the stretch in the quarter panel.

    From what I can gather, only about 5 or 6 Pray based SAMCOs were produced before this major change occurred. The photos at the top of this post were intended to be at the bottom......anyway, two are of Glenn Pray 8/10 Cord replicas (Black car with snow back ground and pale yellow one); the two pics of the black car in sunshine is the later version and was mine when the photo was taken. It is the most numerous (400 est) SAMCO version; the maroon car is my current car, the very early SAMCO derived from a Glenn Pray body. It's SAMCO data plate indicates Dec 1967 production date and is titled 1968 model. The black SAMCO was titled as a 1969.

    You can see the considerable difference in the windshield treatment and body proportions.

    Ray
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2014
    302GMC likes this.
  4. Grahamsc
    Joined: May 13, 2014
    Posts: 466

    Grahamsc
    Member
    from Colorado

    Some of the info I read mentioned Mr. Lear's involvment and that around 400 of the later Cords were built with a ford 302 or a 440 Chysler.
    But i found nothing on the jeep conversion or the use of the royalite bodys after Glenn Pray was involved.
    I guess there was even another attempt in the early 80s using a cutlass supreme chassis.

    Thanks for posting Hnstray
     

  5. Dazzo's in Batavia had one on a lift for YEARS...now it's gone. And all I was able to see was the undercarriage. Definitely Corvair powered.

    Cosmo
     
  6. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    In regard to the Jeep components, I would not call that a "Jeep conversion" by any stretch of the term. Merely using some Jeep chassis bits and pieces, and in the case of the first I mentioned, a powertrain. I have a complete replacement chassis for mine under construction on my frame bench. It is fabricated from 2" x 4" rectangular tube and I am using a Fatman MMII front suspension, the original 289 engine but switching to an AOD trans.

    My maroon SAMCO definitely is a Royalite body. The material is a "sandwich" construction with a hard, smooth thin skin on either side of a firm foam like filler, about 5/16" thick. Sort of a plastic version of corrugated cardboard in principle.

    As for the Cutlass chassis, having a keen interest in anything related to Cords, I have seen photos of numerous Cord replicas over the years, most being one of one, or one of a mere handful, with a variety of chassis and powertrains and in varying degrees of accuracy. In several cases, the photos were impressive.

    Ray
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2014
  7. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    Then definitely a Glenn Pray 8/10 Cord replica.

    Ray
     
  8. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    I love Cord design,but not that redo,it's amzing how just a few things being wrong size an place can destory the body design for me that I really like as built to start with by Cord in the 1930's. Interesting info about that try though.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  9. Grahamsc
    Joined: May 13, 2014
    Posts: 466

    Grahamsc
    Member
    from Colorado

    1983 to 1985. Gene Bicknell, former Chairman and CEO of NPC International (National Pizza Company) and life-long friend of Howard Williams, expressed an interest in the project and decided to help preserve the history
    [​IMG]
    of the Cord automobile by assisting Williams in bringing this project back to life. The first Cord of this period was built using a modified Oldsmobile Cutlass frame and power plant. A redesigned windshield and enlarged cockpit were also added. Howard Williams and Gene Bicknell look over the first car in this 1983 photo.



    This is the small artical I found on the cutlass version.
    Could be that this prototype was the only one built.
     
  10. Too wide. The Pray had better proportions.

    Cosmo
     
  11. falconsprint63
    Joined: May 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,358

    falconsprint63
    Member
    from Mayberry

    intersting. I've always seen royalite and royalex (same basic thing) used in canoe building--who knew it started in automotive... coincidentally it went out of production earlier this year. not enough money in canoes I guess
     
  12. barqsnut
    Joined: Jun 11, 2008
    Posts: 200

    barqsnut
    Member
    from Pearl, MS

    During the 80's Helmut Price in Pomona, CA was building full size Cord replicas. I won't swear to it, but I think he was using full size GM chassis as opposed to the ford LTD chassis going under the Auburn replicas. He also had a 540K Mercedes replica in both metal and fiberglass. The original body for these was built by Marcel and Marc Delay before their fame days.
     

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